All posts filed under: What’s On

Craft & Co pasta making workshop melbourne

Be a Pasta Master

Where can you find a place to learn, eat and drink? At The Craft & Co workshop! We attended their pasta making class, and gosh did we love it. Don, the head chef of the restaurant teaches you step by step how to make the perfect pasta at home. This informative class also provides you a booklet which you can take home. On top of everything, the décor of the restaurant is rustic and earthy. The class is held just in front of a room where they brew beer. The class begins with Don explaining how to perfect your pasta from making the dough. He gives you time to ask as many questions as you desire. (Here is a small tip from Don if you are unsure how much flour you need for just two people – 300 grams will be plenty!) Don then shows you how to make different types of pasta – spaghetti, tortellini, ravioli and more. The best part of the class is that you get a hands-on session and actually make …

2017 MICF Interviews

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is returning in 2017 with a spectacular line up of local and international performers in over 500 shows – running for four, hilariously entertaining weeks. We caught up with three local performers, and got their thoughts on the festival, tips on how best to enjoy it and the inside oil on their upcoming shows…. Gillian Cosgriff – 8 Songs in 8 Weeks What about the MICF gets you excited? Seeing as many shows as I can, especially new ones. This year I’m hanging out to see Liam Ryan, Double Denim, and Alice Tovey. Also, eating my own body weight in potato cakes. What’s your top three recommendations for visitors to Melbourne to get the most out of MICF? 1. Take a chance on a show you’ve never heard of before – a new venue, a new genre of comedy, someone who flyers you in the street. 2. Go to the Festival Club to see a bunch of comedians in one show. It’s a great way to find a comedian you …

Choose Trainspotting Live

You know the drill. Choose life. Choose a career. Choose a family…. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and tin can openers.. and so in. We all know it, we all love it, and an exciting news, this cult-classic Irvine Welsh novel adaptation is hitting Melbourne stages from 22 March – 13 April 2017. Not many people know, but the stage adaptation of Trainspotting was actually written before the movie was made by Harry Gibson. Presented by Andrew Kay, Associates and Kings Head Theatre, and in it’s 21st year, it continues to simultaneously make it’s audience laugh, cry and cringe as they are fully immersed into the heroin-fueled world of Renton, Begbie and Sickboy. Trainspotting is entirely immersive, meaning you as the audience are actually a part of the story. It’s pitched as raw, uncomfortable (in the best ways possible) and kicks off with a rave complete with strobe lighting and glow-sticks – so you know it’s going to be non-stop. It comes with a warning: Don’t wear your best clothes….. we say, ‘Choose casual comfort.’ Where: fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders …

Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival

This year Melbourne’s largest celebration fashion is running for ten, gorgeous days. Aiming to be bigger and better than the previous years, the festival will include world-class runway events from well-known, and up and coming Australian designers, beauty workshops, industry Q&A’s, live entertainment and more. Not just restricted to Melbourne CBD, the festival will this year kick off with smaller Fashion Weekend events in key shopping meccas like Chapel Street, High Street, Chadstone and Glenferrie Road – all activated with exclusive discounts and activities for shoppers, but will really ramp up with the Vogue / David Jones Gala Runway to be held at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton on the 14th of March. For those who are more into the countercultural or functional elements of fashion, there are several interesting workshops running like ‘Sequin-Savvy: The History of Calisthenics Fashion’ and an International Women’s Day forum breakfast on 8 March, presented by Marie Claire and Mimco. Don’t forget to check out the Priceline Pharmacy Festival of Beauty pop, located in the Plaza, just outside the …

Proud to Be a Chef Awards

Do you love cheese as much as we do? Is dairy THE diet you can’t go without? Fonterra, a global co-operatively owned company which sources high-quality milk products recently hosted the annual Proud To Be A Chef Awards, and we were lucky to be invited to their gala dinner this year. The program has been running for 18 years and this year, with no surprise, was an amazing success for both Fonterra and the contestants. Each year, Fonterra Foodservice provide a not-to-be-missed opportunity for 30+ young and ambitious apprentice chefs to go on an incredible culinary experience. Giles Gabutina, the winner of Proud To Be A Chef 2017 is a young inspiring pastry chef based in Sydney. He got his first job in the kitchen when he was 16 and is keen to work hard to achieve his culinary dreams. In his own words “I hope to “bake” the world a better place by inspiring people to follow their dreams in the same way my inspirations have done for me.” And here he is today, not only the winner of Proud To Be A Chef …

Arts Review: All This Living

As the intro to this piece states, ‘age comes to us all you know,’ we’re reminded of this in the opening act, a recollection of a bathroom encounter, when some young pretty things, applying lipstick in the mirror, label the character, Jay, portrayed beautifully by Camilla Blunden, ‘just an old woman.’ This comment, makes it real for her, and thus launches the rest of the performance where she digs deeply into the phenomenon of getting old, and how over time, older women somehow lose their voice, become invisible, and incorrectly feel they have become a burden to society. As the piece progresses, she attempts to turn these beliefs on their head, re-empowering women, as wise, important, highly visible beings with stories to tell, all the while batting off the inner voices that creep up, and try to convince her otherwise. This show was difficult to follow in parts, as the narrative jumped from whimsical inner thought to thought, from real life to fantasy through paint stores, pots and pans, to magical woods filled with fiery …

Eat, drink, make & learn

Are you passionate about coffee making? Is it pasta you crave at the end of your long day? Ever wanted to master your home made coffee brewing skills? Or is indulging in cheese one of your daily routines? The Craft & Co, a collective leaning centre in Collingwood offers classes in all of these areas and more for those with an interest in the culinary and arts. The Craft & Co works with local producers in Melbourne and offers classes ranging from salami making, pasta making, coffee cupping, brewing for beginners, cheese making,  learning why bees matter so much or exploring the magic behind craft distillation. All classes are $75, 3-hours long and including a tasting, one in-house brewing beverage, questionnaires and hands-on experience. If you are unsure what class you should take, you can even try out their free pasta or wine making demo class on Sundays to get a feel for the courses. Here is a sneak peak of what you get from the classes: Pasta Making: All attendees enjoy freshly made pasta, …

Free Asia Pop Courtyard

Be a part of Asia TOPA (Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts) this February at the Immigration Museum. Every Friday evenings this February from 5pm – 9pm, the courtyard area will come to life with free Asia Pop, food, drinks and general fun. The event will feature DJ Japandaman and Sihouette d’Amore, The Pink Tiles, K-pop Melbourne dancers, a karaoke lounge and Kung Fu motion installation. The bonus, you can enter all of these exhibitions for free! Definitely a fun way to explore cultures from over 200 countries and be inspired by their stories at the Immigration Museum, and a great alternative to the usual Friday night drinks.             Where: 400 Flinders St, Melbourne VIC 3000 When: Friday evenings, this February from 5pm – 9pm More information: Check their website.

Happy Chinese New Year

Chinese new year is all about gathering with family, eating lots of delicious food, playing with firecrackers, buying new clothes and the giving and receiving of red envelopes. It is a time for families to be together. Melbourne offers you a 17 day Chinese New Year festival with activities located from Queensbridge Square, Queen Victoria Market, Chinatown, the Chinese Museum, Melbourne Zoo, Eureka Skydeck and Southgate, through to Docklands and DFO South Wharf. Things you can do while staying with us at The Swanston Grand Mercure and Mercure Welcome – Experience “God of Prosperity’s visit” at Emporium Melbourne Enjoy a Chinese New Year’s Eve Feast sponsored by Secret Kitchen, located at the corners of Exhibition and Little Bourke Street. Be memorized by the dragons at the Dragon Parade Day throughout Chinatown on 29th of Jan, Sunday. Buy a lantern and hang it on The Lantern Wishing Tree at Cohen Place Watch Asian short films, also at Cohen Place For more activities and festival info visit http://www.cnymelbourne.com.au/home/ http://melbournechinesenewyear.com

Midsumma Review: The Happy Prince

Many are already familiar with the sweet but sad story of Oscar Wilde’s Happy Prince. A beautifully adorned statue stands high over a city, eyes of sapphires, skin of gold leaf and a ruby in his dagger, saddened by the injustice of life as a poor citizen in a Victorian era. A young swallow, bound for the warmer climate to avoid the impending winter chill is separated from his flock and takes temporary shelter within the golden folds of the Prince’s cloak. The two become inseparable companions and over several nights the Prince teaches the Swallow the meaning of true happiness, all the while the two slowly make the ultimate sacrifice, and join each other in eternity through death. Heavy right? Originally penned as a children’s tale, Little Ones Theatre reimagines this classic tale for the adult audience, turning the traditional male roles into strong female characters who take companionship further into the realms of love between two women. The fresh approach to the original story aligns perfectly with the theatre company’s dedication to pushing …