In the Footsteps of Tatiana Metanova After an early morning flight over Russia’s vast tundra, laid flat like moss-green jigsaw pieces interspersed with connecting waterways and small lakes,…
She’s the talk of London town: award-winning designer Kit Kemp and partner Tim have just announced the launch of their Firmdale Hotels’ eighth property in London, the Ham…
I’ll admit it; I’m obsessed with wine. Not just any wine… Australian wine. Not always reds, but they tend to be a preference. The huge diversity of fabulously…
FIVE MINUTES WITH ALBURY PÂTISSIER GEOFFREY DIMITROVSKI Tell us about the name: Geoffrey Michael Pâtissier? GM: Geoffrey Michael are my first and middle names. My last name is…
Matthew Jukes’ 100 Best Australian Wines 2014/15 – 11th edition, launched. Britain’s most widely read wine critic, Matthew Jukes, launched his 100 Best Australian Wines 2014/15 early this…
Australia’s newest art prize, and one of its richest, was delivered on a stormy night in Benalla this autumn. More than 300 people braved wind and rain to…
It’s not all big old-world reds at Baileys of Glenrowan. Today a new balance is provided with good food and a marvellous native garden environment to enjoy. Essentials’…
Fred Williams visited the Pilbara region of Western Australia for the first time in May 1979 at the invitation of his friend Sir Roderick Carnegie, then Chairman of…
Serves 4 (makes about 30 gougères) 250ml water 165g unsalted butter 5g crushed black pepper 12g cooking salt 250g plain flour 10g nutmeg, freshly microplaned 4 free-range eggs…
Sometime in the mid-1980s is when it hit me… I’d walked into Tolarno Galleries in River Street, South Yarra, to view Albert Tucker’s latest exhibition, Faces I have…
To walk inside the home of artist Asher Bilu and his wife, Luba, is the stuff of considerable wonder. Known for large works of abstraction, Asher’s authentic Victorian…
A ride on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle following the King Valley’s corkscrew bends is just one way Trevor Knaggs likes to cool down at the height of summer. ‘I…
When three Goulburn Valley apple and pear growers and their wives came together to create a cider, a quirky name stuck, but the product reigned supreme. We’re mighty…
Desperate for respite from city peak traffic and the concrete maze, I could not have been more excited checking in to the Panoramia Villas, the new project born…
with bitter salad greens, cornichons and toasts Serves 10 an entrée, or light starter 1 Murray valley Rolled Scotch, Approx. 1.2kg 1 liter of duck fat 2 Teaspoons…
Yileena Park 2010 Pinot Noir Regular readers of Essentials will know that I’m a bit partial to the great luscious reds wines of the boutique Yarra Valley label…
The board might have sympathised! with the growers of what used to be Australian sherry however in recognition of Spain’s claim to that name, Australia had to invent its…
Sorrento’s landmark Continental Hotel has just launched a newly renovated and spacious bar, Balcony. The Conti, as regulars know it, is an institution on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula and…