onarrival
melbourne
POLYESTER BOOKS
A fixture in Fitzroy and a stronghold of
strangeness, this brassy box is Pandora’s own
library and accessory drawer. Thought both
radical and curious colonises every counter.
T-shirts survived only by the brave blast insults
from every corner. If you’re looking for peculiar
comics, illegal art or just plain filth, this is your
one stop smut shop.
From Robert Anton Wilson to the Marquis de
Sade to 1950s “Art Studies” of busty babes, no
fear, it’s here. If it’s been banned, burned or
delayed a day or two at customs, it’ll find its way
to a shelf within Melbourne’s most iniquitous
book store.
This is not the sort of place to take the
family. It is, however, a treasure trove of
weirdness and clear confirmation that the
Summer of Love never turned to autumn for
some folk.
Owner Paul Elliot remains a staunch local
opponent of censorship. Check out his creepy,
cranky volumes if you dare.
330 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
+61 (0) 3 94195223
Open Seven Days
www.polyester.com.au
MELBOURNE FOOD
& WINE FESTIVAL
16 – 30 MARCH 2007
Celebration, instruction and the simple delight of
feeding one’s face are to be had in the month of
March. A pillar in culinary worship, the foodie Haj
is now in its fifteenth year.
A not-for-profit fortnight of bliss, this is
Australia’s largest and most inclusive
gastronomic event. Whether you’re a food snob
frantic to discover the atrisanal world’s stinkiest
washed rind cheese or you’re simply starved for
a culturally diverse plate, the two week
extravagance will deliver.
Those who worship at the pagan altar of
cacao will likely not miss Wicked Sunday. Stuff
yourself with the magic bean and chat with the
region’s best chocolatiers at Federation Square.
Set aside a dark brown Sabbath on Sunday the
25th of March.
Carbohydrate makes a comeback the same
weekend at the International Flour Festival.
Offend Aktins aficionados as you demolish sour
dough, rotis and vermicelli. Mmm. Gluten
nirvana.
12
Food is the city’s primary carnal pleasure
and this is a festival of ultimate seduction. Find
an elasticized garment, arm yourself with a
portable Escoffier and get ready to dive head first
into a vat of cold-pressed joy.
Various Venues
+61 (0)3 9823 6100
www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au
BAROQ HOUSE
In an ocean of underdone style, this plush den
has surfaced like a sapphire siren. It ain’t about
restraint at Baroq. A talented team offers an
ambience and experience that says a resounding
NO to minimalism.
Steady yourself for end-to-end extravagance.
It’s a golden, cut glass, animal print aesthetic
treat with attentive service and outlandish
potables to match.
Hidden from the everyday deep within a city
lane, this gem sparkles with an irregular lustre.
Bacchus surveys the scene as well-heeled
kittens lap Dom Perignon from Lalique saucers.
Well, not exactly. But this lair does have a
luxuriant air.
To provoke the dark Byronic monster within,
spend some time in this delightful gilt complex.
9-13 Drewery Lane, Melbourne
+61 (0)3 8080 5680
Tues–Sat 5pm until late
www.baroqhouse.com.au
a+d
BUTTERFLY CLUB
Once upon a cocktail, David Read and Neville
Sice were sensible fellows with rational
professions. Somewhere amid the haze of a
particularly strong Chi-Chi, they struck a fanciful
business deal. What do you do when the owner
of your favourite cabaret bar tells you he’s
shutting up shop? You buy it, of course.
If sense had not momentarily eluded the pair,
Melbourne would be the poorer. This crooked
dowager of a house contains some of the best
kitsch you’ll see this side of a Blackpool Car Boot
Sale.
The Club has even more going for it than
exquisitely bad taste. It has emerged as one of
the nation’s premier first-run venues. Global
notable Tim Minchin first peddled his subversive
wares in this tumble down theatre and 2007
promises to keep kicking out the kabaret jams.
Performers are nurtured here and shows are
curated rather than booked. For most of the year,
the shows are top drawer. And, if they’re not,
Neville is happy to hear your critique in the bar.
204 Bank St South Melbourne
+61 (0)3 9690 2000
Wed – Sun, 6pm till late
www.thebutterflyclub.com
Special
Subscription Offer
Subscribe to Arrivals + Departures
magazine and receive a free
L’Occitane gift set and 10,000
frequent flyer points with Air France,
part of the Sky Team Airline Alliance
that includes Korean Air, Continental
Airlines, and Alitalia.
See page 6 for details.
For more information on places + events see
www.visitvictoria.com
THE BUILDERS ARMS
Back in the day, your Nan would have warned
you off the Gertrude Street Strip. Once imagined
by the city as the origin of all vice and violence,
it’s been refigured to quench a growing
consumer thirst for high end trinkets.
Up until 2005, The Arms appeared unmoved
by all this reinvention. While her neighbours
dressed to impress, the Old Girl never managed
more than a half-done refurb. Publicans added
their marginal touches to a pub that was long a
hub, in various decades, for community minded
Kooris, musicians and unkempt students.
Decorating dynamos Tracey Lester and Noel
Fermanis administered an extreme make-over
with care and sensitivity. With flair and a nod to
the plurality of the area, they’ve fused style with
substance.
Happily, they’ve tempted former Momo chef
Kurt Sampson to the grill. His Near Eastern fusion
is pitch perfect and there ain’t a frozen Chicken
Kiev in sight.
211 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy
+61 (0)3 9419 0818