Tablet-Magazine-studioannetta

I had a great trip back home. Melbourne is a fantastic city, visually beautiful (except some of the fugly looking new developments) and lots going on. In lieu of a more lengthy post (I have so much work to catch up on,  you know how it goes)...I will leave you with a few recommendations for places I visited on this last trip. Mostly food this time...no time or funds for shopping unfortunately.

Firstly, Melbourne is known for its foodies and coffee afficionados. If you're a fan of Anthony Bourdain, like I am, you will already know this, as he has referred to the fact that all Melbournians are food critics (or at least we think we are!) so the quality is good and competition fierce.

I had time in the CBD on my own for an afternoon and asked a friend to recommend a great coffee place and these were his recommendations - Patricia and Little Wish. I only made it to Patricia...and was not disappointed. In a city where Starbucks is failing miserably, good coffee is fairly abundant. There are obviously a few that stand out from the crowd and I dare say this is one of them.  With an almost hidden entrance at the back, and probably always packed with uber cool young things, Patricia certainly serves up a mighty fine coffee. And the interior isn't too bad either ;)



I had breakfast at The St Kilda Dispensary one morning with friends and loved it. I am a bit of a sucker for nice decor and have been known to sacrifice quality of food and service for a nice interior...but you needn't do that with this place. Set in an historical building (actually the first medical dispendary in the British empire, hence the name) with a fun but not too kitsch interior, and a menu to die for. Great coffee and a selection of interesting and not-so-usual breakfast items. I would definitely go back.


Finally, I enjoyed a wonderful meal with a large group of friends at Otsumami, a Japanese resto on the ever changing and newly hip High Street in Northcote. It must have been good...it managed to get a bunch of strict south-of-the-river Melbournites north of the river for the night! I loved their slightly fusion version of Japanese, and the fact that they managed to please a vegetarian and a pescatarian.  Pretty well priced too.


That's it for now. Thanks to all the lovely people who made the trip a memorable one. You know who you are...

Broadsheet. If you're not reading it - you should be.  Even if you're not in Melbourne. Or the rest of Australia, for that matter.  It's so exciting to see all the great stuff going on in my hometown. It gives you the lowdown on all there is to eat, drink, shop and do in the greatest city down under. Totally making me homesick...

If the Nicholas & Alistair gallery had been open when I lived in Melbourne, I may never have left. Housed in a hundred-year-old building located near the banks of Melbourne's Yarra River is what can only be described as Australia's greatest collection of 20th century design.

The gallery is named after co-owners Nicholas Mesiano and Alistair Knight (of course) who spend much of the year travelling the globe sourcing pieces for the gallery. In fact they've recently returned from a 2 month buying expedition in Europe and the Americas. Lucky them!

The pair pride themselves on finding the more exceptional and unusual examples of design...and I have to say the list of designers whose pieces have graced the space reads like my favorites list: Gio Ponti, Osvaldo Borsani, Carlo Scarpa, Ico Parisi, Jacques Adnet, Guillerme and Chambron, Jules Leleu, William Haines and Paul Evans....and many more.

I'll definitely have to pay them a visit next time I'm back home...

While I was back in Melbourne I enjoyed catching up on few of the decor magazines that I don't buy regularly here in Hong Kong, namely House & Garden. One spread in particular that caught my eye was the home of the Melbourne-based French interior designer, Jean-Pierre Heurteau. If you remember, he is the designer behind those glossy black floors in a previous post. He is such a character in real life, so it was so great to see a home of a designer that I've actually met. His home is so full of life, colour, and well - flamboyance, that is enough to make any minimalist sick. But I love that he has been true to his personality, and has somehow managed to blend Australian and French cultures together - not an easy task!

As you can see he's used an all white palette for the background and layered it with pieces of different eras and cultures - and so many colours. Who knew that Aboriginal art would look so fabulous with French antiques?

With all those reflective surfaces and silk damasks it would feel like you were living inside a jewellery box!


I love the contrast between the stark white walls and the super dark (black?) carpet, and all that gold gilding. So lush. Yum. It's almost enough to make me want to move back to Australia...

All photos by Shania Shegedyn for Australian House & Garden magazine, May 2009.

If you have a cool AUD$1.7m to spend on real estate, check out this amazing apartment in Collingwood - just on the outskirts of Melbourne's cosmopolitan CBD. 'The Kiln', c. 1862, is designed over 5 levels, including underground parking and balconies with amazing city views.
Not sure if you can see the photos clearly, but the ceiling is an amazing barrel shape and the whole space has so much character. Now if only I could find something equally unique in Hong Kong...and find a few spare dollars.

This renovation from an industrial warehouse to an uber chic bachelor pad in Melbourne had me swooning! If I was to renovate an old warehouse, this is pretty close to what I would do myself. The former 1 bedroom apartment owned by Steven Quigg, Melbourne based Interior Designer has been transformed into a 4 bedroom space with a study. Normally you read about people buying apartments and knocking down walls to open it up - but not this time. I'm a big fan of walls, and I actually like having rooms, so I appreciate what Quigg has done here. With a mix of high and low, old and new, minimal and decorative, he's created a space that he calls international, yet feels very Australian. Painted brick walls and highly polished concrete floors mixed with Ralph Lauren wallpaper (Ashfield Floral in Gunmetal) create a stunning backdrop to a collection of period and custom made pieces. Its cool and cozy.


Sorry, bad scanning quality here, but these images are of the open living dining area. The sunburst mirror was purchased while the owner was living in New York. An antique Empire sideboard sits behind Jardan sofas. A 19th C French chandelier sits over the custom reproduction dining table. The 50's French neoclassical dining chairs are covered in a pearlescent vinyl and backed with black dyed springbok. The large canopy chair (on the right hand side of the 2nd image) is covered in cowhide.



The painting at the end of the galley kitchen is by Peter Walsh.

Photographs by legendary Australian photographer Bill Henson line the length of the open study.

A custom made lampshade by Quigg adds a bit of glamour to an antique lamp base. The painting beside it was commissioned by Quigg.

A custom made mirror panel head board adds some light and a bit of glitz to the bedroom.

All images from Belle Feb/Mar 2008, photos by Shannon McGrath.

Federation Square

The Young & Jackson Pub

St. Pauls Cathedral