Our latest special event is part of Sparkling Sydney - a food and wine festival happening in Pyrmont, celebrating all there is to love about Australian gastronomy & amazing sparkling wines! We kick-off our inner-city dining experience at the new and shiny Aiden Hotel, with our prerequisite cocktail and delicious bar food in the fabulous snug downstairs bar with a view of Murray Street nightlife. During the 1930s - when Pyrmont was a major part of the working harbour - this building was the home of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR). In transforming the building into a soulful and sophisticated boutique hotel the owners have carefully kept the original bricks, features and framework from its rich history, whilst introducing a contemporary design.
We have a new player onboard for our Darlinghurst dining tours: introducing Bar Nina on the corner of Crown & Stanley Streets. Right smack in the middle of East Sydney the restaurant opened in April 2021 - mere months before Lockdown 2.0 kicked-in. We had intentions of popping-down to check-out the menu and vibe but Rona got in the way. So it was lovely to finally go there recently for a Saturday afternoon rose & oysters and discover that yes this is a place we definitely want to bring our guests!
Congratulations Sydney! You made it to the other side of 107 days in Lockdown 2.0. Looking forward to full and buzzy restaurants, sitting at the bar and chatting to our fave staff, making new friends, not wearing a mask outdoors and heading to the cinema on a lazy Friday afternoon. Here's a few shots from our lockdown walks and home delivery experiences from around the hood.
We started our Australian Travel Exchange 2021 on Sunday afternoon with a booking of three key luxe travel guests of Destination NSW on a curated lunchtime dining walk of Surry Hills on a Sunday afternoon. We met our guests upstairs at Tilly Mays Sydney who had just returned from hitting Bondi for a surf lesson and were in need of sustenance. The generous all Australian cheese board accompanied by a refreshing Pizzini, King Valley prosecco hit the spot perfectly.
We have just completed our first Australian Travel Exchange trade show at the International Convention Centre (ICC) at Darling Harbour. Consisting of a hybrid event of live and online appointments between Buyers and Sellers of the Australian travel industry over a ten day period. Offerings included: accommodation, tours, online travel websites and other services and products suitable for the domestic and overseas markets.
We are very excited to announce that we will be kicking off our Surry Hills dining walks at Eileen's bar, from now on! The bar is located above Four Pillars Sydney Lab + Gin store on Crown Street, serving beautifully-crafted gin cocktails that showcase the ever-growing Four Pillars range. Hosting regular cocktail-making/education classes where a gin still - named Eileen of course - sits elegantly in the corner.
The idea for SOUL Deli - Sydney’s first Korean brunch café/deli - came from a spur-of-the-moment pivot. When the nation went into the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 and husband-and-wife team chef Daero Lee and Illa Kim had to close their Surry Hills contemporary Korean restaurant SOUL Dining, they launched BOWL by SOUL to offer freshly made takeaway rice bowls. The pivot proved hugely popular with locals, many who returned daily, to enjoy the affordable and authentic Korean rice bowls (deopbap), homemade with fresh ingredients.
The Sydney Connection turned 8 last week. Woo hoo!
And to celebrate we bought a piece of art for the home office My Poster Sucks which is coming all the way from Turin Italy! We first discovered their work Rootstock Sydney and bought a Sophia Loren piece featuring champagne. So now Obama joins the family.
