fitzroyalty

no more Treasure Shoe

brian — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:11:19 +0000

Treasure Shoe (next to Ammo) has closed and the premises are being renovated. Stay tuned for something new…

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

roses on Leicester St

brian — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:11:09 +0000

Amazing art by Nate Gamble on the side wall of a terrace house on Leicester St.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

lick my claw biatch

brian — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:03:12 +0000

Your crustacean overlord has returned. I am now even more fabulous. I have a bicycle and a lackey to ride me places.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

dinner at Sassy’s Jamaican Kitchen, St George’s Rd North Fitzroy

brian — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:02:59 +0000

Sassy’s Jamaican Kitchen on St George’s Rd, North Fitzroy, serves a short menu of home-style Jamaican cooking. On the night I was there with a fellow blogger we enjoyed the complimentary vegetable soup, and had roti and jerk chicken each. The soup is rich, nutty and delicious.

The food is simple, so when the menu says roti it means just roti, with no sauce to dip it in. We received the complimentary soup before we had ordered, so by the time the roti arrived we had finished the soup. They would be nice together, so the trick is to order before you get your soup.

Having had jerk chicken in Read the complete post...

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

Tony Abbott naked on Leicester St

brian — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:13:51 +0000

I saw this collage on Flickr and went looking for it. It’s on the big Leicester St graf wall (just off Brunswick St) if you want to see it for yourself.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

The Next Hole has opened on Smith St

brian — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:02:19 +0000

The Next Hole, a business where you can rent a rack (sublet a small space like at Incub8r) has opened on Smith St. Whereas Incuba8r is jewellery and ‘small things’ oriented, The Next Hole is for fashion.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

anarchy vs chaos

brian — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 02:12:11 +0000

On two separate laneway walls off Rose St. So what is anarchy then? Apparently, it’s the ‘second face of capitolization (sic)’. Anarchy evidently started in the classroom. These anarchists won’t get far in a capitalist world with such poor communication skills…

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

lunch at Ying Thai 2, Lygon St Carlton

brian — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:18:54 +0000

I assumed Ying Thai 2 must be good because it is always busy, but did not realise how many people love eating here. Compared to every neighbour on Lygon St, they have fewer spare tables and more customers for lunch each day. It gives you confidence when going somewhere new for the first time to see so many enthusiastic diners around you.

I ordered one of the lunch special – tender pork on rice with green vegetables (mostly hidden under the pork in the photo below) and awesome chilli sauce that worked so well with the rich meat. Delicious and good value at under $10. I understand now that Ying Thai 2 is to Thai food what Nasi Lemak House Read the complete post...

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

Urban Cake Lady

brian — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 02:09:36 +0000

After seeing Vetti‘s post on the art of Urban Cake Lady I went looking for them myself, and I am impressed. The painted and pasted works feature hooded fairytale-like characters with animals, and they are striking and also somewhat sinister. From the top down: Leicester St; Gore St; and Rose St.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

in the pink

brian — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 14:06:09 +0000

A splendid time was had on Rose St on a recent Friday night judging by the evidence left behind on Saturday morning.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

Red Chilli has closed

brian — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 02:12:23 +0000

Another sudden closure on Brunswick St, this time Red Chilli. I never ate there and, as far as I can see, it only got one brief review.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

Fitzroy planning alerts

brian — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:09:43 +0000

Planningalerts.org.au is a web 2.0 site that aggregates planning applications and syndicates them in formats that are far more user friendly than the terrible sites most councils have. They have Twitter too. Open Australia gives a tutorial in how to use the site’s API to embed a map of the planning applications wherever you want. The map below is for Fitzroy.

View Larger Map

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

real art

brian — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 02:01:20 +0000

I have not seen any street art commentary from Philthy for a long time, so I was amused to see this on Gertrude St this week.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

John Citizen closes today

brian — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:04:21 +0000

Cute retro vintage shop John Citizen is closing today. It’s a shame as I really like how this little strip of Brunswick St in North Fitzroy has become more lively in recent years with a variety of small businesses opening.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

sisters of Gore St

brian — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 02:05:39 +0000

This was stuck on the wall outside Safeway on Smith St last week. WTF? I have no idea what this is about. Does anyone?

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

hipsternomics

brian — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:03:18 +0000

What happens when a bunch of hipsters open a shop on Brunswick St, leave it mostly empty, do no marketing and have such minimal signage and branding that most people don’t even notice what the shop sells? It fails and closes quickly. This is the story of Heist. It was not my intention to write so many stories about failed businesses in Fitzroy this week, but that’s what I’m seeing.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

cafe Beelzebub has closed

brian — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:08:14 +0000

In a curious coincidence, one of the cafes I selected for this month’s ‘tell me where to go poll’ has closed. Cafe Beelzebub on Smith St, which seemed closed more than open, has made up its mind. The votes for it will have to be discarded.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

passive aggressive domain name games

brian — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:09:07 +0000

Fitzroyalty has some dedicated haters. I genuinely don’t know why they bother. If they don’t like what the site is about, why do they continue to pay it so much attention? Why don’t they focus their creative energies on their own projects instead of making pathetic attempts to undermine mine? I think the answer is they don’t actually have the talent to do anything original.

I wrote earlier this year about the use of the name Fitzroyalty and then expanded on it to explain its legal status. This followed on from my post late last year about the fake Fitzroyalty site that had been made at WordPress, which lead someone, presumably its creator, to stalk me online. Read the complete post...

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

Sala Thai has closed

brian — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 02:05:01 +0000

This came as a surprise to me. Sala Thai on Brunswick St closed last week after being in business for 20 years. Last year the consensus among Fitzroyalty readers was that it was the best Thai restaurant in Fitzroy. Where are we going to go now? Like many others, I think I now prefer MamaNee on the Collingwood side of Smith St.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

wall of worms

brian — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:04:22 +0000

A reader alerted me to the painting of this house on the corner of George St and Condell St, so I went to have a look. It features a wall of worms similar to others that have appeared on walls in the inner city, including Northcote and Carlton, along with spaces for people to write short quotes. The best part is the inclusion of two Mishap figures. The worms are by Simz I think. Mishap was prolific early in 2009 but I have not seen any appear this year. I’m glad she’s back.

Read the complete post...

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

not happy

brian — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:13:55 +0000

Several versions of this print have appeared on Fitzroy walls. This coloured version on Smith St has benefited from what appears to be some third party editorialising.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

brunch at Sonido on Gertrude St

brian — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:04:22 +0000

Although I was lucky to be the first to review the new Cruzao Arepa Bar on Brunswick St, I was not quick enough to do the same at the similar Sonido on Gertrude St. Respect to Where’s the beef for publishing the first review, followed by Vetti live in Northcote, Fat belly club and Crafty llama. I don’t know why two South American cafes serving arepas have opened in Fitzroy at the same time, but I appreciate it as both are great. I stopped in to Sonido for brunch last Saturday and love the eclectic interior.

I had the arepa con huevo (below) – a surprisingly Read the complete post...

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

farewell Lamington Drive

brian — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:05:31 +0000

The Lamington Drive gallery, formerly on George St, has moved to Collingwood, but left behind this charming reminder of the colour they brought to Fitzroy with some fascinating exhibitions.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

City of Yarra publishes new website, forgets to add new features

brian — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:03:10 +0000

In May 2009 I wrote about some of the problems with the City of Yarra website. In June I wrote to them and volunteered some ideas about how they could improve their website and their communications. In July I wrote about this here and about how the City of Yarra had announced that they planned to update their site.

In November I undertook a comparative analysis of Melbourne local government websites and acknowledged that, despite its functional limitations, the City of Yarra site’s content was better than comparable sites. No further news was made available about their proposed site update and I forgot all about it until the new site was revealed last week.

Read the complete post...

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

frowning at thongs

brian — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 02:11:31 +0000

I was very pleased to see the little extra note on the Perseverence hotel‘s ID sign disapproving of thongs. I hope the trend of wearing thongs everywhere has gone out of fashion.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

has the Cherry Lounge closed?

brian — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 14:13:37 +0000

I get confused when a business like the Cherry Lounge papers over its windows and repaints repeatedly; in their case about 3 times in the last 18 months. They alternate between deserted and full to bursting when they have a band playing. It is a business that does not seem to have found its niche or sufficient regular customers.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

bohemian afternoon

brian — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 02:18:59 +0000

A cool video featuring a walk along Brunswick St.

Bohemian afternoon from Charles Van den Broek on Vimeo.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

this is a political announcement

brian — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:03:03 +0000

I doubt I will be enjoying today’s election as much as the last one, where I took friends to dinner at The Commoner and we had a fabulous time. All today deserves is cheese on toast.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

jizz

brian — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 02:07:05 +0000

Real estate signs on Rose St seem to be popular targets for humour recently. This sign is for the premises on the corner of Fitzroy St that used to be a brothel, before it housed editing suites for Abby Winters.

Photograph by Vetti live in Northcote – used with permission

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

Some little success at Brunswick St Gallery

brian — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:05:31 +0000

Artist Kate Hughes’ exhibition Some little success is on at the Brunswick St Gallery until 26 August. You can read more about the exhibition and see more of her work, including her beautiful photography, on her blog.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

Labyrinthine exhibition opens tonight on Alexandra Parade

brian — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 02:03:33 +0000

Labyrinthine, an exhibition of recent drawings, paintings and textiles by artist Maxime Banks (below), opens tonight at the Shabana Jacobson Gallery at 120 Alexandra Parade, Fitzroy, between 6pm – 8pm.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

welcome to Fitzroystan

brian — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:07:24 +0000

The Brotherhood of St Lawrence posted these photos yesterday on their Twitpic account of the babushka dolls in the Atherton Gardens repainted to depict them wearing burqas. The top picture was posted first; a few hours later, they posted another of them wrapped in plastic. That’s how I saw them when I walked past, and I thought they’d been vandalised. I didn’t pay much attention, but when I saw the photos online last night it all made sense.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

lunch at Mark’s Place, Swanston St Carlton

brian — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 02:06:30 +0000

Surrounded by franchised fast food and Japanese, Chinese and Malaysian places, Mark’s Place in Carlton is something of a cultural anachronism opposite the University of Melbourne. It makes large cheap old school thick crust pizzas and other Italian food, and is decorated with Australian sporting memorabilia.

Given the trend for thin crust pizza (Bimbo’s, Ladro, Supermaxi etc) the pizzas are as out of fashion as the decor, but that does not mean it’s bad. I’ve tried the capricciosa, which was exactly as you would expect, and the volcano (below, hot salami and lots of chilli), which was good. On a cold winter’s day a hot thick crust pizza is most satisfying, the prices are modest and the staff are friendly.

Read the complete post...

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

Atherton Gardens heroin arrests

brian — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:06:55 +0000

So the regular complaints from some Atherton Gardens residents were correct: tenants in flats in the estate have been using their homes as a base for drug trafficking. It’s good news for the majority of the law abiding tenants that these people have finally been caught. Hopefully the security and other problems in the towers will be reduced as a result.

Apart from the Police having to work for months, perhaps years, to gather evidence to build a case before making arrests, I wonder how the public housing authorities and other government agencies failed to notice over long periods of time how much money the drug dealers had. Surely their cars and bank accounts could have exposed them. Surely they Read the complete post...

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

a small shop, toasted, with raisins

brian — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:12:02 +0000

In the window of Max’s espresso bar on Brunswick St. I’m confused!

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

The City of Yarra gives me the shits

brian — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:11:26 +0000

The farce that is the plan to build new and much needed public toilets in Fitzroy and nearby areas in the City of Yarra continues to provide amusement and frustration in equal measure. The City of Yarra spends years ignoring the issue, then announced a ludicrously impractical alternative to outsource the provision of public toilets to private businesses, before accepting responsibility for fixing the issue and nominating potential locations: 3 were listed in May 2009.

In May 2010 the Westgarth St location was rejected due to complaints from neighbours including the Firefighters Credit Union. They provided no evidence to support their subjective and irrational belief that undesirable people would loiter around the toilet.

The toilets are planned to look Read the complete post...

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

lunch at the John Curtin hotel, Lygon St Carlton

brian — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 02:11:11 +0000

The John Curtin hotel on Lygon St is an institution to university students and staff and is a great place to have lunch. The daily specials are amazing value and the food is always good, and the chef even tells you about your meal when your buzzer flashes and you go to the counter to pick it up. They make an excellent burger, but last week I had the $10 pie with real tender steak and vegetables. The gravy was delicious and the caramelised onion with balsamic vinegar added extra flavour. You can follow them on Twitter and the Happyologist is also impressed.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

a measure of success

brian — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 14:12:12 +0000

In August 2010 I have achieved some significant numbers with Fitzroyalty. I’m publishing this information not to promote myself but to show the progress that can be achieved if you are serious about publishing an independent website. Just as I was initially inspired by the Abbotsford blog, it is nice to think that I may provide motivation for others.

Fitzroyalty has published over 2000 posts since May 2006, and it has received over 1,000,000 total hits. For me the most important number is 100,000: Fitzroyalty exceeded 100,000 hits per month for the first time in July 2010. 10% of its total traffic was received in the last 2% of overall period of publication.

This demonstrates the cumulative effect of continual regular Read the complete post...

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

warm rabbit

brian — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 02:11:45 +0000

A pretty warm rabbit on Brunswick St.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

Old Fitzroy by Dan Sultan

brian — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 14:04:23 +0000

A great music video shot on the streets of Fitzroy.

Dan Sultan – ‘Old Fitzroy’ from Daybreak Films on Vimeo.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

grimey

brian — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 02:12:19 +0000

Feel free to disregard this advice on an Elgin St wall.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

Fitzroy history – Aboriginal history of Fitzroy video

brian — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:12:41 +0000

An informative video about the Aboriginal history of Fitzroy from Infoxchange TV.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

new photography exhibition at Kent St bar

brian — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 02:04:12 +0000

An exhibition of photos from melbournestreet.net opens tomorrow evening at Kent St bar on Smith St.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

the secret deal between the Victorian Police and the AFL

brian — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:09:09 +0000

The Victorian Police have a history of failing to demonstrate competence in investigation allegations of rape. As the ABC reported in 2009, the investigation into an alleged rape perpetrated by an AFL player was fundamentally incompetent and failed the woman who made the complaint. The Police then tried to pay her off with a confidential settlement payment.

In 2010 we learned that the Police failed to properly investigate another rape claim against another AFL player, and that two diligent officers were undermined and threatened by their superiors into abandoning their work. Now we have just learned that the Police had a secret deal to share confidential information with the AFL. I think there’s more to this than Read the complete post...

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

lunch at the Chutney Bar, Queen St

brian — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 02:03:58 +0000

I love Indian food and recently found the Chutney Bar at the northern end of Queen St near the Queen Victoria markets. Their goat vindaloo is delicious and comes with rice and roti. It was great value at about $10. No one else seems to have reviewed it, and Google streetview shows a generic cafe at the location, so it may be relatively new. I didn’t get a chance to as it’s a busy place and the staff were rushing about but it is worth trying if you work in the area.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

2010 MIFF favourites

brian — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:02:26 +0000

The film that impressed me the most at MIFF this year was The day will come (Es kommt der Tag, 2009), an intense drama about a young woman in search of the mother who abandoned her as a child. The problem is the mother has been in hiding ever since as she’s a former member of a 1970s terrorist group.

Air doll (Kûki ningyô, 2009) is a surreal Pinocchio style story about an inflatable sex doll who comes to life. I thought it may be rather fetishistic and creepy, but it was unexpectedly light and charming until the inevitable Japanese weirdness set in and the sweet naive doll Read the complete post...

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

when you really need to go

brian — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 02:09:16 +0000

If you’re desperate to go, the North Yarra Community Health Centre on Brunswick St is eager to provide a special service for you. This was left by their entrance for days recently.

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

Hot house media and events – fuck off you moronic PR goons

brian — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:08:23 +0000

I get a lot of junk email. Apart from the spam I get many irrelevant press releases and invites from advertising, marketing and public relations agencies. They obviously employ some ignorant person to scour food blogs for email addresses, which they add into their CRM. There’s evidently little or no checking of the sites to see whether they should be marketed to.

The worst offender in Melbourne is, in my experience, Hot House media and events (HHME). I’ve received emails from them before that I’ve simply deleted, but in June this year things started to become more annoying. I received an email from John Flower attaching a press release about a food event in Venice. Not interested. Irrelevant.

I replied and requested Read the complete post...

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

lunch at the Rose Garden BBQ Shop, Elizabeth St

brian — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 02:13:24 +0000

The Rose Garden BBQ Shop must be the busiest place on Elizabeth St! On my third attempt I managed to get a seat. Once inside, you’re faced with such a big menu that choice is difficult, so I chose something from their ‘top 10′ list – shredded pork with mushrooms with noodles. It was satisfying but on hindsight I should have chosen something with BBQ pork, and I will do that next time I manage to get in.

Rose Garden is popular with food bloggers judging by the reviews I have seen from Never trust a skinny foodie, Kongkay, Iron eaters and Fei-not.

Read the complete post...

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

tell me where to go – lunch at Yong green food, Brunswick St

brian — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:04:20 +0000

Yong green food on Brunswick St was the winner of my third ‘tell me where to go’ poll. It received 31% of the total vote (43 of the 139 votes, 3 less than last month). I was surprised that it won considering it has been open for about six months and has been well reviewed by established and newer food blogs. I thought people would already know about it and would not be that interested in another review, especially as I am hardly a vegetarian food expert. My enthusiasm for food in general will have to suffice.

I arranged a rendezvous with a healthy eating friend who I had also introduced to Read the complete post...

Fitzroyalty - hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065 by Brian Ward is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.