No1 Airport Lounges open The House in Melbourne and Sydney International Airports

Updated: 16/11/2022

No longer do you need to be basic find yourself sitting outside of the luxury of the the flight lounges at Melbourne and Sydney airports like the proverbial naughty puppy dog left out in the rain. No1 Lounges have opened in Sydney and Melbourne International Airports, giving all manner of travellers access to something to look forward to – other than duty-free shopping – before you board your long haul flight out of Oz. They’ve kicked off their terminal take over with their flagship brand, The House, opening its doors – provided you’ve got the dollars – to all travellers, regardless of the airline brand name on their ticket. From just $80 per person, you can relax in first-class comfort for up to three hours prior to departure, with the option to buy additional hours online in advance, or on arrival at the lounge. It’s $90 at the door per person, if you’re feeling a bit more lush and don’t have the foresight to plan ahead. No1 Lounges at Sydney and Melbourne International Airports offer a choice of seating areas, unrivalled airport views, showers, and unlimited Wi-Fi, as well as television, newspapers, glossy magazines and charging points as standard. If you’re feeling yourself a bit more, you can upgrade your experience and enjoy white-linen a la carte dining, a fully tended bar that offers premium wines, beers and spirits, champagne and classic cocktails and barista coffees. Where’s The House in Sydney? Inside Terminal 1 (Qantas), this 8000 square foot lounge has 120 seats, with immediate views… Read More

Category: CITIES, FEATURES, LIFESTYLE, MELBOURNE, SYDNEY, TRAVEL

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Sydney Dance Company is celebrating its 50th anniversary in a massive way with Mardi Gras and CINCO

by James Banham

Updated: 16/11/2022

Rafael Bonachela is the artistic director of the Sydney Dance Company and responsible for most of the epic dance pieces the troupe puts on in Australia and around the world. He does it well. So when his baby turns 50 and celebrates its birthday in quite an epic was as it has, you know he’s behind it, doing nothing but the best for the dance company responsible for Forever & Ever and ab intra just to name a few. In addition to the milestone in itself, the Sydney Dance Company participated for the first time in the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and is putting on a new double bill production, headlined by the new work, CINCO (you can win tickets here). “Mardi Gras was an incredible thrill, for me personally and for the Company. Believe it or not, it was the very first time that Sydney Dance Company had participated in the parade,” said Rafael. The entry of the Company signified 50 years as a diverse organisation that hires and is involved directly with many people who identify as LGBTIQ+ and their friends. “We employ a significant number of LGBTQI artists and staff and we have a long tradition of welcoming the LGBTQI community to participate and express themselves through dance,” he said. And they did it well. Rafael doesn’t even shy away from admitting their float was essentially one of the best ones out there on Oxford Street. “It was an explosion of gold glitter, complete with a ballet bar, mirrors, and… Read More

Category: ARTS & CULTURE, CITIES, DANCE, FEATURES, LIFESTYLE, SYDNEY

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Quartier Bistro and Bar is refined eating in The Rocks

by Emi Berry

Posted: 16/03/2019

Tucked away in the backstreets of The Rocks is the cozy French-inspired Quartier Bistro & Bar, a fabulous venue for an intimate dining experience or a celebratory lunch with the girls. Welcoming and stylishly decorated, this relatively new yet chic restaurant only opened its doors in late 2018. The bistro in located in the luxurious Quay West Suites Sydney on Gloucester Street. Quartier Bistro & Bar offers a breakfast menu everyday, and lunch and dinner menus from Tuesday through to Saturday (closed on Sunday and Monday). Here, you can enjoy classic French inspired dishes such as steak frites, moules marinière and charcuterie boards for two. Of course, you’ll want to finish with a traditional French dessert such as the tarte tatin or the vanilla crème brûlée to end the night on a sweet high. The bistro also host special events, so keep an eye on their website for these reasonably priced culinary promotions. Quartier Bistro & Bar recently hosted an indulgent high-tea event celebrating International Women’s Day, presented by Veuve Clicquot, with guests sampling some of the best champagne the House of Veuve Clicquot has to offer. The bistro has also collaborated with Queer Screen’s – 26th Mardi Gras Film Festival and is currently offering a Post Mardi Gras Indulgence promotion which includes an entrèe, a main plus a bottle of wine for $45 per person. This offer runs until the 31 March, 2019. Quartier Bistro & Bar is also the perfect venue for those looking for somewhere to sink into a comfortable armchair after… Read More

Category: CITIES, FOOD & DRINK, LIFESTYLE, SYDNEY

Tags: high tea sydney, Quartier Sydney, THE F Quartier

And you thought you nailed choreography? Sydney Dance Company has a Mardi Gras float

Sydney Dance Company Mardi Gras parade 1

by James Banham

Updated: 02/03/2019

OK, so, if you’ve ever seen the Sydney Dance Company dancers on stage, then you know what you’re in for. Prepare to pack up your dancing shoes, rip apart your pom-poms and go home if you’re in this year’s parade, because shit is about to get turned up. The world renowned dance troupe is, for the first time ever, making its debut in the 2019 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade down Oxford Street in front of millions. In honour of the Company’s 50th anniversary in 2019, the Sydney Dance Company’s choreography features a high energy, tightly rehearsed dance routine with 80 members of Sydney Dance Company’s community, led by dance class manager Ramon Doringo. If you need a taste of the kind of magic that awaits, have a look at what they did at their most recent presentation. Ramon will lead the synchronised marching troupe from the back of a golden Sydney Dance Company Studio float, complete with ballet bar, mirrors and performing drag queens. Doesn’t matter if you’re gay, or just love the energy of the LGBTIQ festival and show of pride, missing the dance rendition from the Sydney Dance Company along the full parade track is more of a sin than the life we’re all living. So get trackside! See what’s on at this year’s Sydney Mardi Gras at their program.

Category: CITIES, DANCE, DRAG, LGBTIQ, LIFESTYLE, SYDNEY

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Sheraton grand hotel Sydney: The Sheraton Grand Sydney on Hyde Park

by James Banham

Updated: 28/11/2022

There are few places in Sydney that offer top notch accommodation, right in the middle of town with views that only the Kardashians can afford. And that’s the Sheraton Grand Hyde Park Sydney. it’s just had a massive renovation so fresh, the carpet still has bounce, each room has a bath, almost every room has a view, and what they offer in-between all that is nothing short of spectacular. From the moment you enter the hotel, it’s all smiles, all professionalism, cherry dispositions and even cheerier rooms that await with all the mod cons to make even the shortest of trip – like a night – absolutely memorable. Ascend past level 11, though, and you’re treated to all kinds of luxuries. If you’re lucky enough to score a terrace suite with private balcony that looks over Sydney’s Hyde Park with the opening of Sydney Harbour in the very visible distance, then consider yourself lucky: you’re in celebrity land. This is the kind of room the lush opt for when they’re passing through or paying a visit; and it’s easy to see why. With a bed so wide you can’t reach the other side, blinds as good as black-outs, a walk-in robe and a bathroom big enough to have a party in, the Sheraton’s rooms don’t leave much to be desired. And as is standard fora hotel of the Sheraton’s magnitude, their food offering isn’t to be scoffed at, either. If it’s not the annual Christmas in July feast they put on at the aptly named… Read More

Category: CITIES, FEATURES, LIFESTYLE, SYDNEY, TRAVEL

Tags: Hyde Park Hotels, Sheraton Grand Hyde Park, Sheraton hotel sydney, Sheraton Hyde Park, Sheraton Sydney, sydney hotels

Carbs for Mardi Gras: Textbook Patisserie does a Golden Gaytime croissant

by James Banham

Updated: 26/02/2019

If you’re in Sydney’s inner south and know Textbook Patisserie, then prepare to have your pre-Gras diet shot to shit: they’re doing gay croissants. Because the art of butter, crispy, bread-like pastries from the pretty, wrought iron-clad streets of gay Paris just simply aren’t gay enough, John Railey is going next level. Multicoloured croissants made by the Callebaut Chocolate hero Railey will adorn the display cabinets of the Botany Road bakery this Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras season, celebrating in a more delicious way, the freedoms we’re so afforded in this wonderful era, city and country as gays and their friends. The pastry is literally rainbow coloured and bursting with coloured Callebaut Chocolate pieces, caramel, chantilly and caramel peptides for an extra little somethin’. Get them from Saturday 2 – Sunday 3 March for $12.50. Find Textbook Patisserie at 274 Botany Road, Alexandria.

Category: AUSTRALIAN FOOD, CITIES, FEATURES, FOOD & DRINK, LGBTIQ, LIFESTYLE, SYDNEY

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Mardi Gras drinks: Parade views from the Pullman Hyde Park

by James Banham

Updated: 23/02/2019

There’s nothing quite as gay as Mardi Gras, so if glitter, rainbows, hot bods, banging music and drinks are your thing, then heading to the Pullman Hyde Park in Sydney is where you need to be. From beside the marshalling area of the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras down Oxford Street, the Pullman is serving drinks, food, rainbows and fabulosity like no other venue along the strip. The level 1 full length windows provide prime position to look down upon the parade’s rabble, in all their semi-nude, musically-fuelled, pro-LGBTIQ glory. Aptly named the Rainbow Room, it’s the place to be this 2 March 2019. Found at the top of College Street, just metres from Oxford Street’s official parade starting line, Pullman Hyde Park is serving up tickets for $149 per person that include exclusive entry to the bright and bold Rainbow Room, bottomless beverages from pop-up bars by event sponsors Gayle, Australia’s first equality conscious beer and cider. Top that off with Absolut – don’t miss their Absolut recovery brunch at the Beresford – canapés and fabulous entertainment from drag queen hosts Shebeast & Tora Hymen, with music by DJ Victoria Anthony. Following on after the fabulous pre-parade festivities, guests can make an exit, flashing their wrist bands to be given exclusive access to a College Street viewing area, allowing them to make their way through the glittering explosion that is the Mardi Gras Parade. Get your tickets at the Pullman’s website.

Category: CITIES, FOOD & DRINK, LGBTIQ, LIFESTYLE, SYDNEY

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A chat with Yonghoon Lee, Calaf in Turandot by Opera Australia

by James Banham

Posted: 23/02/2019

New to opera, old to opera; it doesn’t matter. If there’s one voice you hear this season by Opera Australia, it’s Yonghoon Lee as Calaf in the company’s production of Turandot, on until 30 March. If there was ever a tenor to belt out the aria made most famous by the late Luciano Pavarotti, Nessun Dorma, it’s Yonghoon, who makes hitting that hair-standingly invigorating high C seem all too easy. Yonghoon is a Korean born opera singer, who’s established himself internationally as a leading tenor of his generation. He has made debuts at most of the most prestigious theatres in the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Chicago Lyric Opera and so many more, and has now joined OA to give some of their singers a taste. We had a chat with him off the back of his more-than-rousing performance in Turandot at the Joan Sutherland Theatre in Sydney Opera House recently. How exciting is it to perform for OA this year? I’m so happy to work with OA. It has become a favourite place among opera singers, where we all want to perform. This year is especially exciting for me – I get to perform my favourite piece and production with my favourite artists, so it made me so thrilled to be here. You can really blow the roof off with your rendition of Nessun dorma. How long have you been practising that aria? I made my Calaf debut in 2012, but of course I sang this beautiful and famous aria long before 2012. How emotionally invested do… Read More

Category: ARTS & CULTURE, CITIES, LIFESTYLE, OPERA, SYDNEY

Tags: sydney opera house, the f opera, turandot, Turandot Opera Australia, Turandot Yonghoon lee tenor, Yonghoon Lee

Weddings in Bimbadgen: Only done well at Palmer’s Lane in the Hunter Valley

by Emi Berry

Updated: 22/02/2019

If you’re looking for a unique venue in regional NSW for your next special event (but not too far out of Sydney), then look no further than the Hunter Valley. Just two hours north of Sydney, the Hunter is one of the largest river valleys on the NSW coast and boasts some of the best vineyards in the country. In the heart of the Hunter, you’ll find Pokolbin, which is home to Bimbadgen. Although this vineyard is nearly approaching its 50th birthday, Bimbadgen has added a new luxe venue to its impressive collection – Bimbadgen Palmers Lane – which is now available for all kinds of occasions, including weddings. Nestled between the property’s lake and picturesque vineyard, Palmers Lane can be transformed to suit all tastes, from a stunning outdoor dining configuration with moody, yet atmospheric festoon lighting overhead to a more intimate soiree inside the venue, which features beautiful high ceilings and exposed beams. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re indoors or outdoors, you’ll take pleasure in enjoying the spectacular Broken Back mountain range in the background as you take another sip of Bimbadgen’s award winning Sparkling Semillon. Sound okay, so far? All your catering needs will be attended to by the very professional in-house, award-winning Esca Bimbadgen restaurant team. Not only will you have the pleasure of enjoying beautiful, locally-sourced produce, but also world-class Bimbadgen wines. Cheers to that! For couples wanting to add an unforgettable experience to top off their wedding day, why not take a helicopter transfer to the venue, operated… Read More

Category: CITIES, FOOD & DRINK, LIFESTYLE, SYDNEY

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Battle of the drag queens: The Winery hosts a rumble for mental health

by James Banham

Posted: 22/02/2019

Elizabeth, who? The real Queens of Sydney are about to turn up, do battle and do some good while they’re at it at Surry Hills’ The Winery, who’re putting on a gay royal rumble to donate dollars to the Black Dog Institute, for mental health. It’s all a part of the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Queens Minnie Cooper and Hanna Conda will battle it out to Lady Gaga and Freddie Mercury; Charisma Belle and Sia Tequila duelling Tina Turner, Cher and Dolly Parton on Wednesday and Sia Tequila and Jaquie St Hyde channelling Madonna and Kylie Minogue on Thursday, before the ultimate Battle of the Legends on Friday 1 March. It’s a full line-up that will donate 25% of ticket sales to Black Dog Institute, a research institute that works to reduce the incidence of mental illness and the stigma attached to it. Tickets for The Mardi Gras Tribute Nights are $20 with an Absolut cocktail on arrival and will run from Tuesday 26 February to Friday 1 March from 5pm. Tickets can be purchased from The Winery’s website.

Category: CITIES, DRAG, LGBTIQ, LIFESTYLE, SYDNEY

Tags: Black Dog Institute, Drag queen battle, gay sydney, mardi gras, sydney gay lesbian mardi gras, the f gay, the winery, Winery Sydney Mardi Gras

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