Sandi Sieger’s guide to what’s hot and happy(ning) this week. Eat, drink, buy, try, visit, read, be merry.
EAT: Baby Pizza
Yeah Baby, yeah! Baby Pizza is thrilled to welcome back guests in Melbourne for good times and is celebrating with the return of its ever-popular aperitivo, serving up endless $6.50 aperol spritz, beer and rosé daily.
Where there are drinks, there is delicious food, and Baby knows the way to your heart serving up all your favourites including Arancini E Crocchette, Rigatoni Al Ragù, Gnocchi Di Patate Alla Zucca, Polpette E Polenta and of course a selection of pizzas.
With live DJs on the weekend bringing sweet tunes, five hours of aperitivo daily and plenty of fun to be had, Baby is the perfect place to welcome in the summertime with endless spritzes, delicious food and good vibes all day long.
Accommodating guests in line with government restrictions for indoor and outdoor dining, Baby Pizza will be open daily from 12pm to late. Bookings are now open via www.babypizza.com.au for indoor dining tables. Alfresco dining available for walk-ins only. All reservations are for 90-minute seating times and require a minimum spend of $45 per person for lunch and $66 per person for dinner from 5pm at time of booking.
DRINK: At The ‘Secret Garden Bar’
After much success last summer, QT Melbourne and Victorian distillery Four Pillars have teamed up once again to create a bespoke drinks menu almost as impressive as the view, in a hidden corner of the QT Melbourne rooftop.
The partnership will also see QT Melbourne and Four Pillars hosting all-inclusive, multi-sensory events with masterclasses and tastings for the visiting connoisseurs and locals alike. Whether guests want to jump behind the bar and learn how to shake a cocktail, or expand their gin knowledge, QT Melbourne’s gin expert will lead guests through comprehensive tastings and educational masterclasses of Four Pillar’s vibrant gins, with a side of those sky-line views we all love to see.
The Secret Garden bar is accepting walk-ins and also taking reservations (+61 3 8636 8800).
Opening hours:
Thursday: 5pm – 9pm
Friday: 3pm – late
Saturday: 3pm – late
BUY: The Manuka Honey Collection from Antipodes
Scientific Green Beauty™ company Antipodes has the beauty industry and clean beauty devotees abuzz with its signature skin-brightening manuka honey range.
This globally loved collection features manuka honey derived from bees that fly freely to harvest nectar from wild manuka plants, found only in remote parts of New Zealand. This signature ingredient offers soothing humectants and antibacterial superfoods which promote youthful, fresh, and blemish-free skin.
Coupled with uniquely New Zealand ingredient Vinanza® Grape, better known for its contribution to some of New Zealand’s best Sauvignon Blancs, the grape seed extracts deliver double the level of polyphenolic antioxidants than any other grape in the world. Vinanza® Grape also helps to revive damaged cells caused by oxidation, leaving skin bright and helping to limit melanin production which can reduce pigmentation and accelerated aging.
The range is excellent – hydrating, nourishing and I’ve noticed brighter skin within a couple of weeks of using it. My skin feels noticeably plumper. It also smells divine and absorbs quickly.
The Antipodes Manuka Honey collection can be found on the Antipodes website and various Australian stockists including Adore Beauty, Priceline, Chemist Warehouse and David Jones.
TRY: Savour Online Classes
For all the burgeoning bakers and chefs that COVID has created, Australia’s Queen of Chocolate Kirsten Tibballs has been on hand to assist. Since lockdowns started around the world more than 7 months ago, Kirsten has been delivering a new online tutorial every week to a virtual classroom of students that has increased dramatically as a result of the pandemic – with a large portion of this being avid home cooks and bakers.
Since launching her Savour Online Classes Kirsten has created over 350 video tutorials, with a new online class released on a weekly basis and each including a downloadable recipe. With something for everyone, the Savour online classes have been designed to appeal to all skills sets, from complete beginners to seasoned professionals, and everyone in between. A series of festive online classes are also already available online, with new Christmas inspired classes soon to be released. These are sure to offer recipe ideas from gifts to treats to a gingerbread house and Christmas tree that make the perfect family activity (or challenge!).
VISIT: Grown Alchemist
Biological beauty brand Grown Alchemist has launched and opened its first flagship space within the iconic King & Godfree building located in Carlton, Melbourne.
Unassumingly nestled in Melbourne’s inner-city suburb of Carlton, the Grown Alchemist Retail Lab and treatment rooms are the embodiment of a holistic beauty destination. Drawing inspiration from the industrial laboratories, the Retail Lab is an inviting contrast of heritage architecture, raw and exposed brickwork and modernism, designed alongside the impeccable team at Herbert & Mason.
On arrival, you will be welcomed by one the Retail Alchemists into a ‘Cleanroom,’ which is a signature and transformative environment of abundant natural light, glass and stainless steel. Also located within the space are two treatment rooms which are a warm and enveloping sanctuary that calm your senses, creating an environment to truly focus on skin goals.
READ: The Freedom Circus by Sue Smethurst
The Freedom Circus by Sue Smethurst is a true Australian holocaust story with a remarkable new angle – how performing in a circus helped the Horowitz family escape to a new life in Australia.
Kubush Horowitz, Sue’s grandfather-in-law, was a clown with the Staniewski Brothers circus when Nazis invaded Poland. After Soviet forces captured his wife Mindla, and he staged a rescue, they escaped through Russia to Moscow to perform before making their final journey to Australia.
Reminiscent of The Greatest Showman and Schindler’s List, The Freedom Circus will have you gripped to the very last page and is an important new chapter in Australia’s Holocaust history. It is an amazing true story of hope, love, persecution and the power of laughter.
The Freedom Circus, RRP $34.99, Ebury Australia, is out now.
