There's Something About Sydney: Surry Hills

By Michael Endelman
September 7, 2006
0610_sydney_surry
Nicky Ryan
The city has a laid-back, beachy vibe, but with stylish little shops and restaurants around every corner. (Imagine L.A. without the attitude, or San Francisco with nicer weather.) No wonder everyone who spends time there--especially in three cutting-edge neighborhoods--ends up seduced by it

The pretty, tree-lined streets of Surry Hills, a 10-minute bus ride from the CBD, used to be a sketchy place, where vandalism and burglary were regular occurrences. "When we moved in 10 years ago, the neighborhood was quite rough," says Bryan Fitzgerald, co-owner of Chee Soon & Fitzgerald, a compact shop stuffed with bright pillows and mod housewares. "Our windows got smashed all the time."

These days, it's Sydneysiders who are getting smashed, over nine-course tasting menus. That's because Surry Hills has become the epicenter of Sydney's food scene. "It's the most interesting spot in town," says Nick Hildebrandt, co-owner and sommelier of the six-month-old Bentley Restaurant & Bar, where the boisterous crowd enjoying forward-thinking cuisine (a raw oyster wrapped in grapefruit and served on pork crackling, for instance) typifies the area's unpretentious, high/low vibe.

The intersection of Crown and Oxford Streets is noisy, but as you head south on Crown, the bus traffic is soon replaced by rustling leaves, closet-sized boutiques, and countless outdoor cafés. Two longtime Surry Hills landmarks sit two doors apart. At Billy Kwong, Kylie Kwong cooks light, modern Chinese fare; at Bills Surry Hills, style-setters break their no-carb rule for Bill Granger's legendary ricotta pancakes.

Hot new restaurants have followed one after the other. As good as the Italian food is at Lo Studio, which opened at the end of 2005, the setting is the big draw. The 1940s art deco building used to be the Australian offices of Paramount Pictures. Bird Cow Fish, which recently relocated from Balmain, serves everything in its name (and more), including crispy-skinned chicken confit and an impressive cheese selection, in a dark-wood room with a long communal table.

Around the corner is what might be Sydney's finest coffee--fighting words in this city. Numero Uno Coffee, a bean roaster and barista-training company, runs a one-table espresso bar out of its business office, which used to be a garage. "I went to New York and I was just shocked," says co-owner Gina DiBrita. "The coffee there is crap." Or sip a "flat white"--the Aussie take on cappuccino, which subtracts the foam--at Coffee, Tea or Me?, a snug café with great sandwiches and fashion ambition: The tip jar is labeled MANOLO BLAHNIKS FUND.

Surry Hills has become a shopping destination as well. Sydney designer Fiona Buckingham sells her own line of clothing--imagine Eileen Fisher after a long holiday in the Far East--at Kyotap. The name is an acronym for Keeping Yourself Open to All Possibilities. "I know it sounds daft," she says, laughing. "But it's supposed to be inspiring." And the two-level hipster department store Orson & Blake stocks quirky street fashion, art books, and furniture all under one roof--with a café, of course.

After all the Eames-inspired chairs, the dusty, cluttered atmosphere of Davidmetnicole comes as a relief. David met Nicole, in case anyone was wondering, while they were each working at vintage stores in London's Portobello Road; he's British, she's Australian. They moved Down Under and opened a shop selling their cleverly curated Anglocentric oddities: vintage matches, old lightbulbs, leather chairs, and pre-worn clothing, all artfully arranged as if it's not arranged at all. The shop is constantly being visited by stylists in search of stuff--animal heads, British military uniforms, and so on--for photo shoots.

David, whose last name is Page, doesn't feel quite at home in Sydney yet. "Sometimes, it's like the vacuous side of California," he notes drily. But he's found a happy medium in Surry Hills. "There was a vibe about this area. Coming from London, we wanted a bit of edginess. And Surry Hills definitely has that."

Food

 

  • Bentley 320 Crown St., 011-61/2-9332-2344, oysters $3
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  • Billy Kwong 3/355 Crown St., 011-61/ 2-9332-3300, duck in orange sauce $32
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  • Bills Surry Hills 359 Crown St., 011-61/2-9360-4762, pancakes $13
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  • Lo Studio 53-55 Brisbane St., 011-61/ 2-9212-4118, slow-roasted goat $27
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  • Bird Cow Fish 500 Crown St., 011-61/2-9380-4090, chicken confit $27
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  • Numero Uno Coffee 63 Nickson St., 011-61/2-8399-0111
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  • Coffee, Tea or Me? 536 Crown St., 011-61/2-9331-3452, sandwiches $5
  • Shopping

     

  • Chee Soon & Fitzgerald 387 Crown St., 011-61/2-9360-1031
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  • Kyotap 21 Mary St., 011-61/2-9280-2737
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  • Orson & Blake 483 Riley St., 011-61/2-8399-2525
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  • Davidmetnicole 382 Cleveland St., 011-61/2-9698-7416
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    There's Something About Sydney: Waterloo

    Waterloo's swift turn from light-industrial wasteland to buzzy arts district has happened so fast that the neighborhood isn't even listed in most guidebooks or on tourist maps. But it's only 20 minutes by taxi from the Central Business District (CBD), or a 15-minute walk south of Surry Hills. "This is the new hip bohemian area," says Beatrix Van Dissel, a salesclerk at Salvage, a six-month-old store stocking antiques and intriguing objets d'art, such as a 1920s Argentinian glass candy dispenser. A decade ago, however, Waterloo was nothing but warehouses and a few public-housing buildings. "There would've been no point to come before, unless you wanted to buy a washing machine or whatever," says Barry McDonald, whose Italian-style grocery Fratelli Fresh is an icon of Waterloo's growth spurt. After selling an online-grocery operation to a giant supermarket chain, Barry and his brother Jamie chose a Waterloo printing factory for their latest venture: "We just fell in love with the building," says Barry. Fratelli Fresh's first floor is a mix of blue-collar and upper-crust. While forklifts race around filling orders for Fratelli Fresh's main business--supplying restaurants with produce--women in Chanel shades and riding boots peruse the fruits and veggies. The potato selection alone--more than 10 kinds, including rare types like Coliban Chats, Dutch Cream, and Pink Eye--puts Whole Foods to shame. On the second floor, past stacks of capers and sardines, businessmen and members of the leisure class lunch at Sopra, a cheerful and extremely reasonable white-on-white trattoria with a blackboard menu of paninis, soups, and salads. The most recent addition to the Fratelli Fresh empire is Vicino, an unfinished room filled with pasta bowls and other Italian housewares. Waterloo's other hive of activity, an arts complex known as 2 Danks Street, is a repurposed Kodak factory. The brainchild of Sydney lawyer and philanthropist Leo Christie, 2 Danks Street is home to some of Sydney's best art galleries. "When I first saw the building it was derelict--a devastating hailstorm tore giant holes in the roof--but you could see the bones of it," says Christopher Hodges, whose Utopia Art Sydney was the first tenant. "It had a southern exposure, high ceilings, cement floors--it was perfect for galleries." Five years later, Hodges' gallery of monumental aboriginal paintings shares the building with a handful of respected spaces like Stella Downer Fine Art (contemporary Australian works) and Conny Dietzschold Gallery (an impressive international and local mix). "It's less conservative work than the galleries in neighborhoods like Paddington," explains Claire Taylor of the Dietzschold Gallery. "The giant spaces are better suited to people trying new things." The success of 2 Danks Street has lured more galleries to the area. Gallery Gondwana's vivid, almost psychedelic paintings fill a second-story loft across the street. The art crowd's canteen, the Danks Street Depot, is an airy room with an industrial-style cement floor. Chef-owner Jared Ingersoll serves seasonal, Mediterranean-influenced rustic dishes like crispy polenta cakes and spinach hash with poached eggs. Outside, the clamor of hammers and saws fills the air. It's the sound of gentrification, as more galleries and hundreds of apartments are under construction in the surrounding blocks. "When I started, the whole street was a tabula rasa, and you could park 200 cars on the block," says Hodges. "Now you can't find a space!" Food   Sopra 7 Danks St., 011-61/2-9699-3174, saffron risotto $12   Danks Street Depot 2 Danks St., 011-61/2-9698-2201, hash and eggs $11 Activities   Utopia Art Sydney 2 Danks St., 011-61/2- 9699-2900   Stella Downer Fine Art 2 Danks St., 011-61/2- 9319-1006   Conny Dietzschold Gallery 2 Danks St., 011-61/2- 9690-0215   Gallery Gondwana 7 Danks St., 011-61/2- 8399-3492 Shopping   Salvage 2 Danks St., 011-61/2- 9699-1005   Fratelli Fresh 7 Danks St., 011-61/2- 9699-3161   Vicino 7 Danks St., 011-61/2-9698-7166

    Updated Airport Security Rules

    The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has loosened some of the carry-on security rules originally imposed after the announcement that London authorities had exposed a suspected airline terror plot back on August 10. In general, liquids, gels, and lotions are still not permitted in carry-on luggage and must be disposed of before you board the plane. But there are some new exceptions that are important to travelers: Small amounts of baby formula and breast milk if a baby or small child is traveling Liquid prescription medicine with a name that matches the passenger's ticket Up to 5 oz. (148ml) of liquid or gel low blood sugar treatment Up to 4 oz. of essential non-prescription liquid medications including saline solution, eye care products and KY jelly Gel-filled bras and similar prosthetics Gel-filled wheelchair cushions Life support and life sustaining liquids such as bone marrow, blood products, and transplant organs carried for medical reasons In addition, according to the TSA, you are also now permitted to carry on solid cosmetics and personal hygiene items such as lipstick, lip balm and similar solids. But these must be solid and not liquid, gel or aerosol. So while lipstick is now approved, lip gloss is not. Powder-based deodorants are allowed, but gel or aerosol deodorants cannot be carried on. Bottom line? Check for the latest updates before you fly. The TSA lists prohibited and allowable carry items on its Web site here: tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm And most airline Web sites also provide a link to the latest TSA rules on their sites.

    Designers' Favorite Museum Stores

    It used to be that a museum store was just a souvenir-laden gauntlet you had to pass through to reach an exit. Recently, however, many such shops have become retail destinations, with highly curated collections of unique objets d'art. We asked three popular designers which ones they like the most. Karim Rashid Anyone who has ever set foot in a Container Store has seen the work of this Cairo-born designer: He's the brain behind the candy-colored Umbra garbage cans. Rashid's favorite museum shops include the one at the Museum of Contemporary Art in L.A. "The MoCA store is very small, but I love it," he says. Every time he visits, he's happy to discover something new, like a set of Sad Ghost salt and pepper shakers ($50). In Amsterdam, Rashid recommends the Stedelijk Museum: "There are some unusual things that walk that fine line between art and design." Among the items made by Dutch designers is a toilet-paper holder fashioned out of a wire clothes hanger ($7). And while visiting Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art recently, Rashid came across a line of jewelry that he'd never spotted anywhere else. "It was designed by a New Zealand architect in the 1960s," he says. "The rings are amazingly funky and cool." They start at $53. Tobias Wong New York--based Wong turns ordinary everyday objects on their ear. Among his most memorable creations are a crystal chandelier dipped in industrial rubber and a bulletproof rose corsage. Ever the contrarian, Wong says he doesn't really like museum shops. "Sometimes they don't even sell stuff related to the show," he complains. When pressed, Wong mentions BlackBlock, a boutique run by André, a graffiti artist, in Paris's Palais de Tokyo. "It's very supportive of artists," he says. BlackBlock sells limited-edition items like a monster pillow designed by André for Japanese brand Bapy ($154). Michael Graves The designer of futuristic housewares, who stays accessible to the masses via his Target products, recently admired some geometric bowls ($8.50) from Japan at The Newark Museum. "There's always an eclectic mix, including things that are tied to current exhibitions," he says. At the Thorvaldsens Museum in Copenhagen, Graves likes to browse the plaster casts of reliefs (from $25). "I have two hanging in my house," he says. And he loves the print room inside the Louvre, which few know exists (it's upstairs; follow CHALCOGRAPHIE signs). "If you ask for a particular artist, the curator will help you find examples." The prints start at $58. Museum of Contemporary Art 250 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, 213/621-1710, moca.org Stedelijk Museum Oosterdokskade 5, Amsterdam, 011-31/205-732-812, stedelijk.nl Museum of Contemporary Art 140 George St., Sydney, 011-61/2-9245-2458, mca.com.au BlackBlock avenue du Président-Wilson 13, Paris, 011-33/ 147-233-704, blackblock.org The Newark Museum 49 Washington St., Newark, N.J., 973/596-6546, newarkmuseumshops.org Thorvaldsens Museum Bertel Thorvaldsens Plads 2, Copenhagen, 011-45/33-321-532, thorvaldsensmuseum.dk Musée du Louvre quai du Louvre 36, 011-33/ 140-208-557, louvre.fr

    Temporary Innsanity

    At 7 A.M. on a Saturday, my friend Julia Sun and I stumble downstairs to the kitchen of Inn on the Common in Craftsbury Common, Vt. We sit on stools and pepper owner Jim Lamberti with questions about his job. "Everyone has a romantic view of what it's like to be an innkeeper," says Jim. "It's easy to do this one day a week. But seven?" His wife, Judi, joins us at 7:45. She's already prepared bills for the departing guests and done three loads of laundry. "Around here, it's called the Bob Newhart syndrome," she says. The Lambertis' inn is one of six members of the New England Inns & Resorts Association to offer an "Innkeeper for a Day" program. Our course consists of shadowing Jim and Judi, and occasionally pitching in. Julia harbors dreams of owning a B&B in Mexico. I wonder if this weekend might change her mind. Inn on the Common has 15 guest rooms in three separate buildings, and a restaurant that serves breakfast and dinner. "The housekeeping is the one thing we hire out," says Judi. The couple divide the other responsibilities: Judi is in charge of the cleaning staff and gardening, while Jim deals with marketing the inn and running the restaurant. The only time I ever see them together is in the kitchen. "It's good," says Jim. "If we spend all our time together, it gets a little wearing." Just before the other guests arrive for breakfast, Judi asks us to cut up strawberries. First we have to wash our hands to restaurant standards. "Scrub with soap for 20 seconds," Judi instructs. "You should be able to sing 'Happy Birthday' all the way through." We watch Jim prepare pancakes until we get hungry ourselves, then venture into the dining room. Most guests clear out of the inn by mid-morning. After breakfast, Jim washes dishes, then heads to the office to catch up on paperwork. Judi, meanwhile, sets tables for dinner (we help), bakes quiches for tomorrow's breakfast, and goes over the room list with the housekeepers when they arrive at 10 A.M. By noon Jim has finished prepping for dinner and is back in the office returning e-mails. Judi leaves to attend a fund-raiser. Julia and I¿who, frankly, can't wait for a change of scenery¿go for a drive. In the afternoon, we return to find Jim sitting on the porch with a glass of wine and a map. The inn closes for the months of April and November, and he's planning a trip to see their new grandchild in California. Watching them work their fingers to the bone today, I hadn't thought about any of the perks of owning an inn. I can see Julia filing away the idea of two solid months of vacation as a plus. Julia and I are so tuckered out that we leave Jim to his planning and nap until dinner. At 7 P.M., I head back to my perch in the kitchen to watch Jim prepare salads and sear swordfish steaks. When the phone rings, I understand how inconvenient it had been when I called for directions at about the same time the night before. In between seating guests and taking orders, Judi books a last-minute reservation. Once everyone slips off to their rooms, including Julia, Judi sets the tables for breakfast and enters dinner receipts into the computer. I don't see much I can do to help. "We don't like actually making people work," Judi later confesses. "People are paying for this course, and to make them work? Something is wrong with that picture." Inn on the Common, 800/521-2233, innonthecommon.com, two-day course for two, with room and meals, $499. New England Inns & Resorts Association, newenglandinnsandresorts.com.