You’re never short of take-away food in Surry Hills, both in terms of availability and variety. One of my favourite take-away options is getting a mixed plate from Zeno’s, a reasonably popular pizza and felafel place opposite the park near The Clock Hotel on Crown Street.
As I understand it, the husband and wife team who run it have been there almost thirty years. By my guess, they’re both in their 60s. Tonight he was sitting out the front watching the world go buy (and wearing, incidentally an identical shirt to one which I own), while she was inside looking after just a handful of customers (she wears a head-scarf and has a friendly smile in her eyes).
In contrast many of the nearby shop-fronts which have been renovated in recent years, the shop front for Zeno’s remains small, and a little old-fashioned. In the midst of the so-called “gentrification” of Surry Hills, I’m pleased they’ve been able to maintain a presence, while many other similar places have disappeared.
On many occasions I’ve called in there with others for late night pizza or felafel after a few drinks. But it’s the Sunday night take-away that I really enjoy. The meal comes with a range of roasted and pickled vegetables, as well as hommos and bread (of course).
Amongst the many customers she has, I’m sure there’s quite a few single men like me. As the woman behind the counter packs as much as she can into the plastic container, I sometimes get the feeling she’s like a mum ensuring her son eats well for the night (hoping that doesn’t sound sexist). Possibly not, but that’s my fantasy anyway.
Aside from getting some takeaway, looking endlessly through the television guide for SOMETHING to a watch, and a visit to see my friend who has been in hospital it’s been a reasonably uneventful day.
There’s good news on the health of my friend, too. Despite what we thought was a near death experience, he’s been doing well in rehabilitation, and is allowed to go home next weekend with support.
I’m the first to admit there was a slight sense of trepidation in our steps as we walked up the stairs of the venue of Cleveland Street offering Dance Classes.
Minutes earlier a colleague had told me she had gone to dance classes twenty years earlier, and often overcome with nervousness, never made it into the class all that often, choosing instead to remain outside in her car.
A colleague suggested we go along to an after-work dance class several weeks ago, with the twin goals of fitness and fun in mind.
As we argued for several weeks over which class suited us best, the final consensus ended up with Monday and a decision to undertake the Hip Hop Class.
Although four of us had agreed to attend, only three turned up.
But what great fun we had.
As we walked into the already warmed-up class, we found ourselves a space towards the back of the class and began to follow our instructor, a young bloke called Masaki, who was probably about twenty five years old.
Being a little bit older (ok, a lot older), the three of us found it a little difficult to keep our feet firmly on the floor, as appears to be the custom for hip-hop dancing.
“I found the twirl the hardest bit”, said one of my colleagues.
As the hour progressed the dance routine became increasingly complex. But somehow – goodness knows how – we managed to end up being able to perform a basic hip-hop routine.
I’m sure the instructor must have had to stifle a grin or two as he looked at the three old people in the back row who were slightly behind everyone else.
That said, there was a young bloke not far from me who was completely un-co.
But the great thing about this class was that it wasn’t about judging who was good and who wasn’t. It was just loads of fun, the music was surprisingly good, and there was a genuine joie de vivre in the class. $16 for an hour was great value, we all thought.
The music was also really good, though I was a little disappointed they failed to play my current favourite “We Made You” by Eminem. Yes, seriously… it’s a GREAT song.
As we walked out of the class, gulping down water, we looked at the dance schedule for the next few weeks.
“The Bollywood Class looks like fun”, we all agreed.
But then, as we walked towards the stairs, we noticed to our right the Hip Hop/Funk Beginner class which had just started. They were dancing to a Michael Jackson song.
“I like songs with words”, a colleague commented. And we also noted the class was maybe a little older, and moving a little more in the dance style to which we all were accustomed.
“OK, let’s do that”, we all agreed. And even though one of us has a young child at home, we agreed we could work our schedules for a 6.30 class next week.
I went out for dinner tonight with old school mate, Anthony and his friend, JT, at the newly opened, “Benzin” restaurant in Surry Hills. Although we hadn’t planned to go there, a two hour wait at Billy Kwong’s, meant we had little choice. However, I’m glad we did, because Benzin is great.
Located in what was “Fuel” in “The Clock Hotel Complex”, the waitress told us, and I’ve since confirmed, it’s a “sibling” to Sailor’s Thai.
There was only one entree on the menu last night: deepfried prawns wrapped in noodles with a sour plum sauce, but it was terrific, so it didn’t matter there was no choice.
We chose three mains out of the menu of about a dozen choices, all priced around $18-25 and were more than happy with what we were served. There was a terrific beef green curry with roti, a sublime squid salad with cherry tomatoes and, best of all, a tremendous duck dish.
We were also really happy with the deserts which consisted of a variety of ice-creams, along with delicious mung bean tart. The secret ingredient in the mung bean dish was caramelised schallots, though the waitress only told that after we’d guessed, as she says they generally don’t tell people for how adversely most might react to an onion-based desert.
The wine list was also good, and even though we had two bottles, the meal, including a shared entree, three mains, and three deserts was just $55 per head. What a bargain.
As we entered Noma (Sydney) for lunch yesterday, there was a real sense of “showbiz”. As we were shown to our table, the four of us were greeted by probably twenty or thirty staff. “Hello, hello, welcome”. Having lived all my life in Australia, I often feel cynical about such displays of hospitality. Though such displays often feel contrived, this seemed to me very genuine. Over the next two and half to three hours, as we enjoyed our meals, and chatted with the staff, it became pretty obvious the staff were, too, lovers of fine food.
Though I’ve visited Copenhagen a few times, I’ve never been to Noma. Their seasons are always sold out weeks/months in advance. But I have read about Noma, and its reputation as a world class restaurant. In particular, I’ve been interested in the work done by the chef and co-owner, René Redzepi in re-inventing Nordic cuisine, and by his innovative use of unusual/interesting ingredients. When they announced a ten week season in Sydney, I was certainly interested, though not confident I’d be lucky enough to secure a seat/table. There are still 27,000 people (or something like that) on the waiting list. Thanks to the perseverance of Damien (running a couple of computers simultaneously) we were lucky enough to secure a table. And so yesterday, after months of anticipation, four of us sat down and enjoyed a remarkable lunch.
Porridge of golden and desert oak wattleseed with saltbush
From the opener (macadamia in a spanner crab broth) to the closer (a fresh take on bon bons), everything was a surprise and a delight. There were many highlights. For me, they included the “dumpling” of marron and magpie goose (eat it like a taco), the sea urchin with tomatoes and berries, and the marinated fresh fruit (which included teaming up watermelon with a very bitter native plum). There were thirteen courses in all, and absolutely no sense of “I’m still hungry, let’s get some Maccas on the way home”.
Abalone schnitzel and bush condimentsSeafood platter and crocodile fat.
Another particular highlight for me was the deep sea snow crab served in a sauce of egg yolk and fermented kangaroo. Though I’ve eaten crab all my life, I’ve never had crab like this before. The particular crab we were served lives in such deep waters that they’re actually white. There’s little/no lite where they live in waters off the continental shelf. We learned an awful lot about crab, actually, as we got chatting with a lovely family from Western Australia, who actually supplied the crab for the restaurant. “René came for dinner one night”, we were told, as we began to better understand how the team from Noma had spent several months/weeks/days traveling around Australia sourcing ingredients and then developing the uniquely Australian meals. “A world-class chef comes to your place for dinner. Pressure much? I joked.
That was one of the great things about the afternoon: the shared experience. After the meal, the opportunity to meet the family from WA made it all the more enjoyable, as they too share a love of food. Around the rest of the room, I noticed other people were similarly making friends.
Marinated fruits
I’ve been a little sick over the last week, and so chose not to have the matched wines (shock! horror!) but Damien, Kristen, and Glenn did, and they all said they were all very well-matched. They were also, I think, natural wines, meaning there were without preservatives. Though I do love wine, I equally enjoyed the meal, I think, without drinking.
As each meal was served the staff explained in detail (without too much detail) the meal, and seemed really happy to answer our many, many questions :) They definitely earned their keep :)
“I’ve tried to explain this to people at work, spending so much money on lunch but they just didn’t understand”, one of us said, “Noma”. For the last few months, I’ve been feeling lots of “Catholic Guilt” about this also. The “guilt” comes from the fact that I’m a working-class boy from a small country town in Australia. The money I spent on LUNCH would feed whole families in some parts of the world for weeks, if not months. In my own mind, I balanced it out because I do contribute a fair bit of money to a couple of charities that help people around the world.
But how do you explain spending so much money on lunch to your colleagues/ friends/ family who live equally “first world lifestyles”? According to my friend, you ask them how much money they’ve recently spent on a rock concert. Many people in Australia (and other “first world nations”) will routinely spend several hundred dollars on a ticket to a rock concert. Personally, I spent three or four hundred dollars to see Bette Midler and Liza Minelli. I know a few people who spent over seven hundred dollars to see Barbra Streisand. So my perspective on this is simple: it was like the greatest rock concert of all time (for food), and we got to meet and chat (at length) with the star.
There is an unfounded perception that pay television in Australia is nothing more than re-runs of American sit-coms. In the early days, that probably was the case, but I gotta tell you… in 2008… I love my Foxtel. I hardly ever watch free-to-air television these days. In fact, I recently removed the coaxial cable from the back of my television (to use for another purpose) and am now watching everything via the Foxtel box, including listening to all of my favourite radio stations.
I love World Movies, I love The History Channel, I love the concerts on Ovation, I love Dexter and the repeats of Six Feet Under, I love being able to tune into any of my favourite sit-coms at a time that suits, and I love Fox News. Yes, I said it. I love Fox News.
I know it’s not very “pc” to say you watch (and enjoy Fox News), but I do. Despite their oft-repeated slogan, they are “Fair and Balanced”, Fox News continues to have a clearly identifiable right-of-centre political slant. Even if they always have someone from both sides of American politics in their discussions, those on the Republican side are always given an easy ride, while the Democrats are always under fire.
And this was explored in the documentary I remember watching a couple of years ago called “Outfoxed”. At the time of seeing the documentary I wrote…
It’s interesting enough, although the polemical nature of the program means I probably won’t watch it all that closely. Why watch a program that’s sole role is to reinforce a viewpoint, rather than open up a debate, unless of course it’s entertaining? I’m not sure if watching it will tell me anything I didn’t already know or suspect.
What I think the documentary failed to identify were the reasons why Fox News is so incredibly watch-able. Yeah, it’s biased, obviously, but there needs to be an explanation of why people from a range of political viewpoints still watch it.
For those with an interest in how the media works, Fox News is an a “text book example” of how to increase your time spent viewing or listening. Nothing ever goes on too long. In fact, most of the time the interviewer will ask a question and then cut the guest off before they have the opportunity to answer. Mostly, this leaves you either shouting at the television or screaming out for more. They also usually concentrate on just half-a-dozen stories, which means they’re always showing you stories which are at the forefront of the national consciousness.
The hosts are also usually very personable and watchable characters. There’s Bill O’Reilly, an Alan Jones-like character, Hannity and Colmes (a Republican and a Democrat co-hosting), the Fox & Friends Breakfast Team (I have a bit of a crush on the weekend presenter on the right), Geraldo, and they have a late night comedy show. Oh and they have this kinda-gay looking Catholic priest who comes on regularly to talk about issues of faith and ethics.
Significantly, almost all of the women are blonde and attractive (including all the guests) and in their 20s and 30s, and the men are usually 30-40 years old and good-looking too, mostly talk dark and handsome. There are some African Americans and one or two Hispanics, and I don’t recall having seen an Asian presenter or reporter, so it’s hardly an example of social inclusion. But interestingly it’s in contrast to most other news services which tend to rely on a lot of grey-haired men.
I guess most of my fascination with Fox at the moment relates to their coverage of the US presidential election. I’m not one for politics anymore, but I love elections, because of the theatrical nature of them all. And on that level, Fox delivers. Even if it’s incredibly dodgy on many levels, it’s great fun to watch.
That said, I had to turn off last night when the business show posed the question “Will the cyclone in Myanmar mean higher rice prices for American consumers”. I was appalled. Fox News – you went too far on that one!
I don’t get a lot of mail these days. With the exception of cards, everything personal comes via email. And I’ve managed to change most of my paper bills to electronic distribution. Most of my snail mail seems to consist of “official things” like development applications. I wonder when City of Sydney, which is very “environmental friendly” will move to electronic distribution of those? But tonight, as I came home there was something in my letterbox which gave me a smile.
Letter from the developers
It was a letter from someone who is planning to submit a development application. They were giving us a “heads up” about their forthcoming application, explaining they run a similar establishment in another residential area, and they’ve found early and regular engagement with the community has worked for them. It was a welcome change from the usual development application notice from City of Sydney which tells me such and such down the street plans to make an alteration to their bathroom.
More than the “heads up” notice, I was also pleased to see they’re planning a North African restaurant. Excellent. That’s just what Surry Hills needs. We have just about every type of cuisine you might imagine, and more than our fair share of Turkish, Lebanese and Indian, but there are some gaps, and I’m sure North African will be a welcome addition to the area.
Surry Hills must be the only place outside the former Soviet Union where people queue for bread.
Having lived in Surry Hills for fifteen years, it’s been fascinating to watch the changes. Fifteen years ago, Bourke Street and Crown Street were both two-way streets. We had a few restaurants, though nothing you’d get too excited about: mostly I’d wander up to Oxford Street if I wanted something special to eat. That, of course, was when Oxford Street was still reasonably lively with restaurants, and not just queues to get into nightclubs. Back then, the Surry Hills Mall was still called “The Redfern Mall”. It was in the days when The Clock Hotel still had a gay bar out the back – The Stronghold (known as The Stranglehold) – and a bottle-shop out the front. In fact, it was a bottle-shop where I once experienced an armed-robbery, something I’ve never told my family, since I know they would have worried.
These days, Surry Hills is all a bit gentrified. It’s all one way traffic and cycle-ways these days. And the shops have all changed. In the last couple of years, for example, the charcoal chicken shop, has closed, the regular bakery has moved to a cheaper location, and the Bourke Street bakery has moved in with its long queues on the weekend, and we now have more gourmet grocers than you could possibly imagine.
I still love the area. I love being close to work. I love the cultural diversity of the area. I love the sense of “history” you find as you walk around the area. And I love the street in which I live. It has a park. It has terrace houses. It has a couple of small apartment blocks. And since 2006, Lachlan Murdoch has been one of the neighbours, though I’ve yet to actually see him. And I love that, development application pending, we may soon have a North African restaurant, whatever that means.
Spotted these on the way home, so thought I’d share. It’s worth noting, Lowes is normally a reasonably conservative discount clothing store for men. A great place for jocks, sox, and other “men’s stuff”. At around $200, this range of suits is tempting (for a bit of fun), and great to see them doing something a little different.
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Very glad your friend has gotten good news in his recovery.
I love the Greek, Italian and Polish proprietresses of restaurants like that: they remind me of my friend’s Italian grandmother, who would always pinch my bony arms and implore “eeeat, eeeat, you so thiiin!”
Very glad your friend has gotten good news in his recovery.
I love the Greek, Italian and Polish proprietresses of restaurants like that: they remind me of my friend’s Italian grandmother, who would always pinch my bony arms and implore “eeeat, eeeat, you so thiiin!”