If there’s one thing I’ve learnt writing about the opening of restaurants is that it rarely goes to plan. As a writer it is easy to be caught out. Openings can be delayed by months or even years. And so it was that on Thursday the 26th I rocked up to Cumulus Inc (45 Flinders Lane +61 3 9650 1445) for supper to find the chef (Andrew McConnell of Three, One , Two and formerly Circa The Prince) and architect, […]
Recent posts
Content on the move: the iPhone revolution
The Australian, Entrepreneur ONCE, the only way to find a business on the move was to call a directory on a mobile phone. But the arrival on July 11 of Apple iPhone — it is 3G, has WiFi and is GPS-enabled and integrated with Google Maps — is about to change the way people use mobile devices and find businesses through map-based online listings. The big difference is that, through Google Maps on an iPhone, users can search for a […]
First underground restaurants. Now underground biscuits
Perhaps it’s the different rules of society and etiquette in Japan but it is a very strange place when you need an introduction to eat at a restaurant. I suppose London has a similar thing happening with its traditional Gentlemen’s Clubs. Then there is the more modern Milk and Honey in New York, and now London (and opening the less exclusive Match Bar in QV fairly soon once a few liquor licensing problems are overcome). Anyway, last week I was […]
A new manifesto for meat eaters (and Bloggers meet version V)
Mark Bittman makes a lot of sense on the need not to give up meat but eat less. In the New York Times (via Lifehacker) he outlines a manifesto for eating less meat on which I’ve put my own spin below. It’s also worth checking out Bittman on the excellent TED Talks. Meanwhile, with Confessions of a Food Nazi we’re planning the vegan/vegetarian bloggers meet. I think we have six coming already. Where: Lentil as Anything Abbotsford Convent. Afterwards at […]
YouTube attracts a lot of business
The Australian, Entrepreneur MARKETING fads come and go but YouTube and the internet look as if they are here to stay. YouTube is about rich interesting content rather than rich video production companies that usually make expensive TV ads. And this makes it an ideal medium for the small to medium-sized business, according to Sydney-based Laurel Papworth, a social media consultant and evangelist. “One of the things I like about small business is that they don’t do traditional marketing with […]
GPS will put you on the map
The Australian, Entrepreneur AS was first the case with computers and mobile phones, it’s difficult to know where in the technology cycle to dive into global positioning systems. GPS has only become popular in Australia in the past two years, with the sales value of GPS devices now overstepping digital music players. There are about 1.5 million GPS devices in Australia. About 600,000 were sold in 2007, and over 1 million will be sold this year, says Adrian Tout, national […]
Web tips for restaurants
It is quite bizarre how many restaurant websites use flash technology. It was quite clear at Restaurant08 during my panel session on the internet with chef Raymond Capaldi, Mark Armstrong from Google, Julia Topliss from Web Prophets that none of us like it (and Google has trouble finding sites with it). And we’re not the only ones. Social media commentator Laurel Papworth hates it too and finds this quote: “Flash-based web sites are quite possibly one of the most useful […]
In my kitchen
Herald Sun, Citystyle Home cooks are spoiled for choice when it comes to equipping their kitchens. ED CHARLES looks at the essentials, and the tools we love to use WE’VE come a long way from cooking in a bush oven over an open fire. The question is whether all our progress has been positive, with kitchen fads changing as frequently as hemlines. Glossy food magazines and products endorsed by celebrity chefs drive our desire to clutter our kitchens. Our grandparents […]
Wine in a cool climate
Herald Sun, Citystyle There’s a new generation of discerning drinkers, writes ED CHARLES ANDY Roche had never bothered with red wine until last year. The 26-year-old fashion designer had found his niche with white wines, specifically semillons or sauvignon blanc semillons, his favourite being Evans & Tate. But last winter became an odyssey as he discovered the range of flavours of pinot noir and occasionally, the boisterous shiraz grape. “I hadn’t really had it before,” he says. That was until […]