Mark Tuckey.. Again!

Palm Beach, NSW

A good friend of mine visited me this weekend & I took the opportunity to re-acquaint myself with some of Sydney's popular sites. In addition to the usual Bondi / Bronte / Coogee beach in the eastern suburbs, we drove all the way to the Northern beaches. My ulterior motive of driving all the way up north was to visit Mark Tuckey at Newport Beach. It would have been tough to justify driving 38km up north just to visit a furniture store under normal circumstances!  I have blogged about my LOVE for Mark Tuckey's raw wood furniture previously here.

As expected, Mark Tuckey's furniture was beautiful, raw and..... clearly unaffordable to me. :(  The  mega drum solid oregon coffee table that I love is unattainable at AUD3250.

Notably David Bromley's artwork was beautifully showcased & available for purchase in the retail space. I have concluded that the two must be good mates as I have seen some of Mark Tuckey's pieces in Bromley Arcade in Waterloo as well. 

Selective Third Drawer Down tea towels & vintage posters are also sold in Mark Tuckey. Unframed Third Drawer Down tea towel is retailed @ AUD40 & framed pieces @ AUD425.
 
Though unaffordable unless there's a 70% off sale, it was still great visiting Mark Tuckey store.. I can now ticked that off my stores to visit list.. :) 
 

Love those coloured bentwood chairs..

By The Quirky One

Interesting Multiples: Vuk Vidor's Art History (Part One)

I came across Vuk Vidor's Art History  (Part One) editioned print few months ago in Third Drawer Down & it's been 'haunting' me ever since. Vuk Vidor is a Belgrade artist based in Paris. I believe he first installed the Art History mural in Palais de Tokyo, Paris. The mural called ‘Art History’ is  essentially a list; on each line he links an artist to his/her cultural impact & concept in three/four words, i.e. Mondrian owns Geometry, Warhol owns Pop, Lichtenstein owns Comics, Koons own Kitsch & I especially LOVE Hirst owns The Pharmacy.. :) Classic!

With his other work such as 'If you're looking for trouble you came to the right Place' & 'Even superheroes can't save us now', his work has definitely grabbed my attention...

 By The Quirky One

Fine Dining Review: The Press Club (Melbourne, Australia)

The Press Club (no stars)

This is the flagship restaurant of Melbourne celebrity chef George Calombaris. Due to the popularity of Masterchef, Calombaris (Masterchef judge) has flooded the media.....too bad his food doesn't match his hype and reputation. Whether his recent media frenzy distractions and empire expansion have compromised the quality of The Press Club is unclear but definitely not enough to warrant a 2nd visit.....both Ducasse and Robuchon have managed to gather so many Michelin stars without compromising reputation and quality.

We opted for the degustation menu. Bread was served with kalamata and wild olives in a wonderful olive oil and black salt. The 1st two courses were so badly planned that they arrived around the same time....before I even had a bite at my first course! Yes, this is the norm at my local Chinese restaurant but not at this "2 hat" restaurant.

2 courses served concurrently

Unfortunately, there were no "wow" moments throughout and the was more molecular gastronomy gimmickry than true application of technique.

The deep fried quail was one of the highlights but that too was foiled by presence of a quail bone in the dish (yes, the dish was meant to be presented de-boned). 

The bangalow pork dish was, unfortunately, boring and disjointed....the pork crackling not overwhelmingly crackly and the "Aussie" spin in the form of a pork Chiko Roll completely made no sense in terms of flavour and textural integration with the rest of the dish.

Bangalow pork

The signature slow cooked lamb (cooked over 16 hours) was flavoursome.....more like nana's except a lot more $$$.

Signature slow-cooked lamb

Desert was ambitious but with too much molecular gimmickry.....Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of molecular gastronomy, having thoroughly enjoyed eating through Spain, but only when applied appropriately.

The service was good but not great, and accompanied by an interesting wine list. The sommelier, talented as he may be, unfortunately assumed that I was not worthy enough to know much about his rarer wine varietals and spent minimal effort explaining his matching or even the actual varietal offered.....That is not until I identified his choice of Marsanne, did he decide to take us more seriously! This is quite unacceptable for a supposedly top restaurant.

Desert - chocolate mousse, bits and soil with sprinkles of nuts

I really wanted to like The Press Club....it was a good experience but nothing memorable and a fairly dear one. Nevertheless, the place is crowded, and everyone seemed happy and satisfied.......

Fine Dining Rating: 14/20

By Gastronomic G.

Rating explained:

Scores 18 to 20 = *** (3 stars) = World class and close to perfection

Scores 16 to <18 = ** (2 stars) = An exceptional and special dining experience

Scores 15 to <16 = * (1 star) = Very good to great dining experience

Scores 13 to <15 = Good but not memorable

Scores 10 to <13 = Acceptable

Scores <10 = Are you sure you want to eat here?

Cheap Eats Review: Omen (Kyoto, Japan)

Omen ***

Tong loved this place so much...she declared this the "best meal ever!". We arrived late lunch time and this usually packed place was empty. Omen is famous for its Udon....and its no wonder once we've had it. 

 

Udon set meal

Grilled chicken marinated with white miso

My food revelation moment was the yam in crab sauce - simplicity and perfection in one. This could have been proudly served in any Michelin starred restaurant.

 Not to be missed if in Kyoto. The experience was close to perfection.

The beautiful menu

Everything was cleaned up - quite unusual with Tong

 Located in 3 locations;  we went to the one close to Kawaramachi Station. Of note, Omen has recently opened a restaurant by the same name in New York.

Rating for Cheap Eats: 19.5/20

By Gastronomic G.

Rating explained:

Scores 18 to 20 = *** (3 stars) = World class and close to perfection

Scores 16 to <18 = ** (2 stars) = An exceptional and special dining experience

Scores 15 to <16 = * (1 star) = Very good to great dining experience

Scores 13 to <15 = Good but not memorable

Scores 10 to <13 = Acceptable

Scores <10 = Are you sure you want to eat here?

Faux Fireplace, anyone?

Today has been a terrible day at work and I am in desperate need of pretty photos to cheer myself up. 

I have been looking for a storage system to fill a void in my living room and have been considering a buffet or a console. We were at lunch in Surry Hills last weekend and came across this faux fireplace at La Maison that is now 50% off. Now, do I really need a faux fireplace that is purely decorative? Hmmm....

 

For reference, the next photo is a faux fireplace that was made out of a vintage mantle that has been painted white. To create the look of a working fireplace, Meg Crossley, the senior editor of Canadian House & Home cut out a portion of the insert, painted it black and then piled up birch logs to fill the space. Check out her renovation log here. I would have thought that the fireplace  is real 'coz it looked so believable.

I reckon my place is eclectic enough to pull this off & I can fill the void with books instead of logs. I am still trying to talk myself into or out of this potential purchase. :)

Don't you just love the vignettes that you can create with a fireplace mantle?

 

By The Quirky One

Gorgeous Farm Table...

I have been eyeing this table from Anthropologie for the longest time. If you're not from North America, you might not know anthro. While the store predominantly sells woman's clothing,  it has the coolest homeware & a selective range of furniture that made you want to lug them home. The only thing that might prevent one from doing so is the price tag.

I have been checking the site randomly to check out the range & am only too excited to find out that this gorgeous pine table with metal nail head top is on sale!

If someone has a shipment coming this way, can I please have this table tagged along please?

By The Quirky One

Scavenging in Japan: Flea Markets & Antique Store Finds..

Going to flea markets & scouring for goodies in mom & pop style antique / vintage store in a country where you don't speak the language can be quite challenging...  The extent of my negotiating skills was as far as  saying "ikura desu ka" which means how much is it, trying to understand denomination & price named by the seller and then writing a figure that I was hoping to get on my notepad. So notepad & a pen was essentially my biggest asset when I was trying to negotiate a price. As clumsy as it sounds, it works!

While I love to ogle at gorgeous wares in design galleries & admire interiors in beautifully designed stores, nothing beats a good deal when you know where to find it. :)

Scavenging in Flea Markets

We have initially planned to go to the Oedo Antique Market, the largest in Tokyo, but the market was canceled when we were there. We did however manage to go to the flea market at the Toji Temple in Kyoto & a few smaller flea markets in Tokyo. Oedo Antique Market will have to be reserved for our next trip.. :)

Be careful of fakes when visiting some of these flea markets & antique markets though. Apparently there has been an increasing number of  fake antiques trickling in from China , so it's buyers beware when you buy from the flea market.

Also if you're visiting Toji market in December or January, try going there as early as you can. It gets really crazy as soon as it hits noon.

Toji market at noon

Flea markets are also a great way to buy beautiful bolts of Japanese fabric & second-hand kimono. Second hand kimono costs as little as 1000 yen (about AUD12), extremely affordable. Kimono for wall hanging anyone? :)

We seriously thought of  buying one of these vintage Japanese signs /boards.. 

Antique Store Finds

I love those little antique stores off the beaten track because it is usually away from all the chaos. We were lucky to find a quaint little gem in Kamakura that we absolutely love. We scored an old Japanese abacus with the company name carved at the back; an old ice skate (literally a Japanese slipper with blades underneath) & a supposedly Meiji period blue & white porcelain plate, all for under AUD50. :)

Score this pair of Japanese slipper style ice skate!

By The Quirky One