Darlinghurst Blog: Food: Third Village

When I spoke to a neighbourhood shopkeeper the other day about how I recently went to the Third Village cafe in Darlinghurst's Italian region, the first thing they said to me was, ''Did you see the chef's tongue?''

It was an odd question, but even stranger was the shopkeeper's description of this tongue. And no, it's not a piercing. I won't go into details either, you'll simply have to go in to Third Village and ask the chef to show you his tongue. I dare you. And please, pretty please, do report back. 

Anyway, with Ruby Molteno back in town after adventures abroad, I met up with her last week at the Third Village on Stanley Street. This little cafe opened in January by a Swiss couple called Eva and Benn and is so named because according to their menu, they support world aid projects:

''Third Village is not just a cool place to go, it is a place that connects you to the developing world through our developing social initiatives.

''In addition we only use coffee sourced in a socially, ethically and environmentally responsible way to improve the methods and rewards for growing coffee, tea and cocoa in developing countries around the world."

I don't know the specifics of which world aid projects they support, but I do know that back in January when floods ravaged parts of Queensland, Third Village donated the proceeds of their Muffin of the Week (mixed forest berry) to the Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal. I hope they sold lots of muffins.

Third Village is a fairly small space with seating for about 20 people. I hope they have applied for outdoor seating, because part of the appeal of Stanley Street is sitting on the footpath and watching the world go by, which is one of the reasons I still often go to Bill and Toni's about three doors down (the other reason is for their excellent pinball machines). 

One entire wall of Third Village is covered in two massive murals by the lovely Potts Point artist Gary McEwan and they look quite impressive, despite my lazy photograph:

The Autumn lunch menu (even though it's definitely Winter) ranges in price from $7.90 for a cheese and tomato sandwich, to $17.95 for a rib-eye steak sandwich with caramelised onions, roast zucchini, tomato, rocket, avocado and aioli on Sonoma sourdough. Along the way there is also a soup of the day with the same bread ($12.90), a beef burger with beetroot, onion, lettuce, tomato, cheese and aioli, served with oven baked potatoes ($16.95), as well as an Asian style salad with coconut milk-marinated chicken, spinach, cucumber and mint ($14.90). 

Ruby, unusually, passed on the breakfast menu - which includes eggs cooked six different ways as well as the yummy sounding french toast with poached pear, mascarpone and maple syrup ($14.50) - and instead went for the creamy rocket and pumpkin penne pasta with grated parmesan ($13.95):

I had a taste and it was creamy and garlicky delicious. And even though I wasn't hungry, I devoured my lemon chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomato and Neufchatel cream cheese ($10.50):

I only had a glass of water as I was in a hurry and had to hop, but Ruby loved her flat white. They also have a range of ''things that are not coffee, but we still like them'', such as smoothies and fresh squeezed juices named after people such as Jay, Peggy and even Barry. 

Next time I go, I want to try their Iced Coffee, which is made from a "freshly extracted" double espresso blended with vanilla ice cream, milk and honey ($5.50). Sounds dreamy delicious and another reason to return in addition to checking out that tongue.

*

Third Village

80 Stanley Street

Darlinghurst (East Sydney) NSW 2010

02 9361 5826

Third Village Facebook Page

Third Village Website

Darlinghurst Blog: Past and Present: Darlinghurst Road From Burton Street

This picture was taken just after Darlinghurst Road was widened in 1935. Everything is so clear and  uncluttered. And look at how St John's Church steeple rises above the skyline. The Kurrajong apartment building looks nice and new, as it does today after recently being treated for concrete cancer. And look at those old terraces on the right, which were demolished for extensions to the Sydney Jewish Museum. Now just look at the amount of stuff - cars, street signs, traffic lights and road-lines - clogging the streets today:

*

Links:

City of Sydney Archives

City of Sydney ArchivePix

Darlinghurst Blog: Lost and Found: Black and White Cat

Found 16/6/11

Black and white cat

Small female (we think)

Cat found in Francis Street

Very friendly, very keen on tuna

If yours, please call

Daryl - 0411 195 551

Shelley - 0417 403 913

Darlinghurst Blog: Food: Wok On Inn Noodle Bar

I've been trying really hard not to eat carbohydrates. Well not that hard, but I have stopped buying bread. Yet the lure of the super-carb overwhelmed me this week and I knew that if I didn't indulge in some of their fulfilling goodness prior to a drink-date, I would be forced to nurse the third beer all night. And we can't have that. Well, that was my excuse anyway. It was also the sudden convenience of being on Oxford Street and walking past the Wok On Inn. So I decided to heed the call of its name and walk on in for some noodley yum-yum.

Wok On Inn cuisine isn't confined to one country but covers the gamut of flavours including Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, Korean, Mongolian and Singaporean. Usually this kind of cross-country mix is a worry but the food here is actually pretty simple: noodles or rice with the usual protein suspects. And I just wanted basic Singapore noodles anyway - surely they can't stuff that up. And at the very least the food is freshly prepared to order.

It was rather early when I arrived, so I was pretty much the only person there, apart from a couple of people ordering take-out.

But I didn't have much time to dwell on my relative isolation or the freshly-picked pink rose in a vase on my table, because soon after ordering, my food arrived.

It was a really rather decent and vibrantly fresh dish, helped along by a squeeze of cut lemon and some chili sauce. The restaurant is part of a chain with outlets in Darling Harbour, Balmain, Rouse Hill and The Rocks. I'm not craving the noodles enough to go back, but if I am ever hungry and stuck in the boonies of Rouse Hill, in Sydney's north-west, I'll know that Wok On Inn is a safe bet.

*

Wok On Inn Noodle Bar

80 Oxford Street

Darlinghurst NSW 2010

02 9332 4554

www.wokoninn.com.au

Darlinghurst Blog: Street Art: Nimrod Street

You may remember that in January I posted on my Facebook page this great photograph, which shows an amazing and inspirational piece of street art on the side of the Stables Theatre's administration building on Nimrod Street. I had always thought it was a perfect white wall, ripe for some street artists's magic, so I was really happy when crystal k pasted up this poetic line. 

"I am the cave through which the river runs and I am myself the river. crystal k.''

No idea what it means, but I still like its rhythm.

Anyway, when I was going past the other day, six months after it was pasted up, I noticed how much it had deteriorated, so I hope crystal k returns with another line to fill its space sometime soon:

Meanwhile, other street artists have also been taking advantage of the wonderful white backdrop and interesting crevices this wall provides. Can you spot the Will Coles in the picture below?

It's actually been there for a month at least, but I never remember to photograph it:

In fact, I'm surprised it hasn't been nicked like the other pieces Coles left down on Ten Buck Alley. It could be because it is so well camouflaged.

Coles isn't the first street artist to use this little white brick alter to display his work. 

Back in December last year, a red and gold nativity scene appeared one night:

It was really sweet, with a little baby Jesus in a manger and a buxom Mary in a red, low-cut dress:

But it wasn't glued down so it was gone within about three days. 

Darlinghurst Blog: Detritus: Mum's In Part Two

Oh my golly f**king goodness. I just had one of the most fabulous nights in the badlands of 1930s Darlinghust. Me and me gal pal, Salmina, put on our finest frocks and stockings, caught a cab (because we are always running late) and zipped down to Heffron Hall on the corner of Palmer and Burton streets.  

Of course, when we arrived, we didn't pay the driver, just held a razor to his throat, stole his takings and ran off into the night. 

We were f***king rich. And what a party we had. The event was Guido Calletti's wake and as Tilly always says, there's no party quite like a f**king funeral. 

We met Slim Jim under a streetlight on Palmer Street and he painted an L on our palms to allow us entry into the hall - ya can't have any old f**king riff-raff comin' to the party.

Then we knocked a ratta-tatt-tatt on the door, gave the password (Mum's In) and entered. We were patted down on arrival, natch, but they never found Salmina's razor which was slipped between her suspenders. Haha. I just kept me pistol in me handbag as per usual.

We grabbed some seats at the table closest to the stage where three old farts were sitting. We had planned to sweeten them up and roll them, but they were not the kind of chaps that fancy women, so instead we just got ourselves some sly beer - it being after 6pm and all - and a bowl of peanuts for three bob. Like I said, we were f***king loaded. 

There were about 50 other fine folk at the do, all swilling drinks and punching each other up, as you do. That dumb bitch f**king Surry Hills slum slut was also there and I gave her a right slappin'.

Then that bloody supremo actress, Vashti Hughes, arrived on stage and sang a few ditties for poor old f**king Guido, such as Knees Up Mother Brown and Fuck 'Em.

"I love me face in the paper

And there's one thing I'd like to say

It's all f**king bullshit 

That crime doesn't pay

"I'm f**king rich

I get f**king richer every day

Why would I change it now to

Turn around and play the straight way?

"F**k 'Em!

What the hell would they know

You'd have to be an imbo, a stupid twat

F**k 'Em!

I'm richer than a politician

Coz I've worked out a system.

Where I know what's what.''

Salmina and I sang along and even though we didn't know the tune we sounded bloody f**ing brilliant.

Well, it was the best f**king wake I have been to - what a f**king knees up! I just can't wait until Tilly Devine or Kate Leigh carks it, 'cos they would be some f**king excellent wakes to go to. 

As per bloody usual though, the party was broken up when we got word that the coppers were on their way, so we tore out of their real f**king quick smart, me and Salmina, off into the dark Darlinghurst streets.

Mum's In Website

Darlinghurst Blog: Detritus: Mum's In

If all goes to plan tonight I will be slinking on down to a secret venue in Darlinghurst to meet Kate Leigh, Tilly Devine, Frank Green, Nellie Cameron and Guido Calletti. And I'll be wearing the most fabulous 1930s get-up that I can drag out of my wardrobe. 

The occasion is a very special production, Mum's In, dreamt up by actor Vashti Hughes, who is bravely going to attempt to bring to life the five main characters from Larry Writer's Razor. And judging by what I have seen on YouTube, it's going to be rather amazing.

To attend this curious show I had to reserve tickets online and then an email was sent to me revealing the secret location and the password to gain access. If I dress in 1930s fashion, the ticket is only $20. For boring types who don't get into the spirit of the occasion, it's $30. 

Once inside there will be sly grog for sale but you can only purchase a drink using gold coins, none of that paper stuff.

So I have been busy researching the era in fashion books to get some inspiration for what to wear:

And this is exactly what I am going to look like:

Well, apart from the dazzling white fox coat and striking good looks of gamine, Paulette Goddard. 

And here I am again attempting to eat a whole pineapple at my last cocktail party with my dear friend, Salmina, who will be coming along to Mum's In with me:

The show is only going for another two nights - Friday and Saturday - so quickly pop online and reserve a ticket before it is booked out. 

MUM'S IN PART TWO

*

Mum's In, Stories From Razorhurst

Written and Performed by Vashti Hughes

Music by Ross Johnston

Produced by Brand X Productions

Directed by James Winter

Mum's In Website

Darlinghurst Blog: Lost and Found: Missing Ripstick

I'm well versed in lipstick, but had never heard of a Ripstick until I spotted this missing poster on a few telegraph poles in the area. So as part of My Darling Darlinghurst's service to the community, I am posting a photograph here for the sake of the poor nine-year-old who lost their birthday present. They say they lost it on Darlinghurst Road, but they actually mean Victoria Street:

''Have you seen my Ripstick? Left on Darlinghurst Road, Thursday night, 12 May, about 7.30, between Mad (Pizza) and Mu (hair salon). It was my 9th birthday present and I'd really appreciate getting it back. Please call: 0425 810 340 (or) 0412 360 960. 

''Robbo, of Elizabeth Bay, someone said they'd given it to you? Please call.''

Darlinghurst Blog: Villas of Darlinghurst: Barham

Detail from 1845 painting by George Edwards Peacock.

Barham: allotment of over 6 acres granted to Edward Deas Thomson in 1831.

Register of the National Estate, City of Sydney Heritage List.

I had been meaning to write about Barham as part of my Register of the National Estate series and then the building also popped up in the Villas of Darlinghurst book that I am writing an occasional series about too. So I can kill two blog posts with one. 

Barham was built in 1833 and is the oldest residential building in Darlinghurst. Iona, for example, was built in 1888, while Potts Point's Tusculum - another remaining old villa - was completed in 1836. Elizabeth Bay House was completed in 1839. 

That makes Barham (pronounced Burrum) rather special and one of the reasons that it remains when others villas were demolished, is because it was purchased by SCEGGS in 1900 and has been a part of the school since then.

The grand villa was built for Sir Edward Deas Thomson, who was granted over six acres in the new Darlinghurst estate in 1831. Thomson was born in Edinburgh and migrated to Australia in 1828-29 when he was appointed the dual role of clerk to the Executive and Legislative Councils in NSW on a salary of 600 Pounds a year.

The then Governor Sir Ralph Darling was very happy with Thomson's hard work and competence and granted him the land in Darlinghurst. Architect John Verge was employed to design Barham, which was initially leased to Colonel Kenneth Snodgrass, before Thomson moved in with his wife, Anna-Maria, the daughter of Governor Richard Bourke.

When Thomson left public office he was elected vice-chancellor of the University of Sydney in 1863 and chancellor in 1865, retaining the post until he was forced to resign due to ill health in 1878.

The couple raised their two sons and five daughters at Barham and remained there for 40 years until Thomson's death in July 1879. Thomson was buried at St Jude's Church of England, in Randwick, in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

Thomson's daughter, Susan, married William John Macleay, who was Colonial Secretary Alexander Macleay's oldest son. Alexander was granted 54 acres at Elizabeth Bay and he also employed John Verge to design his villa. William moved into Elizabeth Bay House in 1839 and lived there until his death in 1865. 

It was Thomson's influence, as chancellor of the University of Sydney, which led William to donate his father's important natural history collection to the institution in 1873. The collection remains at the university's Macleay Museum today.

After Thomson's death in 1879, Barham was purchased by members of the Ogilvie pastoralist family who then sold it to SCEGGS in 1900.

Barham is today located just off Forbes Street within the grounds of SCEGGS and can not be viewed from the street. 

But I didn't let that stop me from seeing such an historic building and slipped into the school one day when the gates were open:

The two-storey mansion is built in the Colonial Georgian style from rendered masonry and timber, with a sandstone basement and tiled roof. Alterations were made between 1900 and 1910, which included the addition of the boarders's dining room, kitchen and laundry and the Headmistress's or Head of School's office, which was built onto one corner. In 1836, the shutters on the top floor windows were removed. 

Today it is still used for the administration offices and I believe the boarders's facilities still remain. According to heritage reports, the original configuration and structure of the house is intact and generally in good condition, while original joinery survives in the meeting room, dining room, corridors and main door.

The school's alumni include actress Claudia Karvan, comedians Julie McCrossin and Pamela Stephenson and authors Blanche d'Apulget and Ursula Dubosarsky.

Darlinghurst Blog: History: 28-30 Surrey Street

A few weeks ago I received an email from a reader, who has been living in Darlinghurst on and off for the past 24 years, and was very curious about the history of ''Darlinghurst Place'', at 28-30 Surrey Street. 

The reader said she heard it was a garage in the 1970s, stables at the turn of the century, a bakery at some other point, and also once belonged to a man called Mr Hickey. 

I have walked past the place countless times when I used Surrey Street as a shortcut between Elizabeth Bay and Darlinghurst, and I had just assumed it was an old stable. 

But the reader aroused my curiosity and I set off at once to investigate, discovering along the way that the site has a very interesting history.

The titles for 28 and 30 Surrey Street are presently owned by Willpower Pty Ltd, a company directed by developer William Winterton, who has his offices on the left side of the building, fronting the street. Willpower purchased the two buildings in the 1980s and 1990s and I must assume - for I cannot be certain - that Winterton restored the site into apartment blocks - called The Mews, The Bakery and The Gatehouse (below) - and gave it the name, Darlinghurst Place. 

The right side of the street-facing building is leased by the Masuda Gallery, which according to its website specialises in ''Japanese vintage and contemporary textiles, works on paper and other decorative arts.'' The gallery is run by Masako Masuda and began exhibiting in June last year.

As for its history, the first mention I can find is back in February 1887, soon after the site was developed, when an advertisement was placed in the Sydney Morning Herald:

''New shop and dwelling to let, adjoining Messrs Hickey and Cahill's new Darlinghurst Bakery. First class locality. Apply Messrs Hickey and Cahill.''

In March and April of 1904 and November 1906, the buildings at 28 and 30 Surrey Street were again listed for lease in The Sydney Morning Herald:

''No 28 - A Shop and Dwelling, with awning and balcony in front, and containing shop, five rooms, bathroom, kitchen and washershed.

No 30 - The Darlinghurst Bakery, Business Premises, with awning and balcony in front, and containing shop, six rooms, kitchen, bathroom and wash-house; detached commodious Bakery, comprising bakehouse (fitted with three ovens), bread-room and feed-room, with large flour loft over, and stabling (75 stalls), cart-shed.''

But it seems Mr Hickey stayed on at Surrey Street, for in September 1919, there was an obituary for a Mr O'Loughlin who ''died at the residence of his sister, Mrs David Hickey, Darlinghurst Bakery.''

There's not much to be found on David Hickey in the archives, except for another brief mention in  November 1906 when he and George Brown of Barcom Avenue nominated Phillip Henry Morton of Roslyn Avenue for the council elections in the seat of Bligh.

In August 1922, David Hickey also advertised for a ''strong lad for bakehouse, willing to learn trade, apply 9 O'Clock.''

And in May, 1925 a Miss Hickey of 30 Surrey Street offered a reward for ''four, one pound notes, lost between Darlinghurst and Waverley.'' 

How strange. I wonder if anyone ever handed in the money? 

Others who listed 28 and 30 Surrey Street as their address -  from 1910 to the late 1940s - include a Mr D Levy (at 30), Mr JD Fitzgerald (at 28, in 1910), John McDonnell (at 28, in 1921) and Mr LE Ball (1948). 

I suspect David Hickey died sometime in the 1940s, because in July, 1949, this advertisement appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald:

"Wanted to Rent or Buy, Cottage of Shack, close to water, reasonable distance Sydney. M Hickey, 30 Surrey Street, Kings Cross.''

And the following year, in July, this same M. Hickey placed another advertisement, which indicates he was packing up the bakery and moving to his new place by the water:

''For Sale: Elevator (dough) suitable for produce store or goods elevator, 100 Pounds.''

In the meantime, during the mid-1940s, a confectioner called Shevel Alexander moved into the building above. 

The Russian-born Shevel, also known as Sasha, inherited the confectionary business from his father, Leo Zapolsky (also known as Leo Alexander), who died in 1936. The family migrated to Australia from Manchuria in the 1920s.

In 1947, according to newspaper archives, the chocolate manufacturing operations were located at Oswald Lane. This little laneway runs from Womerah Avenue to Hickey Lane (named after the baker), but after looking at old maps, I believe the site of Alexander's Chocolates was actually at 28 Surrey Street. 

Here's a map from today and - correct me if I'm wrong - if you compare it to the next map, it looks like the chocolate factory was part of 28-30 Surrey Street:

Old map, showing Alexander's Chocolates on Hickey Lane:

In November 1947, Shevel advertised for ''Chocolate Packers. Girls, experience not necessary. Good wages and conditions. No Saturday work. Shevel Alexander Pty Ltd, on Oswald Lane, Darlinghurst.''

The Alexander family was big in the world of confectionary and Shevel also inherited the Peter Pan milk bar on Hunter Street, in the city, as well as a chocolate shop in George Street, next door to the Civic Theatre, also in the city. 

Life should have been sweet for Shevel, but in 1948 he suffered a setback:

Shevel's downfall made national headlines in July 1948 when a judge described the chocolatier's tax evasion as the worst ''to come before a court for many years''.

Tax investigators seized books and other documents during raids on his Bundarra Road, Bellevue Hill home, and his various businesses, which ''made it obvious that his account books were unreliable and did not disclose his true income.''

According to court reports, Shevel had understated his net income for the financial year 1944-45, by at least 1574 Pounds and for the following financial year, by 1075 Pounds. 

Shevel was fined 100 Pounds and ordered to pay 400 Pounds to the Taxation Department for each charge.

I don't know what happened to Shevel after that and here the trail of 28-30 Surrey Street ends.

Save for a brief mention in September 1952, when ''hundreds of Kings Cross housewives'' campaigned to have the disused bakery turned into a wholesale fruit market. 

The women presented a petition to the then Sydney City Council asking for the market to be established to prevent ''exploitation of the public by barrow men''.

''Kings Cross is the most exploited district in the metropolitan area,'' Alderman AW Thompson told The Sydney Morning Herald.

''Although there are some fine men among the barrow men, I have been told that some are men with criminal backgrounds.''

Fruit barrow men, corner of Springfield Avenue and Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross, 1933.

From the City of Sydney Archives.