The best Sunday roasts in Melbourne
What is it? A three-course set menu consisting of sourdough and shared entrées, followed by the roast of the day or a vegetarian alternative.
Why we love it: Similarly to other top picks in this guide, Neighbourhood Wine takes well-loved flavours and dials up both the taste and presentation in line with what you'd expect from a top Melbourne wine bar. The rotating menu changes according to what's in season, from porchetta, roast cabbage and potatoes (with a Yorkie pud and jus, of course) to velvety potato and leek soup followed by a porterhouse. We especially love that in this deal, dessert's icluded.
Time Out tip: Missing the wintry, white Christmases of Europe and the UK? Book for Gitmas in July, a mid-year festive feast at the restaurant, and share in the nostalgia with expats.
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Time Out
04-06-2025
- Time Out
The best Sunday roasts in Melbourne
What is it? A three-course set menu consisting of sourdough and shared entrées, followed by the roast of the day or a vegetarian alternative. Why we love it: Similarly to other top picks in this guide, Neighbourhood Wine takes well-loved flavours and dials up both the taste and presentation in line with what you'd expect from a top Melbourne wine bar. The rotating menu changes according to what's in season, from porchetta, roast cabbage and potatoes (with a Yorkie pud and jus, of course) to velvety potato and leek soup followed by a porterhouse. We especially love that in this deal, dessert's icluded. Time Out tip: Missing the wintry, white Christmases of Europe and the UK? Book for Gitmas in July, a mid-year festive feast at the restaurant, and share in the nostalgia with expats.
Telegraph
29-04-2025
- Telegraph
Thanks to culture-dodging Britons, our heritage could be sold to the highest bidder
At Hays Galleria in London Bridge, a group of tourists queues next to a rank of red telephone boxes. The Sheffield natives are not here to celebrate this classic of British civic design, but rather to snap a coveted shot of themselves for Instagram, giving the thumbs up beside the London icons. Hays Galleria, a Grade II-listed former Victorian warehouse, is now a firm fixture on the list of London's 'most Instagrammable' spots, a roster which includes favourites like Trafalgar Square and Westminster Abbey, but also more obscure locations such as the ruins of St Dunstan-in-the-East and Kynance Mews, a cobbled street in Kensington known for its wisteria. Are these social media-obsessed tourists a threat to Britain's age-old cultural institutions? That's the claim of some, as falling visitor numbers at British museums and galleries prompt a sell-off of Britain's historic jewels. The latest victim is Rydal Mount. Last month Chris Wordsworth and Simon Bennie, descendants of the poet William Wordsworth, announced that they had taken the decision to sell the Lake District property, Wordsworth's final home and a museum of his life, because costs had become 'prohibitive' amid a fall in visitor numbers. Chris Wordsworth told The Telegraph: 'William Wordsworth lived in the house for 37 years, but this generation of Wordsworths has been here for 55 years. The house contains not only the history of our famous forebear but also memories of family Christmases, games at New Year and long summer evenings in the garden.' It follows English Heritage's January 30 announcement of 200 redundancies across its 400-plus historic sites, as well as extended winter closures, due to the rising costs and reduced footfall. In another shock announcement this month, The Tate has said it is 'in discussions' with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport about its financial position, having lost 2.2 million visitors from its galleries in the past five years. Tate trustees acknowledged 'uncertainty' over its 'ability to remain a going concern'. Other prominent sell-offs include Appleby Castle and The Norman Centre in Yorkshire, which played a central role in the War of the Roses and boasts one of the few remaining intact Norman keeps – but was listed for private sale in March for £7.25m, and Ripley Castle, a fellow Dales cultural jewel, which was listed for £21 million in the same month despite being in the Ingilby family for 700 years. Up to March, Ripley offered tours of the castle and its gardens from £10.50 per adult. Three-hour visits to its gardens remain on the castle's website, pending a sale. For cultural hotspots that rely on visitors to keep the lights on, the numbers are stark. In the Government's figures, visits to national museums and galleries in the UK are significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels, with 35.1 million visits in 2022/23, 14 million fewer than in 2018/19, or a decrease of 27.4 per cent. The fall will be partly down to the rising cost of living. As of 2023, around 36 per cent of UK museums offered free admission, while the remaining 64 per cent charged in some form, either for entry, specific exhibitions, or both. There has also been significant year-on-year inflation in the ticket prices of institutions that charge. Kew Gardens costs £24 for an adult, compared to £13.90 in 2010, for example. One could be forgiven for presuming older Britons keep cultural attractions afloat, but it's adults aged 25-44 who traditionally keep museums in the black, with those aged 75 and older being less likely to visit. A 2019/20 study found that 54-55 per cent of adults aged 25-74 had visited a museum or gallery that year, compared to 45 per cent of those aged 16-24, and 36 per cent of those aged 75 or above. International tourists, meanwhile, are twice as likely as domestic tourists to visit UK museums and galleries during their trip. But as well as money worries, changing cultural habits are at play. Relationship coach Kate Mansfield, 50, and from London, is an avid traveller and gallery-goer and regularly heads off on trips with her Gen Z son Jake Summers, who is 22 and works in cruise industry planning. 'My attitude to galleries is very different to Jake's,' Mansfield said. 'When I travel, I tend to pop in and see an exhibition wherever I go but Jake needs his arm twisting: it needs to be something quite special for him [to join].' Jake's preference when travelling is for 'visual' and 'attention-grabbing' experiences, he said, such as pop-up restaurants and street-art events. 'My generation has a short attention span,' he explained. 'We're used to swiping past anything that doesn't grab our attention. We also consume things to then broadcast to our friends online, so they have to seem cool.' Jake rates contemporary art museum Moco, which has branches in Amsterdam, London and Barcelona and focuses on digital and immersive art, and has tie-ins with brands including Netflix, Budweiser and Uniqlo. This is a picture corroborated by Eloise Skinner, 33, a psychologist and content creator who has been commissioned by institutions including the Royal Academy of Arts, Bayswater 'immersive art experience' Frameless, and Moco, to attract youth via social media. 'Gen Zs feel they can experience art online and with so much competition for their attention, galleries need to provide a real reason to attend in person, with immersive and sensory experiences.' In short, she adds: 'Anything you can't experience on your phone'. Price, Skinner says, is also a barrier: 'Under-25s schemes can be good, with cut-price or free entrance for young people.' Whether it's rising costs, competition for eyeballs or cultural bankruptcy that spells trouble for museums and galleries, there are calls for emergency measures for the sector. Tristram Hunt, the director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, has argued for a hotel tax for overseas tourists that would be ring fenced to support cultural institutions, as pressure grows on the Government to allow mayor of London Sadiq Khan to road test such a levy in the capital. Paulomi Debnath, 45, is a culture-loving entrepreneur with a culture-dodging husband, Avik Biswas, also 45 and a hotel manager. The couple have an arrangement that Paulomi is allowed one gallery or museum during couples' getaways. 'He is not a fan,' she says with a laugh. Despite this, Paulomi believes there's plenty to be said for the social media travel culture that focusses on original and visual experiences too: 'Beautiful places, new food markets, natural wonders, long drives and sunsets can all be lovely,' she points out.
Telegraph
14-04-2025
- Telegraph
My Easter decorations have been up since February (my husband hates it)
Sunita Shroff is putting the final touches to her Easter decorations: arranging vases of roses and tulips; tweaking a branch of faux blossom; and hanging an extra pastel-coloured egg on the tree. The kitchen of her home in the Berkshire countryside is ready and waiting for an Easter lunch party, down to the bowls of chocolate eggs and the bunny-ear napkins on the table. But, truth be told, her Easter tree has in fact been up since late February – as have the floral garland above the window, the 'happy Easter' banners, several spring wreaths and a scattering of wicker bunnies that peek winsomely from every surface. Sunita, a television presenter and event stylist, is a huge fan of seasonal decorating, and she's not alone. While American lifestyle influencers such as Martha Stewart have been espousing seasonal decor for decades, it's a relatively new but growing trend in the UK, too: at John Lewis, searches for spring decor are up 67 per cent on this time last year, and sales of Easter tableware are up 34 per cent. Dressing your home for Easter is no longer a niche pastime, but is fast gaining traction among the middle classes. 'Easter trees are totally acceptable now,' Sunita agrees. 'Ten years ago, if I said I was going to do an Easter tree people wouldn't know what I was talking about, but now I know lots of people who have one. It's the same with spring wreaths.' For her, it's been something of a slow burn. 'I've always loved putting up Christmas decorations,' she says, 'and the house looked so empty when I took them down. The gap between Christmases just felt too long, so I decided to start decorating at other times too. I pick up decorations throughout the year whenever I see them, so I've gathered quite a collection.' Valentine's Day and Halloween now get a nod in her home – Chinese New Year is a recent addition to the decorative calendar – but Easter, with its celebration of springlike colour and flowers, is undoubtedly the most joyful. It starts with the tree, a five-foot-tall faux cherry blossom tree with fairy lights that she bought from Gisela Graham around 15 years ago and brings out each year to hang with eggs, birds and bunny ornaments; then come the garlands and the floral wreaths, which are hung on every door, including the garden gate. Sunita has become such a fan of floral styling, she now hosts seasonal wreath-making events, where she demonstrates how to make a wreath using a wicker ring and cuttings from the garden, such as eucalyptus and other greenery, mixed with dried and fresh flowers. 'You've got to prune and cut things back in the garden anyway at this time of year, so why not use them?' she says. 'I use grasses, lavenders, hydrangeas – I trim the rosemary and use it for table decorations.' The celebrations really kick off in earnest at the start of the Easter holidays and reach their peak on Easter weekend, with the pièce de résistance of an egg hunt around the garden for Sunita's daughter and her friends. 'I used to hire an entertainer who would come dressed as the Easter bunny,' she says, 'but then I just bought a bunny costume, and now when people come over for lunch, one of the adults will dress up.' The egg hunt takes place whatever the weather – Sunita remembers a time when she was hiding eggs in the snow – although she has learnt from experience to put the chocolate eggs in individual jars to stop them from being eaten by visiting animals. A surfeit of sweets does, of course, hold certain dangers: Sunita remembers with a shudder the time Coco the sausage dog leapt on to a table when her back was turned to eat a large portion of chocolate Easter cake, and spent the rest of the morning at the vet's. Canine dramas aside, the Easter table is the main event and the centre of the celebrations. Inside, there's a mini twiggy tabletop tree from Nkuku hung with metal eggs and wooden chicks and rabbits; bowls of lemons, limes, apples and grapes to match the green and yellow tableware; and a row of bud vases down the centre filled with spring blooms. 'Tesco roses are the best if you're buying them in,' notes Sunita. 'I'll put them on the table, and then after a few days I'll hang them upside down and dry them, so that I've always got some dried flowers at hand to use for wreaths or for decorating the table. I make up little bundles to use for place settings; they last for years.' For bigger parties, she'll dress an outside table too, with a different colour theme. The one downside to all this seasonal abundance? 'My husband hates it,' Sunita confesses. 'He sees the table as something functional, where you put food, and despairs when there are decorations everywhere and no room for serving dishes. He can't understand why I do it; but I just love it.' Sunita's thrifty Easter decor tips Shop around for inexpensive tableware, and go for a springlike colour theme rather than Easter-specific pieces, so that you can use them year-round. The green and yellow tableware, glasses, candlesticks and cutlery here are from Søstrene Green and John Lewis, and Sunita also rates TK Maxx for plates and glasses. Make a table centrepiece using pots of supermarket herbs grouped together in a low pot or dish – for her outdoor table, Sunita has used an old copper fish kettle picked up at a charity shop, filled it with pots of basil, mint and parsley, and dotted in some bunny decorations. You can use the herbs later for cooking or drinks. Sunita buys wooden place names for her table from Personalised Store: 'I've got all my family and friends' names; they only cost 70p each and it's a nice touch that makes people feel special,' she says. Dry out fresh flowers after a few days so that you can save them and use them for table decorations, or in vases. Anything can work as a vessel for displaying cut flowers – Sunita has used an old chicken-shaped teapot for her outdoor table: 'The lid broke, but I didn't want to throw the rest of it away, and it works perfectly as a vase.' Use fruit as table decor – it adds fresh, seasonal colour, and can become part of the meal. Decorate a chair by wrapping a strip of hessian around the back and tying it in a bow; this works especially well to spruce up plain wooden garden chairs. Once you've set the table, scatter it with foil-wrapped chocolate eggs and mini chocolate bunnies for a seasonal touch. If you have a wood-burning stove (and it's warm enough not to use it), stuff it with cuttings from the garden – Sunita has filled hers with dried hydrangea heads which she harvested when deadheading and pruning.
