Bluey fans left fuming after hit episode pulled by ABC
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Advertiser
16 minutes ago
- The Advertiser
Bye Bye Baby: Australian music pioneer Col Joye dies
Musician, entertainer and entrepreneur Col Joye has died aged 89, after a career that earned him dozens of gold and platinum records, studded with successive number one hits. Joye was born Colin Jacobsen on April 13, 1939, in Sydney and left school at 14 to work as a salesman for a jeweller and start a band with his brothers Kevin and Keith. The Jacobsen brothers released two singles in 1959 - Stagger Lee and Bye Bye Baby - with the latter reaching number one in the charts, establishing Joye as a major star. On the advice of a clairvoyant, he changed his name to Col Joye and became a regular on the music show Bandstand for 14 years. Col Joye and the Joyboys were the first Australian rock band to reach the American Billboard chart in 1959, touring the US with Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs in the mid-1960s and early 70s. Joye also toured Vietnam with singer Little Pattie to entertain Australian troops, most famously on August 18, 1966, at Nui Dat when the Battle of Long Tan began nearby. The artists later visited injured soldiers in hospital after the battle. After Beatlemania hit Australia, Joye had to wait until 1973 for his next number one single, which was Heaven Is My Woman's Love. Col and his brother Kevin later formed the management company Jacobsen Group, which also handled publishing and recording for famous clients like The Bee Gees. In 1983, Joye was awarded the Order of Australia for his work as an entertainer and his philanthropic work. Joye was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1988, the first entertainer to be honoured. In 1990, Joye fell from a tree, suffering head injuries which left him in a coma. However, he made a full recovery and decided to retire from performing. In 2001, the ABC series Long Way to the Top noted his star power and honoured his career. A family feud pulled the Jacobsen Group to pieces in March 2012. It began when the second generation joined the firm - Joye's daughter Amber joined in 1997 and Kevin Jacobsen's son Michael in 2002, when Joye and Jacobsen decided to create Jacobsen Entertainment and float it on the stock exchange. The float was a debacle, raising only $8 million, and the company was placed in administration less than a year after its launch. Ructions over the roles of Amber and Michael escalated, with a lawsuit over Jacobsen's handling of the Dirty Dancing stage musical and the collapse in 2009 of Arena Management, a Jacobsen company headed by Michael. The families spent years warring in local and international courts over the profits for the highly-lucrative musical, with Jacobsen declaring bankruptcy in 2011 amid claims he'd been cheated out of the rights to the multimillion-dollar production. Australian singer and songwriter Normie Rowe told the ABC on Wednesday that Joye was one of his idols. "Col was in my psyche right throughout my entire life. I watched him and I thought, 'if I'm going to be a singer, that's the sort of singer I want to be'." The Australian Recording Industry Association paid tribute to Joye, saying he made a remarkable contribution to the local music scene for more than six decades. "At a time when the local industry was dominated by US and UK artists, he proved that Australians would embrace local artists and local music," CEO Annabelle Herd said in a statement. "Our deepest condolences go to Col's family. "He will be sadly missed." Further details of Joye's passing on Tuesday are still to be publicly released. Musician, entertainer and entrepreneur Col Joye has died aged 89, after a career that earned him dozens of gold and platinum records, studded with successive number one hits. Joye was born Colin Jacobsen on April 13, 1939, in Sydney and left school at 14 to work as a salesman for a jeweller and start a band with his brothers Kevin and Keith. The Jacobsen brothers released two singles in 1959 - Stagger Lee and Bye Bye Baby - with the latter reaching number one in the charts, establishing Joye as a major star. On the advice of a clairvoyant, he changed his name to Col Joye and became a regular on the music show Bandstand for 14 years. Col Joye and the Joyboys were the first Australian rock band to reach the American Billboard chart in 1959, touring the US with Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs in the mid-1960s and early 70s. Joye also toured Vietnam with singer Little Pattie to entertain Australian troops, most famously on August 18, 1966, at Nui Dat when the Battle of Long Tan began nearby. The artists later visited injured soldiers in hospital after the battle. After Beatlemania hit Australia, Joye had to wait until 1973 for his next number one single, which was Heaven Is My Woman's Love. Col and his brother Kevin later formed the management company Jacobsen Group, which also handled publishing and recording for famous clients like The Bee Gees. In 1983, Joye was awarded the Order of Australia for his work as an entertainer and his philanthropic work. Joye was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1988, the first entertainer to be honoured. In 1990, Joye fell from a tree, suffering head injuries which left him in a coma. However, he made a full recovery and decided to retire from performing. In 2001, the ABC series Long Way to the Top noted his star power and honoured his career. A family feud pulled the Jacobsen Group to pieces in March 2012. It began when the second generation joined the firm - Joye's daughter Amber joined in 1997 and Kevin Jacobsen's son Michael in 2002, when Joye and Jacobsen decided to create Jacobsen Entertainment and float it on the stock exchange. The float was a debacle, raising only $8 million, and the company was placed in administration less than a year after its launch. Ructions over the roles of Amber and Michael escalated, with a lawsuit over Jacobsen's handling of the Dirty Dancing stage musical and the collapse in 2009 of Arena Management, a Jacobsen company headed by Michael. The families spent years warring in local and international courts over the profits for the highly-lucrative musical, with Jacobsen declaring bankruptcy in 2011 amid claims he'd been cheated out of the rights to the multimillion-dollar production. Australian singer and songwriter Normie Rowe told the ABC on Wednesday that Joye was one of his idols. "Col was in my psyche right throughout my entire life. I watched him and I thought, 'if I'm going to be a singer, that's the sort of singer I want to be'." The Australian Recording Industry Association paid tribute to Joye, saying he made a remarkable contribution to the local music scene for more than six decades. "At a time when the local industry was dominated by US and UK artists, he proved that Australians would embrace local artists and local music," CEO Annabelle Herd said in a statement. "Our deepest condolences go to Col's family. "He will be sadly missed." Further details of Joye's passing on Tuesday are still to be publicly released. Musician, entertainer and entrepreneur Col Joye has died aged 89, after a career that earned him dozens of gold and platinum records, studded with successive number one hits. Joye was born Colin Jacobsen on April 13, 1939, in Sydney and left school at 14 to work as a salesman for a jeweller and start a band with his brothers Kevin and Keith. The Jacobsen brothers released two singles in 1959 - Stagger Lee and Bye Bye Baby - with the latter reaching number one in the charts, establishing Joye as a major star. On the advice of a clairvoyant, he changed his name to Col Joye and became a regular on the music show Bandstand for 14 years. Col Joye and the Joyboys were the first Australian rock band to reach the American Billboard chart in 1959, touring the US with Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs in the mid-1960s and early 70s. Joye also toured Vietnam with singer Little Pattie to entertain Australian troops, most famously on August 18, 1966, at Nui Dat when the Battle of Long Tan began nearby. The artists later visited injured soldiers in hospital after the battle. After Beatlemania hit Australia, Joye had to wait until 1973 for his next number one single, which was Heaven Is My Woman's Love. Col and his brother Kevin later formed the management company Jacobsen Group, which also handled publishing and recording for famous clients like The Bee Gees. In 1983, Joye was awarded the Order of Australia for his work as an entertainer and his philanthropic work. Joye was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1988, the first entertainer to be honoured. In 1990, Joye fell from a tree, suffering head injuries which left him in a coma. However, he made a full recovery and decided to retire from performing. In 2001, the ABC series Long Way to the Top noted his star power and honoured his career. A family feud pulled the Jacobsen Group to pieces in March 2012. It began when the second generation joined the firm - Joye's daughter Amber joined in 1997 and Kevin Jacobsen's son Michael in 2002, when Joye and Jacobsen decided to create Jacobsen Entertainment and float it on the stock exchange. The float was a debacle, raising only $8 million, and the company was placed in administration less than a year after its launch. Ructions over the roles of Amber and Michael escalated, with a lawsuit over Jacobsen's handling of the Dirty Dancing stage musical and the collapse in 2009 of Arena Management, a Jacobsen company headed by Michael. The families spent years warring in local and international courts over the profits for the highly-lucrative musical, with Jacobsen declaring bankruptcy in 2011 amid claims he'd been cheated out of the rights to the multimillion-dollar production. Australian singer and songwriter Normie Rowe told the ABC on Wednesday that Joye was one of his idols. "Col was in my psyche right throughout my entire life. I watched him and I thought, 'if I'm going to be a singer, that's the sort of singer I want to be'." The Australian Recording Industry Association paid tribute to Joye, saying he made a remarkable contribution to the local music scene for more than six decades. "At a time when the local industry was dominated by US and UK artists, he proved that Australians would embrace local artists and local music," CEO Annabelle Herd said in a statement. "Our deepest condolences go to Col's family. "He will be sadly missed." Further details of Joye's passing on Tuesday are still to be publicly released. Musician, entertainer and entrepreneur Col Joye has died aged 89, after a career that earned him dozens of gold and platinum records, studded with successive number one hits. Joye was born Colin Jacobsen on April 13, 1939, in Sydney and left school at 14 to work as a salesman for a jeweller and start a band with his brothers Kevin and Keith. The Jacobsen brothers released two singles in 1959 - Stagger Lee and Bye Bye Baby - with the latter reaching number one in the charts, establishing Joye as a major star. On the advice of a clairvoyant, he changed his name to Col Joye and became a regular on the music show Bandstand for 14 years. Col Joye and the Joyboys were the first Australian rock band to reach the American Billboard chart in 1959, touring the US with Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs in the mid-1960s and early 70s. Joye also toured Vietnam with singer Little Pattie to entertain Australian troops, most famously on August 18, 1966, at Nui Dat when the Battle of Long Tan began nearby. The artists later visited injured soldiers in hospital after the battle. After Beatlemania hit Australia, Joye had to wait until 1973 for his next number one single, which was Heaven Is My Woman's Love. Col and his brother Kevin later formed the management company Jacobsen Group, which also handled publishing and recording for famous clients like The Bee Gees. In 1983, Joye was awarded the Order of Australia for his work as an entertainer and his philanthropic work. Joye was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1988, the first entertainer to be honoured. In 1990, Joye fell from a tree, suffering head injuries which left him in a coma. However, he made a full recovery and decided to retire from performing. In 2001, the ABC series Long Way to the Top noted his star power and honoured his career. A family feud pulled the Jacobsen Group to pieces in March 2012. It began when the second generation joined the firm - Joye's daughter Amber joined in 1997 and Kevin Jacobsen's son Michael in 2002, when Joye and Jacobsen decided to create Jacobsen Entertainment and float it on the stock exchange. The float was a debacle, raising only $8 million, and the company was placed in administration less than a year after its launch. Ructions over the roles of Amber and Michael escalated, with a lawsuit over Jacobsen's handling of the Dirty Dancing stage musical and the collapse in 2009 of Arena Management, a Jacobsen company headed by Michael. The families spent years warring in local and international courts over the profits for the highly-lucrative musical, with Jacobsen declaring bankruptcy in 2011 amid claims he'd been cheated out of the rights to the multimillion-dollar production. Australian singer and songwriter Normie Rowe told the ABC on Wednesday that Joye was one of his idols. "Col was in my psyche right throughout my entire life. I watched him and I thought, 'if I'm going to be a singer, that's the sort of singer I want to be'." The Australian Recording Industry Association paid tribute to Joye, saying he made a remarkable contribution to the local music scene for more than six decades. "At a time when the local industry was dominated by US and UK artists, he proved that Australians would embrace local artists and local music," CEO Annabelle Herd said in a statement. "Our deepest condolences go to Col's family. "He will be sadly missed." Further details of Joye's passing on Tuesday are still to be publicly released.
The Advertiser
16 minutes ago
- The Advertiser
'Old-school feel': new chapter for historic Islington hotel
The painted black walls and windows are gone, the sticky floors replaced, and potted plants hang from the ceiling. The Newcastle Hotel on Maitland Road is now the Islington Barracks Hotel, and its shift from a nightclub to family-friendly local pub has rendered it almost unrecognisable. Newcastle locals Lukas Thodas, and brothers John and Phil Elsley, wasted no time putting their stamp on the 135-year-old hotel after agreeing to take over the lease earlier this year. "The owners approached us about the hotel and asked if we wanted to have a go, and we're all Newcastle boys, and we'd always look at the pub and go 'Oh, it could be awesome', so we took it on," Thodas said. "I used to go there with work colleagues when I was 18 or 19 and worked at The Exchange, it was the only place open when we finished our shift, so I had a bit of a soft spot for the place." The trio also lease the Lambton Park Hotel and own the Grand Hotel in Newcastle, while the Elsleys own "a bunch of other venues" including Bartholomew's in Newcastle and Good Folk Brewing Co. in Hamilton. "All our pubs are proper pubs. What we've done at the Grand is to restore it back to that traditional style, and with the Islington Barracks, it's got that original old-school feel as well," Thodas said. "We just wanted to make sure we made it a locals' pub, and so far, so good. The feedback has been great from the community." The 139 Maitland Road premises has had various names over the years, including the Criterion, the Barracks, King George Tavern, the Newy and the Gateway. It looked very different, Thodas says, when he was first handed the keys. "All the windows in the bar were blacked out when we took over. There was a DJ set-up in the main bar and in the dining area, there was a DJ set-up in the front room, and then there was the ballroom section which has the full stage set-up as well," he said. "The whole venue was operating as a club. "We've gutted the dining area. Every surface in there is new, there's new booth seating ... there's even a new soundproof ceiling. We put a completely new kitchen in, and we redid the beer garden. There's a totally different feel now. It's come up well." The hotel's new colour palette was inspired by the original tiles in the bar area, some of which feature a lion motif. "I look at this pub as a bit of a mix between the other two pubs. We're going for that community focus - family friendly, dog friendly in the beer garden, the menu is all gluten-free - but we'll also have the live music element in the band room, and lots of different sports on televisions in the front bar," Thodas said. It was certainly a warm and welcoming space to visit for lunch on a cold and rainy day, and the beer garden will no doubt be popular in the summer months. The food offering is a definite point of difference. It's gluten-free and coeliac-friendly, and executive chef Jeremy Fahy cooks on a spit rotisserie which he says is "partly French-influenced, partly classic Aussie '80s bistro" in style. The mixed rotisserie plate for two is a must-try: a flavoursome mix of pork, chicken and lamb with drip-pan potatoes, endive, apple and walnut salad, and sauce. Delicious. So, too, were the rotisserie chicken croquettes (slow-cooked rotisserie chicken with chicken fat bechamel). Fahy says the rotisserie rolls are popular: the Classic Chicken Roll (herb-roasted chicken, butter, gravy and fries), Pork and Apple Roll (salsa verde apple slaw, mustard mayo and crackling lamb), Mint Roll (pulled lamb, minted yoghurt, cucumber and pickled onion) and the Mushroom and Brie Roll (garlic mushrooms, brie, caramelised onion and dijon mayo). All the pub classics are there, too, and in gluten-free form: schniztels, burgers, rump steaks and fries. The wine list has a strong Hunter Valley presence. The upstairs rooms are being refurbished, and a variety of live gigs have already been booked, including I See Stars (US), Justice Crew and comedian Julian Woods. "We're not going to pigeonhole ourselves into a certain style, and we'll have regular non-ticketed events too," Thodas said. "Now that we're open, plus the The Oak, Cross Keys Hotel, The Oriental, you can actually go on a suburban pub crawl on the fringe of the CBD, kind of like Enmore, Surry Hills and Newtown on Sydney's fringe. "It's good for the area, I think, to have these places open up to the community." The painted black walls and windows are gone, the sticky floors replaced, and potted plants hang from the ceiling. The Newcastle Hotel on Maitland Road is now the Islington Barracks Hotel, and its shift from a nightclub to family-friendly local pub has rendered it almost unrecognisable. Newcastle locals Lukas Thodas, and brothers John and Phil Elsley, wasted no time putting their stamp on the 135-year-old hotel after agreeing to take over the lease earlier this year. "The owners approached us about the hotel and asked if we wanted to have a go, and we're all Newcastle boys, and we'd always look at the pub and go 'Oh, it could be awesome', so we took it on," Thodas said. "I used to go there with work colleagues when I was 18 or 19 and worked at The Exchange, it was the only place open when we finished our shift, so I had a bit of a soft spot for the place." The trio also lease the Lambton Park Hotel and own the Grand Hotel in Newcastle, while the Elsleys own "a bunch of other venues" including Bartholomew's in Newcastle and Good Folk Brewing Co. in Hamilton. "All our pubs are proper pubs. What we've done at the Grand is to restore it back to that traditional style, and with the Islington Barracks, it's got that original old-school feel as well," Thodas said. "We just wanted to make sure we made it a locals' pub, and so far, so good. The feedback has been great from the community." The 139 Maitland Road premises has had various names over the years, including the Criterion, the Barracks, King George Tavern, the Newy and the Gateway. It looked very different, Thodas says, when he was first handed the keys. "All the windows in the bar were blacked out when we took over. There was a DJ set-up in the main bar and in the dining area, there was a DJ set-up in the front room, and then there was the ballroom section which has the full stage set-up as well," he said. "The whole venue was operating as a club. "We've gutted the dining area. Every surface in there is new, there's new booth seating ... there's even a new soundproof ceiling. We put a completely new kitchen in, and we redid the beer garden. There's a totally different feel now. It's come up well." The hotel's new colour palette was inspired by the original tiles in the bar area, some of which feature a lion motif. "I look at this pub as a bit of a mix between the other two pubs. We're going for that community focus - family friendly, dog friendly in the beer garden, the menu is all gluten-free - but we'll also have the live music element in the band room, and lots of different sports on televisions in the front bar," Thodas said. It was certainly a warm and welcoming space to visit for lunch on a cold and rainy day, and the beer garden will no doubt be popular in the summer months. The food offering is a definite point of difference. It's gluten-free and coeliac-friendly, and executive chef Jeremy Fahy cooks on a spit rotisserie which he says is "partly French-influenced, partly classic Aussie '80s bistro" in style. The mixed rotisserie plate for two is a must-try: a flavoursome mix of pork, chicken and lamb with drip-pan potatoes, endive, apple and walnut salad, and sauce. Delicious. So, too, were the rotisserie chicken croquettes (slow-cooked rotisserie chicken with chicken fat bechamel). Fahy says the rotisserie rolls are popular: the Classic Chicken Roll (herb-roasted chicken, butter, gravy and fries), Pork and Apple Roll (salsa verde apple slaw, mustard mayo and crackling lamb), Mint Roll (pulled lamb, minted yoghurt, cucumber and pickled onion) and the Mushroom and Brie Roll (garlic mushrooms, brie, caramelised onion and dijon mayo). All the pub classics are there, too, and in gluten-free form: schniztels, burgers, rump steaks and fries. The wine list has a strong Hunter Valley presence. The upstairs rooms are being refurbished, and a variety of live gigs have already been booked, including I See Stars (US), Justice Crew and comedian Julian Woods. "We're not going to pigeonhole ourselves into a certain style, and we'll have regular non-ticketed events too," Thodas said. "Now that we're open, plus the The Oak, Cross Keys Hotel, The Oriental, you can actually go on a suburban pub crawl on the fringe of the CBD, kind of like Enmore, Surry Hills and Newtown on Sydney's fringe. "It's good for the area, I think, to have these places open up to the community." The painted black walls and windows are gone, the sticky floors replaced, and potted plants hang from the ceiling. The Newcastle Hotel on Maitland Road is now the Islington Barracks Hotel, and its shift from a nightclub to family-friendly local pub has rendered it almost unrecognisable. Newcastle locals Lukas Thodas, and brothers John and Phil Elsley, wasted no time putting their stamp on the 135-year-old hotel after agreeing to take over the lease earlier this year. "The owners approached us about the hotel and asked if we wanted to have a go, and we're all Newcastle boys, and we'd always look at the pub and go 'Oh, it could be awesome', so we took it on," Thodas said. "I used to go there with work colleagues when I was 18 or 19 and worked at The Exchange, it was the only place open when we finished our shift, so I had a bit of a soft spot for the place." The trio also lease the Lambton Park Hotel and own the Grand Hotel in Newcastle, while the Elsleys own "a bunch of other venues" including Bartholomew's in Newcastle and Good Folk Brewing Co. in Hamilton. "All our pubs are proper pubs. What we've done at the Grand is to restore it back to that traditional style, and with the Islington Barracks, it's got that original old-school feel as well," Thodas said. "We just wanted to make sure we made it a locals' pub, and so far, so good. The feedback has been great from the community." The 139 Maitland Road premises has had various names over the years, including the Criterion, the Barracks, King George Tavern, the Newy and the Gateway. It looked very different, Thodas says, when he was first handed the keys. "All the windows in the bar were blacked out when we took over. There was a DJ set-up in the main bar and in the dining area, there was a DJ set-up in the front room, and then there was the ballroom section which has the full stage set-up as well," he said. "The whole venue was operating as a club. "We've gutted the dining area. Every surface in there is new, there's new booth seating ... there's even a new soundproof ceiling. We put a completely new kitchen in, and we redid the beer garden. There's a totally different feel now. It's come up well." The hotel's new colour palette was inspired by the original tiles in the bar area, some of which feature a lion motif. "I look at this pub as a bit of a mix between the other two pubs. We're going for that community focus - family friendly, dog friendly in the beer garden, the menu is all gluten-free - but we'll also have the live music element in the band room, and lots of different sports on televisions in the front bar," Thodas said. It was certainly a warm and welcoming space to visit for lunch on a cold and rainy day, and the beer garden will no doubt be popular in the summer months. The food offering is a definite point of difference. It's gluten-free and coeliac-friendly, and executive chef Jeremy Fahy cooks on a spit rotisserie which he says is "partly French-influenced, partly classic Aussie '80s bistro" in style. The mixed rotisserie plate for two is a must-try: a flavoursome mix of pork, chicken and lamb with drip-pan potatoes, endive, apple and walnut salad, and sauce. Delicious. So, too, were the rotisserie chicken croquettes (slow-cooked rotisserie chicken with chicken fat bechamel). Fahy says the rotisserie rolls are popular: the Classic Chicken Roll (herb-roasted chicken, butter, gravy and fries), Pork and Apple Roll (salsa verde apple slaw, mustard mayo and crackling lamb), Mint Roll (pulled lamb, minted yoghurt, cucumber and pickled onion) and the Mushroom and Brie Roll (garlic mushrooms, brie, caramelised onion and dijon mayo). All the pub classics are there, too, and in gluten-free form: schniztels, burgers, rump steaks and fries. The wine list has a strong Hunter Valley presence. The upstairs rooms are being refurbished, and a variety of live gigs have already been booked, including I See Stars (US), Justice Crew and comedian Julian Woods. "We're not going to pigeonhole ourselves into a certain style, and we'll have regular non-ticketed events too," Thodas said. "Now that we're open, plus the The Oak, Cross Keys Hotel, The Oriental, you can actually go on a suburban pub crawl on the fringe of the CBD, kind of like Enmore, Surry Hills and Newtown on Sydney's fringe. "It's good for the area, I think, to have these places open up to the community." The painted black walls and windows are gone, the sticky floors replaced, and potted plants hang from the ceiling. The Newcastle Hotel on Maitland Road is now the Islington Barracks Hotel, and its shift from a nightclub to family-friendly local pub has rendered it almost unrecognisable. Newcastle locals Lukas Thodas, and brothers John and Phil Elsley, wasted no time putting their stamp on the 135-year-old hotel after agreeing to take over the lease earlier this year. "The owners approached us about the hotel and asked if we wanted to have a go, and we're all Newcastle boys, and we'd always look at the pub and go 'Oh, it could be awesome', so we took it on," Thodas said. "I used to go there with work colleagues when I was 18 or 19 and worked at The Exchange, it was the only place open when we finished our shift, so I had a bit of a soft spot for the place." The trio also lease the Lambton Park Hotel and own the Grand Hotel in Newcastle, while the Elsleys own "a bunch of other venues" including Bartholomew's in Newcastle and Good Folk Brewing Co. in Hamilton. "All our pubs are proper pubs. What we've done at the Grand is to restore it back to that traditional style, and with the Islington Barracks, it's got that original old-school feel as well," Thodas said. "We just wanted to make sure we made it a locals' pub, and so far, so good. The feedback has been great from the community." The 139 Maitland Road premises has had various names over the years, including the Criterion, the Barracks, King George Tavern, the Newy and the Gateway. It looked very different, Thodas says, when he was first handed the keys. "All the windows in the bar were blacked out when we took over. There was a DJ set-up in the main bar and in the dining area, there was a DJ set-up in the front room, and then there was the ballroom section which has the full stage set-up as well," he said. "The whole venue was operating as a club. "We've gutted the dining area. Every surface in there is new, there's new booth seating ... there's even a new soundproof ceiling. We put a completely new kitchen in, and we redid the beer garden. There's a totally different feel now. It's come up well." The hotel's new colour palette was inspired by the original tiles in the bar area, some of which feature a lion motif. "I look at this pub as a bit of a mix between the other two pubs. We're going for that community focus - family friendly, dog friendly in the beer garden, the menu is all gluten-free - but we'll also have the live music element in the band room, and lots of different sports on televisions in the front bar," Thodas said. It was certainly a warm and welcoming space to visit for lunch on a cold and rainy day, and the beer garden will no doubt be popular in the summer months. The food offering is a definite point of difference. It's gluten-free and coeliac-friendly, and executive chef Jeremy Fahy cooks on a spit rotisserie which he says is "partly French-influenced, partly classic Aussie '80s bistro" in style. The mixed rotisserie plate for two is a must-try: a flavoursome mix of pork, chicken and lamb with drip-pan potatoes, endive, apple and walnut salad, and sauce. Delicious. So, too, were the rotisserie chicken croquettes (slow-cooked rotisserie chicken with chicken fat bechamel). Fahy says the rotisserie rolls are popular: the Classic Chicken Roll (herb-roasted chicken, butter, gravy and fries), Pork and Apple Roll (salsa verde apple slaw, mustard mayo and crackling lamb), Mint Roll (pulled lamb, minted yoghurt, cucumber and pickled onion) and the Mushroom and Brie Roll (garlic mushrooms, brie, caramelised onion and dijon mayo). All the pub classics are there, too, and in gluten-free form: schniztels, burgers, rump steaks and fries. The wine list has a strong Hunter Valley presence. The upstairs rooms are being refurbished, and a variety of live gigs have already been booked, including I See Stars (US), Justice Crew and comedian Julian Woods. "We're not going to pigeonhole ourselves into a certain style, and we'll have regular non-ticketed events too," Thodas said. "Now that we're open, plus the The Oak, Cross Keys Hotel, The Oriental, you can actually go on a suburban pub crawl on the fringe of the CBD, kind of like Enmore, Surry Hills and Newtown on Sydney's fringe. "It's good for the area, I think, to have these places open up to the community."
Courier-Mail
an hour ago
- Courier-Mail
Melanie C's Spanish island getaway with Aussie boyfriend continues
Don't miss out on the headlines from Entertainment. Followed categories will be added to My News. Another week, another set of photos showing Spice Girl Melanie C looking loved-up in Europe with her Aussie boyfriend Chris Dingwall. Days after sharing photos of their romantic getaway on the Spanish island of Mallorca, the pair have been spotted on a boat in Ibiza, Sporty Spice looking fit as ever at 51. Ripped Spice! Melanie C on holiday in Ibiza. Picture: BACKGRID In one photo, the pop star, clad in a black string bikini, planted a kiss on her Aussie model boyfriend. Dingwall is originally from Sydney but has travelled the world as a model signed to Ford Models and Chadwick. Planting a kiss on her Aussie man. Picture: Backgrid. Sporty and her Spice Boy. Picture: BACKGRID Mel C's not the only Spice Girl to be publicly loved-up lately – Scary Spice Mel B just celebrated her second wedding to hairstylist Rory McPhee in Morocco. Meanwhile, soon-to-be The Voice Australia coach Mel C and her Aussie beau went public at Wimbledon in London last July, days after they were spotted walking hand-in-hand at the iconic Glastonbury festival. She hasn't missed an ab day since about 1996. Picture: Backgrid. The pair are spending the European summer Spanish island-hopping. Picture: sarah@ But they had been quietly dating for months before that: Melanie's frequent visits to our shores earlier in 2024, ostensibly for DJ gigs, also doubled as quality time with Dingwall as the pair shared romantic getaways in resorts across Brisbane, Byron Bay and the Whitsundays. Super-private Melanie C has referred to Dingwall as her 'love' on social media. Picture: BACKGRID Mel C and Chris Dingwall at Sydney Airport earlier this year. Picture: Since those early days the pair have become more open about their relationship, with Melanie C even professing her 'love' for Dingwall on social media in January after he wished her a happy 51st birthday. Melanie C is undoubtedly the most private of the five Spice Girls when it comes to her love life, largely keeping her relationships out of the public eye since a string of romances with high-profile musicians in the late 90s and early noughties. She has a teenage daughter from a longtime relationship with ex-partner Thomas Starr. The pair split in 2012 after a decade together. After that, Melanie dated her manager, Joe Marshall, for seven years before they split in 2022. Originally published as Melanie C's Spanish island getaway with Aussie boyfriend continues
