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The Guardian
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
A taste of the capital: an inside look at Canberra's vibrant food scene and the local producers shaping it
'Canberra is one of the only cities in Australia where produce can be picked in the morning, delivered to a restaurant in the afternoon and be on the menu that same night,' says Sam Vincent, the journalist-turned-farmer who chronicled his return to the land in his memoir My Father and Other Animals. Sam invited me to explore the city's food scene as he delivered trays full of his luscious Gollion Farm figs to some of Canberra's finest establishments. Gollion farm figs, 2025 To say these figs are highly coveted is an understatement. During their famously short season, they're name-checked on social media by chefs lucky enough to get their hands on them (Lucy Holm from the sandwich store Sandoochie calls them 'truly elite'). Sean McConnell, the chef and owner of inner-city hotspot Rebel Rebel, tells me: 'Everyone's on the Sam Vincent fig train. They're just insane. You don't see produce like this from commercial growers.' There's a camaraderie among Canberra foodies that's apparent at our first stop, the buzzy hole-in-the-wall cafe Barrio Collective Coffee in Braddon, a mainstay of the coffee scene in the city's inner north. Barrio's house-roasted beans make a supreme flat white – smooth, full-bodied, not too bitter – and can be found on menus across Canberra. It's mid-morning, so I pair mine with a plate of avocado toast garnished with togarashi and pickled Japanese vegetables as I chat to Barrio's co-owner Dan Zivkovich. 'As much as possible, we try to showcase produce from around the region,' he says. 'We use local milk and homegrown fruits and vegetables. We'll take large quantities and pickle them; we've been known to have midnight bottling sessions. I drive a lot of miles and have chopped and pickled thousands of vegetables over the past few years.' Gollion Farm figs have been on Barrio's menu for almost a decade, and Zivkovich says his customers know to look for them every autumn. 'They're only around for a few weeks, which makes them even more special. At the moment, we're doing them on toast, with peanut butter, honey and a little sea salt. As the season progresses, we'll start slow-roasting them and we may also make jam.' As we drive to our next stop, Sam tells me about the farm he grew up on, in Sutton, just outside Canberra. The original fig tree was planted decades ago and its cuttings have been cultivated to grow an entire orchard of genetically identical trees, each one producing equally lush fruit. One place that makes the most of Sam's figs while they're in season is Sandoochie, a hip sandwich shop in the middle of the city that's packed with office workers and students from the nearby Australian National University. Between slices of sourdough bread from Under Bakery (another local favourite) toppings range from the sublime to the delicious. 'We've done 300-plus sandwich toppings since we opened a couple of years ago, and we try to keep it seasonal,' says Sandoochie's owner, Lucy Holm, sending me off with a lunch bag packed with what she calls the simplest sandwich on the menu. 'I intentionally keep it basic to highlight the very best of what's in it: the best ham, cheese, figs and butter. Then we add a radicchio and rocket salad dressed in our own balsamic and excellent olive oil.' On the way to Rebel Rebel in Acton, Sam lets me in on a secret: McConnell was Gollion Farm's first customer, first ordering from Sam's parents about 15 years ago, 'back when we just had the one tree'. McConnell picks up the story: 'I never like to say, 'hey, I had them first', but I did. Supporting the local community has always been important to me and it's always better quality produce if it hasn't had to travel far to get here.' McConnell's reputation for giving local produce top billing on a tight but eclectic menu has made Rebel Rebel a favourite with locals (the extensive wine list is also a drawcard). True to form, the figs make multiple appearances here, sitting plump and juicy alongside prosciutto and Italian curd as a starter; added to a walnut halwa and served with fig-leaf ice-cream for dessert; and used as an edible embellishment on a limited-edition, burnt-butter bourbon cocktail with fig syrup. Boozy fig treats are also on the menu at Onzieme, Louis Couttoupes' fine-dining bistro in Kingston, on the south side of the city, where a fruity house-made vin de figue digestif caps off a menu that's built around the day's deliveries. Couttoupes learnt his trade in Paris's 11th (onzieme) arrondissement, where, he says, 'one of my favorite experiences was getting up stupidly early and meeting one of the chefs outside the markets'. This fresh-as-it-gets ethos followed him home. 'There are times we can only get a product for a week and if we can put that on the menu for a week, we will. Our approach is always: what have we got, what can we use?' A staple dish is a delicately layered galette. Made with locally grown potatoes and topped with smoked roe and cream cheese, it's already reached legendary status. The duck breast – currently used in a twist on dolmades – is hot on its heels. Couttoupes' influence on the Canberra dining scene is significant, and almost everyone I speak to, including Sam, mentions Onzieme as a must-visit. It surely doesn't hurt that the bistro has its own cellar-like bar downstairs, 11e Cave, where bartender Brett Nebauer mixes cocktails, and Couttoupes turns local produce into raspberry cider, walnut wine and a tartly moreish blood plum amaretto. Figs can be a fickle fruit and although Sam picks two crops a day throughout the season, there's not enough today to supply Three Mills, a chain of bakeries with five locations around Canberra. On the phone, Three Mills' head of product development, Bernd Brademann, tells me the bakeries gravitate towards food that's 'comforting and a little bit nostalgic, using the best ingredients we can get'. In autumn, customers queue for a buttery pastry layered in croissant-style lamination and coated with burnt honeycomb cream and fresh figs. Photograph: Rimz Couture The capital's close-knit culinary culture keeps Brademann on his toes. 'Every time a new restaurant, bar or cafe opens in Canberra, it lifts the bar higher for all of us,' he says. 'There are tons of cool places here now and more still opening.' Sam and I visited only a small sample of what the capital has to offer but it's clear that the gastronomic landscape is run by creative, passionate people. They'll take the time to sit and tell you about the farmers who grow their potatoes (Onzieme) or the way they're soaking fig stalks to be turned into a fizzy, fruity soda (Sandoochie). Food is integral to the cultural conversation in Canberra and local produce is front and centre. Discover more about Canberra's vibrant food scene at
Forbes
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
David Bowie's Famed Concert Will Finally Be Released As An Album
David Bowie's Ready, Set, Go! Live! concert from 2003 will finally be released for Record Store Day ... More 2025, with only 6,400 collectible copies available. David Bowie (wearing an eyepatch) performs 'Rebel Rebel' on the TV show TopPop on 7th February 1974 in Hilversum, Netherlands. (Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns) David Bowie has been gone for more than eight years, but his music continues to resonate. Fans of the legendary British artist are still eagerly snatching up every project released by his estate, and there has been a fairly steady stream of collectibles since his passing. The announcement of a new album — Ready, Set, Go! Live! Riverside Studios 03 — surely got his legion of followers excited, and even though it's technically not new music, this project is still sure to become a quick bestseller when it's released in just a few days. On September 8, 2003, Bowie performed a one-night-only concert at Riverside Studios in London. At the time, it was a groundbreaking event, as it was beamed live via satellite to movie theaters in dozens of countries. That was a novelty at the time, and around 50,000 fans turned up to watch the show in real-time – a number that's still impressive even by today's standards. Despite how monumental the evening was, the performance was never turned into a commercial release. That changes this year, as Ready, Set, Go! Live! Riverside Studios 03 is finally being shared with the public as part of Record Store Day 2025. More than two decades after it happened, fans will finally be able to own a physical copy of the concert. The fact that Bowie's latest posthumous release is a Record Store Day exclusive means it won't be available to stream or purchase through major online retailers. Those who want a copy will need to head to their local record shop to pick it up, which is the entire point of the event. Only 6,400 copies are reportedly being pressed. That might be enough to satisfy demand, or it could quickly sell out. There's a real chance the title could even chart on Billboard's Top Album Sales ranking, some of the company's rock-focused tallies, or even U.K.-based lists, as he remains a favorite in his home nation. The project is being released as a double LP and CD, both of which will come packaged with a replica poster from the original event. The 14-track effort includes tunes like 'New Killer Star,' 'Reality,' 'The Loneliest Guy,' 'Cactus,' and 'Afraid.' While many know the setlist well from the original performance, this is the first time it will be available in such a high-quality, official format.
