36 Hours in Melbourne, Australia

Written By Unknown on Senin, 18 Februari 2013 | 17.35

Jesse Marlow for The New York Times

Clockwise from top left: Chin Chin, the Astor Theater, Ponyfish Island, Northside Records, Hosier Lane, Go Go. More Photos »

The fact that Melbourne, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria, regularly appears near the top of lists ranking the world's most livable cities says a lot about its efficiency, cleanliness and safety. What that recognition doesn't immediately reveal is how Melbourne is now arguably the most exciting city for food Down Under — something the annual Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (melbournefoodandwine.com.au), running March 1 to 17 this year, should help highlight. But even more noteworthy is the city's distinctive creative energy, manifested everywhere, from flourishing street art and a cool bar scene to homegrown boutiques and buzzing back-street cafes. When even cosmopolitan Sydney talks of "Melbournising," it's clear that something special is happening in Oz's second city.

FRIDAY

4 p.m.
1. Street Art, Bridge Beer

Melbourne's most appealing quirks tend to be tucked just out of view. One example is the colorful street art that decorates many of the narrow back alleys and service roads known as laneways. The finest samples of this sophisticated graffiti can be found on Hosier Lane and Rutledge Lane, where nearly everything — walls, doors, garbage bins — is emblazoned with impressive murals and tags. After touring these de facto art galleries, head to the pedestrian bridge near the Flinders Street Station to discover an unlikely watering hole. Literally under the bridge, in the middle of the caramel-hued Yarra River, is the two-year-old floating bar Ponyfish Island, where instead of fat trolls you'll find cold bottles of locally brewed Fat Yak pale ale (9 Australian dollars, about the same in U.S. dollars).

7 p.m.
2. Golden Plates

Take a tram to the laid-back bayside suburb of St. Kilda for dinner at Golden Fields (2/157 Fitzroy Street; goldenfields.com.au), a restaurant that opened in 2011 with minimalist-chic design and a kitchen headed by the renowned local chef Andrew McConnell. Prime your taste buds with an aperitif at the long white marble bar; the AYA! is a delightful cocktail made with West Winds gin, camomile liqueur and Rihaku Junmai sake (18 Australian dollars). Then move on to delicious small plates like crisp-skin, twice-cooked duck with steamed buns and plum sauce (24 dollars), and the restaurant's take on a New England lobster roll, here made with poached crayfish, watercress and Kewpie mayo (15 dollars).

11 p.m.
3.
Drinks Upstairs

Often, the route to discreet drinking dens involves descending stairs to basement bars or cavelike speakeasies. But two of the finest bars in town flip that concept upside down. The Everleigh (1/150-156 Gertrude Street; theeverleigh.com) is a classy, second-floor cocktail bar with vintage chandeliers and candles illuminating the leather booths and polished wood-paneled bar. Take a seat and order an expertly mixed Prohibition-era drink like the Buster Brown (bourbon, orange bitters, lemon and sugar; 19 Australian dollars). For a livelier scene, head to Tattersalls Lane and follow the music up two flights of stairs papered with esoteric propaganda posters to the new loftlike laneway bar Ferdydurke (1 and 2/239 Lonsdale Street; ferdydurke.com.au), which opened last March. Try the smooth Steam Ale from the local Mountain Goat microbrewery, and join the cool crowd grooving to the D.J.'s tunes.

SATURDAY

10 a.m.
4. Some Market Space

There are several daily markets scattered around the city, but none packed with as many treats and treasures as the South Melbourne Market (322-326 Coventry Street; southmelbournemarket.com.au). In addition to the specialty grocers and curio peddlers, this covered market also hosts SO:ME Space (somespace.com.au), a dedicated area for emerging local designers to sell their creations. A recent visit turned up stalls and pop-up shops stocked with tongue-in-cheek greeting cards, screen-printed pillows, handmade children's clothes and a rainbow of lace-up derby shoes.

1 p.m.
5. Dainty Lunch

The food at Dainty Sichuan Food (176 Toorak Road; (61-3) 9078-1686) is about as dainty as the water expelled from a fire hose, which is, incidentally, something you might need to soothe the fiery spiciness of the Sichuan peppercorns that pepper the restaurant's dishes. The restaurant just opened a sparkling second location (Level 2, 206 Bourke Street) in December downtown in the Chinatown neighborhood. But it's worth making the trip to the older South Yarra location for one particular dish that has not been carried over to the new branch: the fish-flavored fried eggplant is a deliciously sweet and spicy combination like nothing else you've ever tasted. Lunch for two, 50 Australian dollars.

3 p.m.
6. Free Exhibitions

Pivot from cuisine to culture by seeking out the rusted-steel facade of the Australian Center for Contemporary Art, or ACCA (111 Sturt Street, accaonline.org.au), an exhibition space for cutting-edge Australian and international visual artists. The current video-centric exhibition, "Desire Lines" (through March 3), is a riveting and unsettling show featuring works from Samuel Beckett and Bruce Nauman, among many others. Afterward, visit the nearby National Gallery of Victoria International (180 St. Kilda Road; ngv.vic.gov.au) to admire couture costumes designed by Viktor & Rolf and Valentino, which are showcased in the "Ballet & Fashion" exhibition (through May 19). Entrance to both venues is free.

7 p.m.
7. Cinema Stars

The sprawling Royal Botanic Gardens (Birdwood Avenue; www.rbg.vic.gov.au) bloom with the weird and wonderful flora of the continent year round. But during the antipodal summer, the gardens are also home to the loveliest open-air cinema in the city; at sundown on the grassy Central Lawn, the Moonlight Cinema (moonlight.com.au/melbourne) screens films (through March 31) ranging from recent releases to cult classics. It's worth shelling out for a Gold Grass ticket (32 Australian dollars), which entitles you to a cozy beanbag bed, priority seating and prefilm concession stand wait-service. If the weather is uncooperative, head to the Astor Theater (1 Chapel; astortheatre.net.au) for a double feature — "Moonrise Kingdom" and "The Big Lebowski" were a recent pairing — at this classic, single-screen Art Deco film house.

10:30 p.m.
8. Eat, Eat, Drink, Drink

After the cinema, drop in for a late dinner at the perpetually packed, vaguely Thai-inflected restaurant Chin Chin (125 Flinders Lane; chinchinrestaurant.com.au). The kingfish sashimi (18 Australian dollars) and the salad of crispy barramundi and green apple (27 dollars) both deliver layers of bright, bold flavors. Then slip downstairs to Go Go, the restaurant's basement cocktail bar, which opened in late 2011. Litchi and cardamom Bellini (15 dollars) in hand, settle in for the night at one of the banquettes illuminated by the red neon sign in the back.

SUNDAY

11 a.m.
9. Birdman Brekkie

If all cafes had creative breakfast menus like the one at Birdman Eating (238 Gertrude; birdmaneating.com.au), brunch might not get such a bad rap. This airy cafe, decorated with doll-size winged "birdmen" suspended from the ceiling, is the perfect place to greet the day. To start, order a flat white (3.50 Australian dollars) and the toasted banana bread with lemon curd (11 dollars). Then try the black rice with coconut yogurt and fresh mango (10.50 dollars) or the fluffy ricotta hot cakes topped with a dollop of blueberry yogurt and a muesli crisp (15 dollars) — it's all delicious.

1 p.m.
10. Shop the Block

It wasn't long ago that Gertrude Street was a hangout for unsavory characters, but now the hip strip is packed with eclectic shops and boutiques that beg to be browsed. After Birdman, start next door with the extensive collection of vinyl at the funky Northside Records (236 Gertrude; northsiderecords.com.au). Then head down the block to shop for wild prints and colorful knits at Dagmar Rousset (157 Gertrude; dagmarrousset.com), an adorable boutique that doubles as a French language school at night. Finally, check out the wares of Melbourne-based designers at Since Grey (122 Gertrude; sincegrey.com), whose collection ranges from the shop's own galaxy-print tops and skirts to leather bags from Jacki Anderson and jewelry from Isadora Filkovic.

2:30 p.m.
11.
Heide House

About 10 miles outside Melbourne is Heide, the former home of John and Sunday Reed, prominent patrons of the arts who often hosted working artists in the 1930s, '40s and '50s. Today, the house is part of the Heide Museum of Modern Art (7 Templestowe Road, Bulleen; heide.com.au), where three exhibition spaces and a sculpture park focus on works mainly from modern and contemporary Australian artists. After touring the museum, the sculpture-dotted grounds are a splendid, relaxing place to pass the afternoon.


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