Melbourne Places » Prahran

Tarlo & Graham – view their windows as you stroll Chapel Street

Melbourne — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 07:46:35 +0000

Tarlo and Graham at the Windsor end of Chapel Street offer a great visual feast with their windows.

Strolling around the Windsor end of Chapel Street is always fun but what draws me back time and time again are the windows of Tarlo and Graham.
I find I’m drawn on a weekly basis just to check them out.

They don’t always change weekly but another view gives another perspective and sometimes I miss something on the first
viewing and even on the second. These objet d’art and the style of the interiors they suggest, are a sort of industrial meets the…. well the
macabre. They may not be everyone’s idea of home sweet home but it is great fun to view.

The windows vary which is what makes them so fascinating. These colourful wool rugs appeared during the cold winter months.

William Tarlo and Philip Graham opened their shop about 6 years ago. They said in a recent interview that their aim was to provide an exciting and stimulating environment focusing on the unusual, exotic and collectable. Check out their website to see what they mean.

Where:-
Tarlo & Graham
60 Chapel Street
Windsor – phone 9521 2221

Opening hours:-
Monday to Saturday 12pm – 6pm
Sunday 12pm to 4pm
Of course their windows are open for viewing 24/7

Getting there: -
Train:-
The Sandringham Line to Windsor Station They are opposite – on the corner of Chapel and Mcilwrick Street
79 Tram:-
This tram runs from St Kilda East to Richmond along Chapel Street.

Website:-

http://www.tarloandgraham.com/home.html

Cakes and coffee at the Special Cake Shop – Chapel Street, Prahran

Melbourne — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 07:54:34 +0000

The Special Cake Shop at 207 Chapel Street, Prahran is an institution in the area.

Over the years Prahran cafes and food outlets have come and gone but not the Special Cake Shop. It just keeps on keeping on. It was opened in the mid 1950s by a Greek Immigrant and then bought in 1976 by its current owner George Seherlis.

The Special Cake shop is in one of these charming old buildings that are fast disappearing from along Chapel Street

The shop has stayed the same. The inside, which hasn’t changed since I have been buying from it, looks a bit retro but I think it is one of those places that fashion has gone the full circle and is back with it.

The inside is divided into two parts with a wide opening between them. As you enter there is seating to the left, the retail counter to your right and the kitchen straight ahead. The windows are full of cakes and biscuits. They are not all Greek cakes. You can get an English sponge roll and lamingtons. There are some wonderful double chocolate biscuits.

I’m told that they are still making coffee in their 1960’s coffee machine. I haven’t checked this out. I have had coffee there. It was good but not the best I have had.

I usually buy and head for home. The Baklava is good – solid hearty Baklava with lots of nuts. Great for desert.

A few years ago they introduced a spinach and feta scone – if you think of ’scone’ in an English sense you’ll look for the wrong thing. This scone is about the size of a saucer and oozes spinach, onion and feta. They are usually in the window but you can buy them warm from the pie-warmer or if you arrive at the right time – late morning – they are warm from the oven.

This scone is my weakness. Every few weeks I begin to crave one and I need to have my fix.

The Special Cake Shop is a friendly place with family members working there. They are always helpful, pleasant and quick. Many of the customers are regulars and appear to be friends. It would be easy to fit into this companionable vibe. They also serve pies, sausage rolls, filled rolls and gourmet sandwiches.

Where:-
Special Cakes, 207 Chapel Street, Prahran Phone 9510 7689

Opening hours:-
Open every day from 7.00am to 6.00pm

Getting there:
Tram No 78 runs along Chapel Street to Richmond. Tram 6 to Glen Iris leaves from the CBD, get off at the corner of High Street and Chapel Street and walk North.

Trains the Sandringham Line to either Prahran Station or Windsor Station

Prahran Market –the food lovers market in South Yarra

Melbourne — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:16:25 +0000

The Prahran Market is a foodies market. It is all about food, preparing it, cooking it and eating it. If that sounds like you The Prahran Market is the place to explore. Take your recipes and search out those unusual ingredients.

I think it is best on Saturday. The produce seems to be fresher as if it was whisked from the soil or picked from the tree that very morning. It is also the day when the market is flooded with locals doing their weekly shopping – a great ambiance that is unique to this market.

Shopping before the Saturday crowds.

It’s good to be there early on Saturday and miss some of the crowd but on the other hand from about 10.30 onwards the place is full of free nibbles – you can lunch your way around the stalls eating a bit here and there. If you watch the shoppers you can see them sampling and snacking as they weave from stall to stall.

This is a produce market. There is a hardware stall but it is about food: fruit and veg, meat fish and poultry, delicatessens, coffee, flowers and a very popular organic stall (Ripe the Organic Grocer), selling everything including wine and cakes made with organic ingredients. It is not a market for clothes and bric-a-brac.

A good place to start is Cleo’s. It has an entrance off Commercial Road and a window full of bread. You can wander through the delicatessen and straight into the market.

From Cleo’s I head to stall 108, MJ Mow Gourmet Potatoes. Every variety of potato is available including the increasingly popular kipfler and one I had never heard of before, Purple Congo. This is good to mash and because of its colour good to use as a decoration. There is a flier available that lists 17 varieties of potatoes and their different uses. It is fun to experiment and I do but I love my old favourite the King Edward.

Stall 116 is Damian Pike the Wild Mushroom Specialist. Wild mushrooms are those that come up in a field after rain and have the best taste ever. There not always available – it doesn’t always rain. The stall is interesting not only because of the selection of mushrooms but for unusual seasonal items like flat peaches from China which they say they stock. I have never seen them but I believe they exist!

You can grab good coffee or dine on something more substantial in the Market Square which is partly covered and has a play ground for the kids.

Coffee in the Market Square.

Information:-

Damian Pike Wild Mushroom specialist Phone 0411 438 465

MJ Mow Gourmet Potatoes Phone 0417 382 354

Market Web site

Address:-

163 Commercial Road, South Yarra

Opening Hours:-
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday – dawn to 5pm
Friday Dawn to 6pm
Sunday 10am to 3.00pm

Closed:-

Monday and Wednesday

Getting there:-

Tram:- 72 and get off at Stop 30

Train:- Take the Sandringham Line to Prahran Station and walk to Commercial Road. It’s about 2 minutes walk

Trash, Treasure or vintage? It is hard to decide in Womango, 47 Chapel Street, Windsor/Prahran.

Melbourne — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:50:50 +0000

The Windsor end of Chapel Street is know as the funky end of Chapel Street, Prahran To me it is the fun end. I often pass Womango and I can never resist the window. It’s a ’stop and stare and stare some more and chat to your friend’ sort of window. It’s a collectors paradise.

Womango’s Window –
Inside it is as crammed with goods as the window. The old saying ‘there is nowhere to put a pin down’ is spot on.

At the entrance there is a notice saying ‘No Big Bags’ and you can see why. Even without a big bag you have to be careful not to send some of the treasures flying.

There’s a yellow and green jug in the window that I like and I can spend ages gazing at the rings that are in a case inside and then there is something about those long white evening gloves of the fifties. What romance they conjure up. Yesterday there was an old wooden ladder in very good condition filling up some of the entrance space.

If you are a visiting Chapel Street for vintage, retro, antiques and treasures from the recent past , I’d start here.
If you are a collector and looking for something in particular the owner knows her stock – that’s a feat in itself. She is knowledgeable and is happy to talk. She is also happy for you to spend as long as you like exploring this visual feast.
Note the opening hours – they are unusual for the area:-
Closed Monday and Tuesday. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 12.00pm to 6.00pm.

You can ring the owner if you need to make contact at other times – 9533 6650 or 0410 750 310

Getting there

Take the Sandringham Line Train to Windsor Station. Come out of the Windsor Station and you are there. Womango is more or less opposite Syber’s Book Shop, by the pedestrian crossing.

Trams 78 and 79 run the full length of Chapel Street between St Kilda and Richmond.

If you are coming from the CBD by tram you need a tram number 8 or 6 or 72. These trams intersect with Chapel Street at some point.

Window shopping in Greville Street, Prahran

Melbourne — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:55:16 +0000

Greville Street, Prahran is a favourite street of mine. My first encounter was a few years ago when I walked from the Prahran Railway Station along Greville Street on my way to Chapel Street

The late afternoon sun gave an orange glow and a touch of magic to this unique street. I feel in love.

I fell in love with the funky edgy designer shops, the retro and second hand and places. There was a feeling of being outside the mainstream – a place where exciting, new and experimental things were happening. I felt it strongly then and I still do

The street has changed over the years. Less funky and ‘out-there’ but the magic is still there. Where else in Melbourne would you see a window mannequin wearing a purple dress with fuchsia tights and a pair of yellow Doc Martin boots.

A couple of my favourite shops have closed and disappeared but Palm Beads is still there as it was on my first visit and the Greville Street Bookstore gives personal service as it has for over 20 years. Greville Records has been there for ever and although other shops have come and gone the vibes have re-adjusted themselves and evolved as everything evolves with the time. The street is still one of Melbourne Places that is unique.

This a pictorial stroll showing you what caught my eye during a recent visit.

Greville Street, Prahran is a great place to be from midday onwards and in the weekend. Cafes do open early to catch the morning-workers trade and many have regulars who come at the same time every day. However many of the shops don’t open until 10am or 11am.
Coffee and food is good at most places and people-watching is a fascinating past-time in Greville Street.

Getting there

Train: The Sandringham Line to the Prahran Station and you are there.

Trams: The 72 from the CBD crosses Malvern Road and Chapel Street, get off at that junction and head north. Greville Street is on your left by the Stonnington Town Hall.

The 78 Tram runs along Chapel Street from East St Kilda and Richmond.