Melbourne Places » antiques

The Red Door – Windsor

Melbourne — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 06:32:02 +0000

The Red Door has been operating in the same space for number years. I have seen the red door and the beautiful street art on the side of the wall but never visited until now. I’m not sure why.

A strong recommendation from a colleague prompted my first visit. She went on a week day evening and loved the food. She likened it to tapas and it is a kind of Yum Char that you order from the menu.

She took a bunch of cards while she was there and distributed them around the office. We joked that she was getting commission but she said it was that she enjoyed the atmosphere and the food she wanted us to know about it.
The atmosphere is something else – I haven’t experienced it before. Take a look at these photos.

One of the things I like about Yum Char is seeing the dishes pass-by giving a visual view before you decide to sample. For this to really work you need to go to a large busy Chinese restaurant where they cater for a large number of people. Then you get variety and freshly cooked dishes. A smaller place doesn’t give you the same variety and I think that often dishes go round and round for a couple of hours.

The Red Door is a smaller place. A strange place when you walk in. It is full of Chinese antiques. It is wonderful. Rather like eating in a relaxed antique shop.

We went for Saturday lunch and we chose to eat at a table in the window. If we weren’t addicted to people gazing while we talk we would have had a different experience of being swallowed into a different world by choosing a table in the interior. Well try that next time.

You can see the Red Door Menu here

We chose Prawn and Crab Dumplings, Vegetarian Jiao Zi, Duck Bean Curd Wrap, Northern Chive & Prawn Dumplings.

Vegetarian Jiao Zi

Prawn & Crab Dumplings

For desert we had Red bean and Custard sweet buns.

These Red Bean sweet buns were delicious.

In fact all the food was good and I thanked my colleague for the recommendation that took us to the Red Door. We will be back.
Red Door:-
1 McIlwrick Street,(off Chapel Street)
Windsor
Phone 9510 9658

Opening Hours:-
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: Dinner only 6pm-10pm
Wednesday to Sunday: Lunch 12pm-3pm Dinner 6pm-10pm

Web:-

http://reddooryumcha.com/r/

Getting there: -
Train:-
The Sandringham Line to Windsor Station – McIlwrick Street is opposite the station.
78 Tram:-
This tram runs from St Kilda East to Richmond along Chapel Street.

Sacred Heart Mission’s Inkerman Street Op Shop adds new interest to East St Kilda

Melbourne — Sun, 08 May 2011 22:51:54 +0000

The corner of Hotham and Inkerman Streets seems an unlikely place to find a flourishing Op Shop. None-the-less this corner is home to a Sacred Heart Mission Opportunity Shop.

It has been here for a couple of years and although there isn’t much foot traffic it is a busy corner for road traffic. There is free parking in the local streets and this Op Shop appears to be flourishing.

The shop has become known locally for its stylish windows. They are ever changing and they display someone’s skill at window dressing.

It’s not quite the Royal Wedding but it is very cute

A recent window as seen from Hotham Street.

I think the prices here are good, too There have been complaints about the increase in prices charged by the Salvation Army shop now that it is in Carlisle. See here. I think the prices in Inkerman Street are still reasonable.

For example the charming old dolls in the window display are $10 each.

It is crowded inside but the layout works. Again someone with some flair has been at work here.

I suppose an increase in prices has become inevitable now that Op Shops have become more main stream – a place where everyone browses. Real “finds” have become harder to come by.

A spin off from this maybe the enticing window displays. In this Sacred Heart Op Shop everything in the window is for sale and you can collect your item when the window is dismantled. It is rather like putting a red sticker on a sold piece of art. You leave your phone number and an assistant will ring you and hold the item until you can collect.

Where:-
Sacred Heart Mission, Inkerman Street Op hop
415 Inkerman Street, St Kilda East

Phone: Shop – 9536 8437
For donations – 9536 8437

Opening hours:-
Monday to Thursday 10.00 to 5.00
Friday 10.00 to 7.00
Saturday & Sunday 10.00 to 5.00

Getting There: -
Trams 3 & 16 take you to the corner of Carlisle Street and Hothman Street and you can walk along Hotham to Inkerman
Driving. There is one hour street parking locally.

St Kilda keeps on changing with new apartments for old houses.

Melbourne — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:15:25 +0000

Melbourne is changing! “Well of course,” I hear you say.

I know this happens all the time but it came as a shock to me when I found a place I knew well was to change.

Yesterday I drove past a corner I used to live near. As I waited at the red traffic light I saw this new notice attached to a charming old house.

” Construction begins soon,” ‘they’ say. I always liked this house especially since it was painted black.

This is a corner in St Kilda where Inkerman Street crosses Barkly Street and becomes Grey Street.
You may recognize the corner because of this block.

The old uncared for houses opposite the building have wonderful concrete decorations on the second stories.

The notice of construction suggests more modern sleek units will pop up and the old pretty decorated houses will vanish. In time we will forget they were there and we will forget what we have lost.

I want to remember this Melbourne Place as it is now. That is why I am posting the photos; to keep a record of what was on this corner in 2011.

The corner is a bit of a show place of old houses displaying the frivolous and labour intensive concrete decorations of the past.

I suggest if you go through this area look up and check out the beautiful upper stories of these building. Better still take time at a red light to click a memory-photo.

Strangely, the corner milk-bar/laundry appears to be invincible.

I used to do my laundry here every Sunday morning while I read the papers. It has stayed exactly the same! It even has the same ice cream ads on the windows as it did then. Will it be next to go?

This is the corner of Grey Street, Inkerman and Barkly Streets, St Kilda.

There are some interesting and long-term shops here too;

“The Bitch is Back” features 20th century modern interiors.

“Surround” features contemporary and often cutting-edge-furniture. They have they have some of the most stunning window displays in Melbourne.

“Liquid Snow Tours” at the moment they are collecting used and new warm snow gear for the victims of the Japanese Earthquake.

Several eating places including “Mr Wolf”. – It is a great corner.

To get there by tram:-
Catch the 67 to the corner of Inkerman Street and St Kilda Road
Turn right and wander up Inkerman Street until you get to the corner with Barkly Street. It is an interesting stretch of road.

Cooks’ Cottage set in the Fitzroy Gardens takes you back to the 18th century.

Melbourne — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 09:20:38 +0000

This is not a cottage that James Cook, the great explorer and discoverer of Australia, actually lived in himself.

His parents moved there after he had left home to begin his life of adventure. It is thought that he visited the cottage at times when he was on leave from the British Navy and in that way has a strong connection with it.

James Cook in the garden of Cooks’ Cottage

James Cook is one reason to visit the house, other reasons are its charm and its depiction of the way life was lived in the cottage in its early years. It was built in 1755 in Great Ayton in England and moved brick by brick to Melbourne in 1934.

The cottage is sweet. Sweet is a good word because by today’s standards it is like a dolls house. It is tiny, the doors low and stairs positively dangerous they are so steep and narrow. There is a dress on show that was worn by a ‘lady ’of the day. How she managed to go up and down those stairs carrying ‘stuff’ and not get tangled in her skirts and finish her life in a heap at the bottom, is hard to understand.

James was the second of eight children so when the Cook family moved into this cottage we can suppose there was still a number of children at home.

When you look at the kitchen, imagine a family of say four children moving around, working, eating and stepping over the family pet. It would be something of a logistics feat and we can only suppose that everyone was very careful where they put their feet. There would be no place for anyone the least bit clumsy.

This is a version of an 18th century door mat. It is made of flint and I understand the same flint was used to make fine bone china. The door mat has stood the test of time and is still effective.

Cooks’ cottage is well worth a visit. It is charmingly arranged with clothes and furniture and objet d’art all from the right period and the house certainly has a feeling of a home. You can image the occupants crowding around the table in the kitchen, writing at the desk upstairs and scraping their boots on the door mat .

There is an audio component that helps to explain life in Captain Cook’s time. However I found that the number of people who were visiting when I was there drowned out most of the sound.

The garden is joy. It is sort of laid out like an English kitchen garden with herbs and flowers mixed together.

I was impressed with the angelica plant. I love angelica when it is crystallized and used in cake cooking.

A healthy angelica plant in the garden at Cooks’ Cottage.

Where:-
Cooks’ Cottage
Fitzroy Gardens
Wellington Parade
East Melbourne

Opening hours:-
Monday to Sunday: 9am to 5pm

Phone 9419 4677

http://www.cookscottage.com.au

Getting there:-
Fitzroy Gardens are about 10 minutes walk from Federation Square
Tram:
No 75 and 48 travel along Wellington Parade.

Akira Isogawa and the Johnstone collection

Melbourne — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 09:05:56 +0000

The Johnston Collection in Melbourne is secret. Well, not really. Although I heard about it only recently and was surprised no one had mentioned it to me before. It is worth mentioning because the Johnston Collection is unique.

Because of its location in suburban Melbourne the address is a sort of secret. This is so tour parties can collect at a Melbourne hotel and be transported to the house, where the collection is on show, in a bus that belongs to the Johnston Collection. It seems the local residents don’t want people coming and going. It is that sort of street.

Sadly no photographs are allowed. This is because of the insurance cover. However photos can be seen on the Johnston Collection web site

William Johnston’s house is among elegant town houses like these.

This collection is the work of one man, William Johnston. It is made up of antiques, curios and quirky pieces that represent the various passions of this astute and charming man who loved beautiful things and collected them. William Johnstone died in 1986 and left his collection, and his houses to the Victoria State Government.

The collection is huge with a large part of it being stored in a warehouse near Government House.

The current exhibition has been arranged by the fashion designer Akira Isogawa and is called ‘Akira Isogawa Meets Mr Johnston’.

Isogawa had the run of the house and the warehouse to make the choices he wanted to use to give the house his touch and style, and to create his own ambiance in the rooms. This gives some of the rooms an Asian flavour. However the curator has to work with the wall colours, the window drapes and the floor coverings.

The wall colours are Victorian so besides the Asian influence there is a touch of Victoriana in every room.

The mood for the tour is set as you arrive through the charming formal garden and into a graceful reception room. You are offered tea or coffee in delicate English tea cups and a piece of home made shortbread.

William Johnston’s life is discussed and his passion for collecting revealed. His passion began when his grandmother gave him a delicate Minton tea cup that he fell in love with. This cup is on display on a bedside table in this exhibition.

The streets in this part of Melbourne are wide with central nature strips.

If you do get to view the collection make sure you see the courtyard garden. It is lovely.

I am going to keep the faith and keep the address a secret. It is such a pleasure to be allowed to view these beautiful things that I would hate to spoil it by upsetting any of the locals.

Information:
Akira Isogawa Meets Mr Johnston runs until 20th October 2010

My Cup Runneth Over: Christmas at The Johnston Collection 2010
3rd November – 25th February

A very charming local house.

Visitor Admission:-
Weekday Tour Times:
Guided tours at 10.00 am, 12.00 noon and 2.15 pm.
Weekday Tour Cost:
Adults $22.00
Concession $18.50 (Seniors, Pensioners & Students)

Contact:- Phone 9416 2515

http://www.johnstoncollection.org/index.html

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

Railway antiques, restored furniture, coffee and cakes at the Albert Park Station.

Melbourne — Wed, 19 May 2010 20:05:46 +0000

You don’t have to be a railway buff to enjoy a stop at the Victorian Railway Arts and Antiques – the place that is like a museum.
Ride the 96 tram that’s the light rail, to St Kilda and get off at the Albert Park Station.

From the platform you walk into the old, red, brick station building left over from the time when this was a railway line. It houses railway memorabilia.

Wader around and you get to absorb the experience of travelling along route 96 when the journey was taken by train.
There is much old railway paraphernalia to browse through and also, beautifully resorted and polished pieces of furniture. Some of the pieces are huge and hidden under smaller things. It takes ages to see what is there.

A nice touch, as you walk up the concrete ramp from Canterbury Road into the quaint red brick building, is the ticket dispenser still holding those old cardboard tickets. It is as if you should take a ticket to continue your journey though the building.

Some of my favourite pieces:-

Station clock.

Station trolley

A small back door from the store leads onto the light rail platform and the other end of the long narrow building becomes a coffee shop. This is a relaxed and friendly place. The word homely could describe it.

It is an odd cafe to find in sophisticated Albert Park. It is like wandering into someone’s kitchen and asking for a snack.

The kitchen runs behind the counter and if you arrive at the right time you can see the cook cum barista cum waitress taking a cake from the oven. She makes all the food. The menu is simple, toasted sandwiches, cakes, biscuits, some large and beautiful meringues served with cream.

The coffee is good and the baked cheese cake one of the best around, there are papers and magazines to read, an open courtyard with more railway artefacts and the sound of the light rain swishing past to let you know that this is a station.

Coffee at Albert Park Station – Tram route 96

The Railway antiques are open daily 9.30 to 5.00pm

The coffee shop is closed on Mondays

Getting there:-
Ride the 96 tram to the Albert Park Station stop

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.

Browsing High Street, Armadale & eating at Crust

Melbourne — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:11:29 +0000

A chilly but sunny winter’s day on High Street Armadale.

Exploring an area of Melbourne is one of the joys of living in this city where no area is the same as its neighbour. By exploring I mean wandering, drifting into shops and browsing through the merchandise. It is not so much about shopping as absorbing the atmosphere.

Armadale is antique shops, bridal shops and general fashion stores; some very exclusive and some different but not expensive, and galleries; there are a lot of galleries. Veronica George Gallery has some beautiful glass – a passion of mine (see the post hot sculptured glass at the Kirra Gallery).

Armadale is traditionally elegant and restrained but a new comer has changed some of that. Supply and Demand has come to the strip and it is large and painted orange.

Supply and Demand – High Street, Armadale

However it is not the first orange building in the area. Armadale Angling has been there for years but in a funny way it blended in. Now with the orange painted Supply and Demand across the road it stands out and looks tasteless and garish.

Armadale Angling, High Street Armadale

We had no pre-planned place to lunch in Armadale. We came upon Crust and knew it was what we were looking for – casual, with atmosphere. Inside there are dark tables, a dark interior and a cosy fire giving it a European feel. Outside (where we sat) there is a heavy clear plastic awning to make the most of the sun by protecting the tables from the chilly breeze and the traffic fumes -High Street in Armadale is busy on Saturday. There were gas heaters too although they were turned off later as the plastic sheeting collected the sun’s heat.

Saturday lunch at Crust, High Street, Armadale

This is a pizza place hence the name, Crust. We discovered that Crust is a chain although I had never heard of it before.

They are unique in my experience by describing their pizzas as healthy. The menu divides them in to categories – Traditional, Meat, Chicken, Seafood and Vegetarian. Then there is ‘Healthier Choice’ with the red heart tick. Each item has a code by it to help with your healthy diet. For example ‘SR’ means that the sauce base is made from spinach and ricotta and ‘P’ is a pumpkin based sauce – there are others that you can check out if you visit.

We didn’t choose a pizza. We selected the Vegetarian Calzone. It was a good choice – delicious and it went very well with the Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc.
Vegetarian Calzone with an ‘SR’ base sauce is made with Spanish onions, feta, roasted tomatoes and the final touch that tipped it over the edged from okay to delicious; olives.

Vegetarian Calzone, at Crust

We ate, sipped our chilled wine, watched the locals and visitors strolling past from our warm and sunny enclave and felt, at that moment, that everything was fine with the world.

Getting there:
Tram no 6 to Glen Iris runs along High Street. A good place to get off to start exploring is the corner of High Street and Kooyong Road, stop 40 at the Armadale Station.

You can also catch a train to Armadale Station. It is on the Cranbourne, Frankston and Pakenham lines. When you leave the station walk through the arcade. It’s full of interesting shops.

CRUST is at 1162 – 1164 High Street, Armadale Phone 9021 9999

A retro experience at ‘Lost and Found’ in Collingwood

Melbourne — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:32:19 +0000

If your idea of heaven is whiling away a few hours amongst retro/re-cycled/vintage clothing and collectibles, then head for Lost and Found 12 Smith Street, Collingwood.

It is said that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. The odd thing is that there is so much ‘treasure’ left around. When you walk into Lost and Found you think you have found all the collectibles left in the city because there is so much ‘stuff’. It is an Aladdin’s cave.

The building itself is Vintage. Something out of a horror movie – except it is full of light rather than shadows but you could get lost in the same way.

You enter on the ground floor and there are staircases disappearing up and down in all directions. There are little alcoves, recess, and hidden nooks where ever you turn. It is fascinating and I couldn’t stop taking photos. You may think I’m posting too many but you may see something you want in the photos.

At first glance this could be a very well run Op Shop but instead it is a bazaar filled with different stall holders. Down stairs there are pieces of the Scandinavian-style furniture that was so popular in the middle of last century and you can find smaller pieces of furniture hidden away behind a rack of vintage clothing and the collectibles.

Last time I was there I found myself wanting to collect those standard ash trays that stood beside your chair and you pushed a button on the top to whiz it around to take the ash and the butts into the bowl. I don’t smoke. It is a childhood memory from relative’s houses that attracts me. I loved pushing the button.

Stall holders tend to stay once they have secured some space. I believe there is a waiting list of over 100 would-be stall holders wanting a spot.

There’s a good turn-over with more stock arriving regularly and the Vintage clothes are wonderful but I’m not sure about the macramé wall hangings. Should they have been found or stayed lost?

Lost and Found Market 12 Smith Street Collingwood is open 7 days from 12 noon to 6pm. Phone 9419 4477

Take the 109 Tram and get off at the corner of Victoria Street and Smith Street it’s a few doors up on your right. Or the 86 or 95 Tram and get off on the corner of Gertrude and Smith Streets and walk down towards Victoria Street.

Edwardian Poster – one of the many on sale.