Melbourne Places » collectables

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

Carlisle Street in St Kilda East is evolving. Check out the Carlisle Street Bazaar

Melbourne — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 01:22:37 +0000

The Carlisle Street Bazaar opened just before Christmas adding another retail experience to shopping in the piece of Carlisle Street around the Balaclava Rail Station.
This Carlisle Street Bazaar replaces a store where I often browsed. It was one of those stores that covered an eclectic range merchandise – clothes, furniture, home ware, jewelery, gifts. All this appeared to be individually chosen to give a cohesion to the store. This space has now morphed into the Carlisle Street Bazaar. It is as if the original store has re-invented itself and presented a new face to the world, the cohesion has gone but the atmosphere has livened up.

To me it is an improvement. For one thing the space is lighter and brighter. I found the old space rather gloomy. The variety is better and it is more fun to browse.

Stock moves too. There was a hand created metal pig and sheep when I first walked into the Bazaar and a few days later they had gone. “Snapped up,” I was told. They still have smaller roosters from the same artist. They are the sort of patio/garden object that lift your spirits and cause you to smile.

So far the Carlisle Street Bazaar have been a constantly changing visual feast – new clothes, new displays, new bric-a-brac.

At this point the venture looks successful and it will be interesting to watch it evolve. I like the original art and would like to see more creative works for sale.

To discuss hiring space: – phone 0411598411.
Opening hours: -

Monday to Saturday 10.00am to 6.00pm. The Bazaar closes at 5.00pm on Sunday.

Getting there:

Trams – 12, 3, going along Carlisle Street, first stop past St Kilda Road. 67 Tram get off at the corner of Carlisle and St Kilda Road or a 78 that runs from Richmond to the St Kilda East end of Chapel Street.

Train – Sandringham line to Balaclava Stration

Exploring the world from Fitzroy with the Time Life Cook Books.

Melbourne — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:47:38 +0000

I couldn’t resist another post about ‘Books for Cooks’ that’s the bookshop for cooks and foodies at 233 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy.

I was browsing there the other day and rummaged right into the depths of the shop – the depths of Books for Cooks is a sort of back room tucked away on the left hand side of the shop.

It was there I had one of those great nostalgic moments that come occasionally – a sort of arrow shot from the blue that takes you back in time. I discovered the Books for Cooks collection of the Time Life Series of ‘Foods of the World’.

I was immediately flung back to a basic eat-in kitchen of years ago and the magic a couple of these books brought to our quiet traditional suburban lives. It was a time when we ate meat, potatoes and two vegetables for the main meal of the day.

Pomegranate and Coffee

The first book I ever saw was ‘Cooking of the Middle East’ and it opened a whole other world to us. The cover features a picture a pomegranate. I had never seen one of these and at that time at least half of the ingredients used in the recipes were unobtainable where I lived. This prevented us from experimenting with many of the recipes. ‘The Cooking of Italy’ was of more use to us.

The Cooking of Italy

We knew about spaghetti. We ate it from a can and we bought macaroni which we could substitute for the unavailable pastas. The cheeses in the photos looked mouth-watering but were not readily available so our dishes had a distinct cheddar flavour.

Italian Cheese numbered and discussed

There are two books in the package. A coffee-table-size full of stunning photos, the history of the food and wines of the country, useful information and some recipes. An A5 ring binder gives most of the recipes and is easy to use on the bench. Books for Cooks are selling them separately.

Italian wines numbered and discussed

These books have stood the test of time although some of the fashion in the photos is a bit retro. It surprises me that the books haven’t been revised and re-published. I was astounded to find there are 27 titles, and they cover such little known traditional food-styles as American Creole, Acadian Cooking and Cooking of the Caribbean Islands?

I’m heading back to Books to Cooks for another bit of nostalgia and to add to my growing collection of the Time Life Series of ‘Foods of the World’. I think I will be the person who buys Acadian Cooking. It’s the cooking of the French-speakers who live in the French-speaking areas of Atlantic Canada. They like to use one pot for everything which is appealing.

Books for Cooks is at 233-235 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy – just around the corner from Smith Street.
Phone 8415 1415
Opening hours: 10.00 to 6.00 Monday to Saturday, 11.00 to 5.00 Sundays

Getting there:-

Take the 86 or the 95 tram from the city
There is metered parking in Gertrude Street

Asian ambience and bargains for the stay-at-home traveller

Melbourne — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:17:03 +0000

Can you go past a bargain shop without popping in? I can if I’m in one of the many shopping areas that have Two Dollar or Bargain cum Gift Shops dotted along the strip. You’ve seen one you’ve seen the lot.

In Victoria Street, Richmond the Two Dollar Bargain and Gift Shops are different.

They can look the same outside. A collection of brooms and door mats and so on parked on the pavement but inside they are a treasure trove. You step into another world. I sometimes go to Richmond just to browse through them. It’s an outing all on its own. I wander over there just to gaze, buy a few things and to remind myself of exciting and happy visits to Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City.

This area is unique in Melbourne and if you were whisked there from outer space you could be forgiven for thinking that you had arrived in Hong Kong, or Ho Chi Minh City.

There would be a moment of disorientation. Only a moment – it is quiet on Victoria Street compared with either of those vibrant cities but the ambiance is the same. The Bargain Shops say it all. There is much to experience.

One of my favourite purchases is this tea pot and mug bought from different shops at a total cost of Just over $18.00. A good bargain.

The tea pot has a strainer inside – the first time I have seen that. I like leaf tea and I can make a pot of tea when I wake up and then drink it as I get ready for work without it stewing and getting that bitter taste that stewed tea can get when the leaves sit in it too long.

It’s my favourite pot for green tea too but I drink that from this lovely yellow chrysanthemum mug.

I keep looking for a tea pot to match the mug. No luck so far. If you see one let me know.

I haven’t bought a lucky tree yet but I fancy one for the front porch especially at Chinese New Year.

Voices in my head tell me if I bought one of these colourful trees it may bring me luck. The same voice tells me that if I bought a lucky a cat with his paw up and waving my fortunes would improve. A more prosaic voice tells me we make our own luck. But there is no harm in giving luck a helping hand. Luck overflows in the Bargain Shops along Victoria Street Richmond. And I am going to buy a lucky tree next Chinese New Year.

Remember to let me know if you see a beautiful chrysanthemum mug – perhaps there is another place in Melbourne I could try.

Getting There:.– Victoria Street Richmond
The 109 Tram from Port Melbourne goes along Collins Street – through the CBD and then along Victoria Street in Richmond.
The 78 Tram runs the full length of Chapel Street from the St Kilda East, through Prahran into Church Street and terminates at the corner of Church Street and Victoria Street, Richmond. This is a great tram if you live along the route.

There’s one hour meter parking in Victoria Street.

Chapel Street – They Funky End at Windsor

Melbourne — Sun, 10 May 2009 02:27:53 +0000

The funky end of Chapel Street – that is the end by the Windsor Station and Dandenong Road – is one of the first places in Melbourne that I explored. It was different from any place I’d seen and it is still different. Over the years places have come and gone and some have stayed the same.

You can buy designer clothes, designed by local designers. You can get fashionable shoes for huge feet at Rosenberg’s Shoes. You can prowl various op shops and you can buy second hand books from Syber’s Book Shop.

It was the cats I first feel in love with at Syber’s Book Shop, the books came later.

Syber’s Book Shop is a treasure trove of books including rare and out of print books. The wonderful thing is that they know what they have and where to find it. I wanted a book by the German writer H.H. Kirst. Often when I ask I get a blank stare. Not this time.

“Oh. Yes,” said Penny Sieber getting up from her desk and putting her hand on a book by Kirst.

The chairs at Syber’s Book Shop give an atmosphere to shop but you may have to compete with one of the three cats for the most comfortable one.

Syber’s Book Shop is a good place while away some time if you are into books and of course there are the cats to meet.

This is also the retro end of Chapel Street and even the Op Shops go in for presentation and stylish window dressing.

The best way to get to this funky end of Chapel Street is to take the Sandringham Line Train to Windsor Station. Come out of the Windsor Station and you are there.

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.

The Chapel Street Bazaar

Melbourne — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 06:31:06 +0000

They say you can buy anything at the Chapel Street Bazaar in Prahran. It is one of the first places I browsed when I came to Melbourne. Seventy individual market stalls sell collectibles and memorabilia of every kind.