It must be a terrific read, a pleasure to look at, be thought provoking and inspire you into action.
The book “Flavours of Melbourne” excels in all these areas and more. It is a large coffee table sized book that features many favourite restaurants in Melbourne’s laneways and rooftops.
Melbourne is a unique city in Australia. What makes it stand out are the many colourful laneways that exist between the major streets in the CBD. Historically they were just service laneways, but now they are vibrant places that are decorated with artistic graffiti, murals and works of art. They house unique coffee shops, restaurants, bars, galleries and boutiques that are open into the small hours of the morning.
Roof tops of building used to be just structures to keep the rain and sun out of the buildings interiors and to house air-conditioning units and aerials. There is a now a growing interest in Melbourne to use these roof top spaces as places of meeting, eating and drinking. They have been transformed with greenery and artworks so that people can gather with their friends and socialise to enjoy the fresh air and the views.
The first 39 pages of “Flavours of Melbourne” are brief introductory chapters on the history of Melbourne, a historical timeline of key events in Melbourne’s life from 1797 to 2013, Melbourne’s laneway story, the iconic Melbourne tram, Melbourne’s coffee culture, and the street art of Melbourne. These pages set the scene for what follows.
The major section of the book, a massive 450 pages, gives information about the treasure trove of 104 restaurants and bars in Melbourne. These are grouped together in 39 of Melbourne’s streets, lanes, arcades and alleys, as well as the Queen Victoria Markets and Southbank.
Brief information is given about the history of the lane and how its name came about, then a story is told of each restaurant, bar or coffee shop. Details of the food and drink served, the chef, the decor and the distinctive features that make the establishment stand out and attract the crowds are told in an informative and entertaining way. There are also many recipes in the book that are the signature dishes of the restaurants.
I started off by saying the “Flavours of Melbourne” is not just a good book, it is a great book.
Firstly, the book is terrific to read, which is a credit to its authors Jonette George and Ethan Jenkins. Each word and paragraph is carefully chosen and makes the book an easy and interesting read. Even though you may have not been to one of the restaurants or bars mentioned, it is a delight to read about each one of them. The words make them come alive and create a desire to just drop in and see them.
Secondly, “Flavours of Melbourne” is a pleasure to look at. It can be picked up and casually looked through for the sheer enjoyment of looking at the many vivid photos and the awesome graphic design elements of the book.
The photography by Kaitlyn Wilton, Bianca White and Levi Ricardo captures the mood of the laneways and restaurants in all their glory. The many full page photos of street art, food and people make the book come alive. Just by glancing through the photos in the book you can gather a sense of what the laneway culture of Melbourne is all about.
The pleasure of reading “Flavours of Melbourne” is enhanced by it grabbing design, which was done by Daniele Wilton and Grace West. The page layout, placement of photos and recipes, maps, headings and artwork have all captured the laneway scene in each of the 490 pages of the book. The books dust cover is actually a large fold-out map showing the location of each restaurant and bar.
Thirdly, “Flavours of Melbourne” is thought provoking and inspires you into action in several areas. It creates the desire in you to dash off to the kitchen and use some of the many recipes in its pages to cook some of the amazing dishes the Melbourne restaurants are famous for. It makes you want to go out and explore the laneways of Melbourne to experience the street art, history, architecture and culture of the laneways. It makes you want to go to a restaurant, coffee shop or bar in one of Melbourne’s laneways or rooftops that you have not been to before.
“Flavours of Melbourne” is a book that will appeal to many people. It is a history book, geography book, recipe book, photography book, travel book and art book all wrapped up into one. People will pour over its pages to enjoy the photos, use the recipes, and discover the vibrancy of Melbourne’s laneways. It is not only people living in Melbourne who will enjoy the book. People living in all parts of Australia and around the world will find it a useful addition to their book collection. It will help people everywhere discover the real flavours of Melbourne.
No comments:
Post a Comment