This year’s Marathon Staycation has been… a thing. This was the first year that the Running Show was staged at Olympic Park. Apparently, I was not the only person who wasn’t particularly thrilled with the change of location (if the tea spilled by several Uber drivers was anything to go by). Yeah. It cost me 2 Ubers to collect my race bib and make it back to the city in time to get to my dinner reservation. The race itself wasn’t too bad. Considering how there were 10,000+ entrants in the Mini Marathon 2026, I had no objections to the starting times being staggered. It also meant that I could show up to the assembly area much later than the Elite Runners and the Group A starters. Even though I had originally envisioned myself slow jogging for half the route, I ended up power walking for the entire 5km, and…
We spend weeks planning our holidays. Or months, if you’re anything like me. Flights are booked, restaurants reserved and activities researched. But when I look back on my favourite moments from past trips, many of the moments that have the fondest memories of weren’t on the itinerary at all. You Discover New Restaurants When my Sunday lunch plans fell through during my Melbourne birthday trip, I asked the hotel concierge for a recommendation. They suggested City Wine Shop, just a few blocks away. The steak I ordered wasn’t my favourite meal of the trip, but it certainly wasn’t one I’d file under “never ordering that again” either. It was a solid lunch in a relaxed setting, and by the time I left, I’d mentally added it to my list of places to revisit whenever I need a reliable last-minute lunch spot. You Have Time to Indulge in Your Hobbies I’m…
It’s no secret that I love a good fine dining experience. Whether I’m treating myself to my monthly fine dining experience or going all out during my birthday week in Melbourne, sitting down to that beautiful plate of food has never lost its appeal. After more than a decade of getting to know Sydney and Melbourne’s food scenes, I feel like there’s always something new to discover – not to mention a few old favourites that deserve another visit. My birthday week has become the perfect excuse to explore Melbourne’s dining scene, while the rest of the year is all about making the most of what’s on offer in Sydney. I don’t necessarily feel the need to try every new opening or every hatted restaurant. Sometimes a restaurant stays on my radar for years before I finally make it there. Other times I find myself thinking about a particular dish…
My relationship with food was complicated long before I ever set foot in O Bar & Dining. I didn’t realise it at the time, but a work Christmas party would end up changing the way I thought about food entirely. As a child, I was an exceptionally picky eater. Convincing me to try something new was often a challenge, and for many years food felt more like a source of negotation than enjoyment. While my tastes eventually broadened, it wasn’t until I started my first job that my relationship with food began to change in a meaningful way. There I was, 19 years old, bright eyed and juggling multiple things at once: learning how to be an employee (because I was never allowed to have a job while I was still in high school) and learning the tools of the trade that would go on to serve me well during…