Apartment Alkira – Boutique Melbourne Short Stay Accommodation

From birds to fishes, you’d think the transition would be trickier? But for Maurice Esposito’s new seafood restaurant at the site of the old Canary Club, the morphing appears to have been seamless.

St Peter’s Seafood Restaurant borrows it’s name from the patron saint of fishermen, hence the cute mural work at the entrance (see above). Gone, all evidence of it’s former life as the Canary Club, and in its place a very swish loft-like space of crisp white linen and sparkly glassware.

With a focus on seafood, and the pedigree of Esposito, the only real choice here is indeed seafood.  And with sustainability allegedly as important as salt and pepper in the production of our meal, we were able to nibble away with impunity, quieting our noisy consciences with terms like ‘ethical sourcing’ and ‘provenance’.

There was a lamb and a beef offering on the night we dined, in case you’re dating a strict carnivore.  But it would be a shame to miss out on the loveliest subtle flavours and assured cooking of a man who knows his fish.

6 Melbourne Place
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

This encouragement to explore a pescatarian adventure,
brought to you by Apartment Alkira a very lovely self-contained apartment in Melbourne’s CBD.

One of the best things about the silly season in Melbourne is the Wednesday night late night market at the Queen Victoria Market.  Renowned for quality fresh produce, each Wednesday night the market also offers a fabulously vibey ‘hawker-style market’.  Great music, food and the odd bargain to be had.

Not far from Apartment Alkira at the other end of Queen Street, it’s well worth a rummage.

Melbourne’s best market, Queen Victoria Market can be found in the heart of the CBD, just up the road from our lovely elegant boutique apartment.

If you’re something of a ‘bread-o-phile’, your lifestyle choice is more than adequately accommodated in Melbourne.  Home to some of the country’s best artisan bakeries – Baker D Chirico, Babka, The Convent Bakery, Gill’s Commercial Bakery – Melbournians could in fact live by bread alone and (apart from maybe a bout of rickets), not suffer too badly.

The tingly sour aroma of excellent sourdoughs and continental loaves drift along the city streets acting as one of the cheapest and most effective marketing strategies ever ‘not invented’.

Dench Bakery in North Fitzroy is the best dealer in the North, providing superior quality loaves to locals and visitors who seek it out.  Having trained under our all-time favorite Melbourne baker – Baker D Chirico – Dench’s product is one of the best in the city.  Well then, will the servant surpass the master? Maybe.  But he’ll need to keep an eye on his staff for this to happen.  Dench is part bakery, part cafe and whilst the food in the cafe is generally pretty good, the huge amount of ‘tude some of the staff have is a bit off-putting.

It’s a fairly small space across two main rooms, so if you’re keen to eat in you’ll have to be eagle-eyed to get a seat.  Not terribly far from the CBD or Apartment Alkira if you’re staying with us, but you will need to hop on a tram – 112 will get you there.

These instructions on ‘porking up’ in Melbourne,
brought to you by Apartment Alkira – this city’s over-sized shortstay apartment

These people are playing with us.  Seriously.  Since when has any canteen you’ve ever entered accommodated your desire for a “Slow cooked lamb, honeyed carrots, gremolata, baguette”, “Lime & palm sugar poached Glenloth chicken, crunchy salad, coriander, chilli, nuoc nam, baguette”, or perhaps “Confit duck, caramelised wild figs, walnuts, onion jam, radicchio, watercress, ciabatta”?  No, not at the now defunct ‘Coles’ supermarket canteen, nor any hospital canteen I’ve ever visited, and certainly not at St Pius X, school canteen – my old primary school.

So, they’re taking liberties with the language.  Quite a few in fact.  The people at Earl Canteen serve ‘Restaurant Quality’ Sandwiches (their quote marks, not mine). Have you ever?  Well probably not, because this really is a new concept in sandwich creation.

Earl Canteen sauntered on to Melbourne’s foodie scene with a few bells and a piercing whistle in May this year, and has been tickling Melbournian palates and toying with Melbournian minds ever since.  Yes, they ‘do’ sandwiches, but not as we know them.  Don’t expect to either receive, or pay for, the equivalent of the corner shop curly-edged ham and cheese white-bread square.

The concept came about during years of working in the hospitality industry.  Earl Canteen owners saw and tasted amazing sandwiches ‘thrown together’ by some of Australia’s best chefs from ingredients on their serving benches.    So, when you and I were nibbling on tinned tuna and tomato, owners, Simon and Jackie were ‘snacking’ on seared ocean trout, tomato, beans, potato, olive mayonnaise and butter lettuce focaccia.  They coupled this concept with decent coffee, gorgeous macarons and other edible delights and it appears they’ve got a hit on their hands.  Located dangerously close to our Queen Street short stay Apartment Alkira, Earl Canteen is situated in Bourke Street, with entry via Lt Bourke.

Expect to pay between $12 and $15 for something you’ll never find in any school or hospital canteen.

This CBD sensation proudly sponsored
(uh-hem, yes, well, somewhat rather too regularly…maybe) by Melbourne’s
fabulous short term apartment accommodation, Apartment Alkira

Those who know us well will understand our elation at the unveiling this week, of a new Haigh’s Chocolate store within a mere scoot from our short stay apartment.  How we squealed.

Haigh’s chocolate is, in our humble opinion, one of this country’s greats.  Forget Don Bradman and Rolf Harris, try any Haigh’s luscious cocoa creations and you’ll launch into Advance Australia Fair; Aussie or not.

Glowing like a beacon at the newly proclaimed “New York end of Collin’s Street” (who knew our self-contained accommodation was located in such a cosmopolitan strip!), it’s an easy hike from Apartment Alkira.  A brief saunter up Queen Street, quick turn into Collins Street, select your treats, pop the kettle on and loll back on the daybed popping kernels of goodness into your mouth all afternoon long. Hmm, now that’s a nice afternoon in Melbourne.

26 Collins Street
Melbourne city,
Victoria, Australia

Next visit to your dentist, brought to you by Melbourne’s best Serviced Apartment and Cholocate Specialists, Apartment Alkira

We love this fabulous urban artsy/cultural venue in the centre of Melbourne’s gorgeous city.

There’s always something thought-provoking on the walls or treading the boards. Part gallery, part performance space, Fortyfive Downstairs is a cultural hub providing not-for-profit  support to the city’s emerging artists.

The 19th century brick building at the top end of ‘alternative’ Flinders Lane, accommodates two gallery spaces on the first floor and a fringey/independent theatre space in the basement.

The rooms are spacious and airy and host a huge range of shows, explaining why Fortyfive Downstairs appeals to so many Melbournians as well as domestic and international visitors to the city.

Current theatre shows are Antoni Jach’s “Waiting for Isabella”, and the very moving “My Name is Rachel Corrie”.  Artist Janno McLaughlin (see image above – isn’t it gorgeous!) is showing in the gallery space until Sat Nov 20th, so if you’re planning a trip to Melbourne before then, make sure it’s on your itinerary.

45 flinders lane
melbourne 3000
australia

Things to Do in Melbourne, brought to you by the
capital city’s best self-contained apartment accommodation, Apartment Alkira.

This teensy city bolthole makes up for its size with ample quantities of style and a generous dose of ‘hip’.  About as big as a large apartment, Von Haus is the perfect spot for teleporting yourself to a hidden European backstreet and bantering away the afternoon.  Situated in the understated cool of Crossley Street, the fare is rustic and hearty, and the vibe friendly and relaxed. The menu is fairly limited but as long as you’re not a coeliac, lactose intolerant vegan with irritable bowel syndrome, you’ll find something to suit.

Von Haus
1 Crossley St
Melbourne CBD

More reasons to eat.  Brought to you by Melbourne’s best
self-contained short stay apartment – Alkira

In a city where the caffeine gods receive loud and boysterous praise, the local coffee-cognoscenti rarely get all swoony and sweaty-palmed at the opening of a ‘yet another cafe’. A new Fitzroy establishment in Gertrude Street however, has brought about heart palpitations and heavy breathing en mass.  And yes, you can believe the hype.  This place is good.

Mark Dundon and Bridget Amor (of Seven Seeds and Brother Baba Budan fame) have launched “De Clieu” a cafe which has been pumping since it threw its doors open a fortnight ago.  Named after the chappie who first introduced the bean to French colonies in South America, it’s causing something of a revolution itself.  While their city cafe, Brother Baba Budan, is frustratingly tinsey; serving pretty much, er, coffee; De Clieu is blessedly large and buzzy with a complimentary menu focussed on fresh local produce.

But the star here is clearly the brown stuff.  Not a dud cup yet.  The gods will be pleased.

187 Gertrude St
Fitzroy
Melbourne

Even more reasons to drink caffeine in Melbourne,
brought to you by Melbourne Short Stay Apartment Alkira

Mirka
Heide Museum of Modern Art
7 Templestowe Road
Bulleen

‘I can’t say I am courageous, but I think courageously’ Mirka

Mirka needs no surname.  Not in Melbourne anyway.  She’s quite the icon, personifying everything we’d rather like to think we were – liberal, artistic, sensuous,  bohemian, creative, independent, edgy and just a little riskee.

Not always so adored, Mirka (who incidentally does have a surname – Mora) rattled Melbourne’s mid-century conservatism with her ‘European ways’ when she arrived from Paris in 1951.  Artist, gastronome, muse, patron, she pushed the moral, artistic and culinary boundaries of a fairly straight-laced society.

This current exhibition at Melbourne’s Heide Gallery focusses on her painting, drawing, sculpture and mosaic, though she’s as well known for the restaurants she opened with her husband George, Mirka Cafe, Tolarno and Balzac. And of course her rather bohemian lifestyle.

Whilst it’s something of a hike from Melbourne’s Apartment Alkira, Heide is definitely worth the trip to Melbourne’s outer rim. And the Mirka exhibition is the perfect pair of binoculars with which to glimpse a slither of Melbourne’s artistic history.

A glimpse of Mirka’s Work

This wee history lesson is brought to you by
Melbourne’s boutique holiday apartment, Apartment Alkira

137 Flinders Ln
Melbourne CBD
(off Olivier Lane, behind Flinders Lane Gallery)

The front door of this much lauded Japanese restaurant looks like the entrance to a drug den or a 1970s squat. But give the heavily graffitied door a jolly good shove and it gives way to an elegant and sophisticated basement restaurant that feels a little ‘other-worldly’.

Feel smug as you swan down the sleek staircase to a stylish and minimalist dining room in the knowledge that the masses will never find their way here. GPS or no GPS. Yu-u is a classic example of what Melbourne does best – reward for persevering with slightly obscure addresses.

The greeting at the bottom of the stairs is warm and welcoming and worlds away from a drug den-cum-squat. The ‘set menu only’ lunchtime box may feel a bit restrictive, but at $18 with the choice of 6 mains it’s a steal. A bento box with an ensemble of rice, soup, side, pickled vegetables and the main of your choice, it’s  delicious, generous and well balanced. Dinner is a la carte and steps up a notch in sophistication and execution.

The secret streets of Melbourne are explored on your behalf by
Melbourne Apartment Alkira, one of the best boutique apartments in the central city area.