The Little National Hotel Staycation + Versilles Exhibition

Some moments from a recent staycation at The Little National Hotel in Canberra. We were treated to a welcome dessert platter and mini moet on arrival, the comfiest bed (almost took one home), tickets to the Versailles exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia (amazing, go!) and breakfast at the very stylish french restaurant, Buvette. We even squeezed in an afternoon pizza on the lawn at The Commons street food festival, a spot of work in the hotel library, a play in the NGA sculpture garden and a late night dance party at Bar Rochford. A killer 24 hours. Love this little hotel. Love this city. Come stay. 

Local Milk Retreat Gotland, Sweden

Photos from a very special week spent on the Swedish island of Gotland back in June.
I found myself there teaching photography alongside / spending time with dear friends at one of Beth Kirby's famed Local Milk Retreats. An absolute honour on its own, let alone the sweet and raw feeling of celebrating a Swedish midsummer here - in utter heaven. Think picnics and horse riding on the beach, wild flower midsummer crowns, cobble stone wanders around the medieval town of Visby, stopping for lunches full of fish and fresh pressed cider, morning yoga, afternoon fika, dinners in the forest and inside tall, white greenhouses, farm tours of endless asparagus and strawberries, flickering candles in windowsills, grey fleeced Gotlandic sheep, a group of incredibly talented women, and evening sleeps and day time relaxation at the breathtaking restored 1700's farmhouse, Hotel Stelor. Possibly the best summer ever.
One million thank you's to two of the most generous people I know - Beth, who held such grace and energy being 7 months pregnant at the time and Matt who successfully got me into drinking both coffee and beer - for an unforgettable and soul nourishing time spent together in one of my favourite places on this earth. 

Interested in joining in on a retreat?
Beth has multiple beauties a year, here.
I'll be teaching alongside an all star lineup at a workshop/retreat in Burgundy, France this August. Information and tickets, here. 

A Sleepover at Hotel Hotel

Some moments from a winter staycation at Hotel Hotel.

As a current Canberra local, I love that this place is a frequent hang for me. Whenever I'm home, I spend as many moments possible soaking up all the Mologolo Group glory - sipping G&T's at Monster, staring down walls at Nishi Gallery, taking Taj the dog for brekkie at Močan & Green Grout and generally humming around the New Acton precinct.
But never had I slept over at Hotel Hotel.

We spent a night in The Meandering Room. Of course come the time, we didn't want to leave. Take me back to that massive swim on your tummy bath, to those soft lit moody corners, to the linen robes and delicious sheets, to that Sean McConnell room service menu and to cruising around the lake on the hotels Goodspeed bicycles. 

Thanks for the stay Hotel Hotel. What a gem of a place in this totally underrated city that I'm lucky to call home. 
 

Harnessed Pt I - A James Boag Tasmanian Adventure with Chef James Viles

I've not long arrived back from a culinary trip to Tasmania with the James Boag's team. We spent five days venturing around the state with Chef James Viles of Biota, visiting farms and small batch producers, gathering wild food and harnessing the rugged to refined environment that this part of Australia does so well. We spent early mornings in the rain on the open sea collecting baskets full of oysters, afternoons harvesting offshore wakame, urchins and abalone and evenings grilling wagu beef over coals with ocean sunset views for days. We learned how wasabi is grown, how cultured butter is churned and the depth of flavour from the purest, raw honey. I don't need to tell you that throughout the trip James and his sidekick Riley Aitken whipped up meal after mind blowing meal inspired by all of the above. All washed down with a seemingly endless supply of Boag's beer, of course. 

There are few things I love documenting more than the genuine story and process of food - beginning with the environment from which it grows, to chats with mindful farmers who grow it, to appreciative chef's teeming with inspired recipes to cook it and then, eventually, the delicious moments that follow filling the belly. From Launceston to Stanely, Freycinet to Bruny, Mornington to Copping, this Tassie trip allowed just that. What a deliciously wild and welcoming place to feast on.

Above Farms and Producers: Freycinet Marine Farm, Shima Wasabi, Ashmore Seafoods, Tasmanian Butter Co, Wellington Apiary, Leap Farm, 

Post sponsored by James Boag.