Every August, The Brisbane Ekka, the annual state fair comes to town, bringing with it great food, fresh produce, carnies, rides, and a hideously contagious flu. In the heart of the Queensland winter, the Brisbane Ekka brings a country carnival atmosphere to the big smoke, blown in on the cyclonic August winds. The Ekka means two things – fun and flu. The fun comes...
“The Breakfast Creek Hotel is up for sale”. You know a pub is iconic when legendary Australian band, Midnight Oil name checks it in a song. The Breakfast Creek Hotel, known by locals simply as the “Brekky Creek” is part of the very fabric of tropical Brisbane. It has lived through fires, floods and more than its share of bar fights over its 128 years. In that time...
Ruby’s Café, or Ruby Soho, as the San Fran punk band Rancid sings about is an Australian gem that started out small and has become a hot spot for ex-pats and New Yorkers alike. Yes, Virginia, there really is a genuine Aussie burger in New York. It’s at Ruby’s Cafe. I remember the first time I stumbled upon a place that served egg, beetroot (beets as the...