NEW SOUTH WALES

Saké in The Rocks is now offering three new set options available every day from 12pm to 3pm. Including the $39 Express Lunch Set, which packs in seven dishes, the hiyayakko, kingfish ceviche, pickled cucumber and seasonal tempura to start, followed by your choice of teriyaki salmon or short rib donburi, plus miso soup and Nihon cheesecake to finish.

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Happening from 3rd to 5th October, Australia’s oldest brewery hotel, The Lord Nelson will be celebrating 40 years of brewing in The Rocks. With a limited-edition English ale, every 40th beer on the house and three days celebrating the very story that started it all, when a group of thirsty sailors drank the pub completely dry.

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PARKROYAL Darling Harbour’s ABODE Bistro. Bar is teaming up with Vic’s – The Chef’s Butcher for a four week dining series celebrating Australian farmers, producers and premium meats. Happening from 5th October until 1st November, each week is set to spotlight a new dish paired with a signature cocktail. Highlights include Paroo Kangaroo with a Lemon Myrtle Cocktail and White Rocks Veal Osso Bucco with a Spiced Negroni.

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The Blue Door Bellingen ihas officially opened in Bellingen. After five years in Surry Hills, award-winning chef Dylan Cashman has brought The Blue Door home, with his produce-led 24-seat restaurant. Set inside a heritage-listed former bank, The Blue Door Bellingen centres around an ever-changing seven-plus-course tasting menu, dictated by what local farmers and producers have available each week. Dylan and his team visit the farms they source whole animals from, butcher everything in-house and work with no-till and regenerative growers, with an ambition to source as much as possible from within approximately 100km of Bellingen.

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Happening 17th & 18th October, Sydney’s Barangaroo waterfront will once again welcome The Great Graze. The family-friendly, immersive, two-day food and culture festival will showcase the best of Barangaroo’s dining and hospitality precinct, bringing the community together against the backdrop of Sydney Harbour. This year’s festival also welcomes a special partnership with Indigiearth, showcasing First Nations food and flavours alongside the precinct’s dining line-up.

More info here

Chiswick Woollahra is raising a glass to spring with Rosé Reverie, a one-night soirée of rosé, cocktails and seasonal bites on 18th October, in support of breast cancer research through Pink Bloom. From 5pm, Chiswick’s Private Dining Room will transform into a relaxed, roaming spring celebration, with guests invited to mingle, graze and make their way through a line-up of interactive wine experiences – including a cocktail spritz station, blind rosé tasting and talking station.

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Happening until 22nd November, Champagne Golden Hour will be available at Crown Sydney’s a’Mare, Nobu, Teahouse and Vista’Mare Bar & Dining. Offering Champagne by the glass, including Moët & Chandon and Dom Pérignon, from $19, cocktails $15, wine $10 and beer $6, with live entertainment.

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A Belvedere Affair: The Martini Edit will be happening until 22nd November at a’Mare, Nobu, Teahouse and Vista’Mare Bar & Dining (moving to Hickory Bar at Woodcut from 12 October). Featuring a seasonal Belvedere martini menu paired with matched bites. Hotel guests can also add a Belvedere Dirty Brew Coffee nightcap with an espresso martini or affogato, served in-room.

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Available from 11th October, CIRQ will be offering Bottomless Brunch. Overlooking Sydney Harbour, the brunch will feature seafood and charcuterie arrival spread with a welcome cocktail, followed by a rotating feast: a whole spit-roasted lamb, Greek village salad and warm pita. Bottomless Chandon, wine and beer throughout.

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Above 319 rooftop bar is launching Sydney’s quirkiest Happy Hour, starting at 3:19pm every Friday from 9th October. A light-hearted play on the bar’s numbers, it’s all about encouraging office workers to leave their desks a little earlier on Fridays to make the most of the warmer days and extended daylight.

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Rick Stein at Coogee Beach has opened The Terrace, a new outdoor dining space set above Arden Street with views over Coogee Beach. The alfresco addition brings a relaxed, walk-in dining experience to the venue, with shared tables seating 90 guests beneath umbrellas. The menu leans into the same seafood-driven approach as the main restaurant, staying true to Rick’s philosophy of simple food, done well, though the offer here is more relaxed than indoors.

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From 1st October, Aster Rooftop Bar at the InterContinental Sydney is offering a new ignature cocktail menu. A sensory ascent between Earth and cosmos. Inspired by the layers of the atmosphere and the mysteries of deep space, ‘Ascend, Expanse’. Across two acts, each cocktail is anchored to a layer of the atmosphere or a place in deep space, becoming lighter, more imaginative and more uncharted as the journey unfolds.

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QT Sydney will be offering The Champagne Check-In from 22nd October. Taking guests on a four-course progressive dinner through the hotel ahead of World Champagne Day, with a different Champagne pairing at every stop. It starts with oysters and Black River Oscietra caviar in QT’s private VIP cinema. Next come lobster hot dogs and seared scallops in Parlour, then whole roasted duck in Gowings. The trail ends somewhere rather unexpected: The State Suite, with Belle Epoque, cheese, petit fours and a surprise guest to close the night.

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Tilda at Sofitel Sydney Wentworth is celebrating 60 Years with Tilda x Champagne Pommery. All October, the Pommery Apanage 1874 Champagne Dinner pairs three courses with cuvées from the house’s Apanage collection. Highlights include Sydney Rock Oysters and Murray Cod in Champagne beurre blanc, finishing with the original 1966 Wentworth Cheesecake and Apanage Rosé 1874. From 19 to 25 October, Bar Tilda hosts L’Apéro Pommery. A glass of Pommery is $28, or $37 with a snack like Prawn Toast or Golden Potato Pavé with taramasalata. For something more generous, the Tilda Grand Seafood Platter comes with a bottle of Pommery for $210.

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Happening until 11th October, Merivale and Grey Goose are claiming Sydney’s most iconic cocktail with The Martini Moment, a dedicated Grey Goose martini menu across 20 Merivale venues that turns the classic into a social ritual. Guests can order three Grey Goose martinis for $24 each: the Classic (Grey Goose Vodka and dry vermouth, served wet or dry), the Elderflower (Grey Goose Vodka, St-Germain Elderflower and orange bitters) and the Dirty (Grey Goose Vodka, dry vermouth and olive). Any martini can be upgraded to Grey Goose Altius.

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From 3rd October, The Beach Club returns to The Brighton Sydney. Bringing a slice of the Mediterranean to Brighton-Le-Sands. Ammos Brighton runs a raw bar and a live BBQ skewer station, Moët Hennessy pours the Champagne and bottle service, and VIP cabanas overlook it all. The music builds from long lunch to full-blown party.

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Whittaker’s Chocolate Lover Cinema will be happening on 31st October until 1st November. For Halloween weekend, guests can settle in for a classic movie night with a Whittaker’s twist, including a Slab, a classic cinema Choc Top created especially for the occasion using Whittaker’s chocolate, popcorn, a beverage and a Whittaker’s goodie bag to take home – plus a few Halloween surprises along the way.

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On 22nd October, a Boots & BBQ Night will take over The Greenwood Hotel to celebrate the launch of HelloFresh’s limited-edition Country Cookout menu. Guests can tuck into smokehouse-inspired dishes, enjoy live country music and join an interactive line-dancing class designed for beginners as well as seasoned dancers. There’ll also be a full drinks service and country-themed stations where guests can pick up merch such as hats and bandanas. Whether they come for the dancing or the feast, it’s a chance to embrace the country spirit in the heart of the city.

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This October, The Dry Dock will be celebrating spring and Champagne, with Lallier taking over the venue’s by-the-glass and bottle pour for the month. With World Champagne Day falling on Friday 23 October, it’s a lovely opportunity to enjoy premium Champagne at a particularly accessible price.

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Maybe Sammy, El Primo Sanchez and CHELL-OH! taking over the Pool Bar at InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach for three consecutive Sundays this October. Think a poolside Sunday only Slim Aarons could dream of: cocktails in hand, cabanas to lounge in, snacks to soak it all up and DJs setting the soundtrack from 2–6pm.

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VICTORIA

Langlands Restaurant and Bar has entered a new chapter above Melbourne and it’s cooking with fire, literally. Perched on Level 25 of Hyatt Centric, the newly renovated space now centres on a menu built around charcoal and flame. Head Chef Richard Abella brings the flavours of his Filipino heritage to Australia’s best produce, matching spice with smoke for a menu that speaks to Australia’s own culinary story, a food culture shaped less by a single tradition than by generations of migration, each wave folding its influence into the national palate.

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Located in Fitzroy North, The Dame is a 125-year-old Victorian cottage that has been transformed by interior design studio ANNA.CARIN and is now available to book. Offering an alternative to the traditional Melbourne hotel stay, The Dame gives guests the opportunity to settle into a beautifully designed private home in the heart of the inner north. The cottage’s original character has been retained and layered with art, considered materials and contemporary design, while still feeling warm, comfortable and genuinely liveable.

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Harvie in Armadale has launched its brand-new Friday offering. Including Spritz O’Clock, bringing $10 spritzes, $3 oysters and $5 pommes frites. Running every Friday from 3pm to 6pm, Spritz O’Clock is Harvie’s new weekly knock-off offering, designed for long Friday afternoons and early evening drinks across the venue and rooftop.

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On 15th October, Bar Lourinhã will be hosting their next Long Table Dinner. Inviting guests to escape to Sevilla to celebrate La Fiesta Nacional de España (National Day of Spain), expect a six-course menu of Bar Lourinhã favourites alongside Spanish classics, including the wonderfully rich Carrillada de Cerdo (slow-cooked pork). A curated selection of vermouths, sherries and hand-picked Sevillian wines will be available to accompany the feast.

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Odd Culture Group’s The Old Fitzroy Hotel will be unveiling a refreshed upstairs offering with the launch of the Fitzroy Dining Room on 15th October. Replacing the previous Bistro Fitz, the Fitzroy Dining Room will be led by incoming Head Chef Ben Richards. The Fitzroy Dining Room will feature a British-French menu, with debut dishes set to include zucchini flowers filled with sweet prawn, tarragon, and a classic salsa rosa; bluefin tuna with seasonal citrus, fragrant basil and Aleppo pepper; and a Country Pork Terrine with pear mostarda, frisée salad and sharp English mustard.

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ÉN, a new Kappo-style Japanese restaurant led by chefs Takuro Abe and Shiro Fukushima, opens on Bligh Place, just off Flinders Lane, this October. Founded by Paawan Engineer of Mill Place Merchants and Cuff, the two-level venue brings the rarely seen art of Kappo dining to a central pocket of the city, with chefs whose combined experience spans more than five decades across Japan and Australia.

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