Journal
Welcome to the behind-the-scenes of Studio Van Low. This is where is keep track of things I’m eating, learning, making or contemplating (and there’s even some archival posts from my blog The Monday Issue RIP 2009-2019). Make yourself a cup of tea and enjoy browsing!
Book Review: ‘Convenience Store Woman’ by Sayaka Murata
An endearing and quirky book that took me straight back to Japan and the perfected experience of convenience store shopping there.
Dinner at Templo (Hobart, Tasmania)
We went to dinner at Templo on a cold, Tassie evening. The restaurant sits on its own, up a hill and a couple of streets away from the North Hobart restaurant strip. Its outfit is small and cosy, seating only 20 people.
Lunch at the Agrarian Kitchen Eatery (Tasmania)
The Agrarian Kitchen is dedicated to local, seasonal produce (demonstrated aptly when we were given a bowl of complimentary radishes, picked straight from the garden).
Art Destination: Naoshima Island
Barely a speck on the map of Japan, Naoshima is an island town in the Seto Inland Sea. Quite the opposite of the vibrancy, speed and crowds of Japan’s more well-known cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, Naoshima is a quiet, somewhat remote destination.
May-June Favourites
A few recent favourite meals, health experiences, and life lessons
Review Adman: Warhol Before Pop
In the 1950s, Andy Warhol’s formative years as a commercial illustrator resulted in a plethora of chic, witty and elegant illustrations, advertisements, fragrance displays and magazine covers.
☆ April Favourites ☆
These are a few of my (April) favourite things ♬
Three Bars in Singapore
A few weeks ago, I travelled to Singapore – home to late night roti prata, my beloved extended family, and some of the neatest bars around.
Time Stops at Arras
A meal of steak tartare; snapper with confit mushrooms and duck liver; the most diverse and well-curated cheese selection I’ve ever had the pleasure of choosing from; and a buffet of petit fours
This Podcast Life
In the manner that most people keep up with television shows, I keep up with podcasts. Here are some of my favurites!
Canchánchara
Recently back from her honeymoon in Cuba, my friend Lucinda made me this delightful local cocktail. I thought that the addition of honey with rum made for a particularly tasty concoction, so I asked if she could share the recipe!
Beauty Talk : A Little Bit of Morocco
I found it! My holy grail lipstick.
Dinner at Movida Bar de Tapas
Tapas is one of my top-five favourite meal structures, up there with buffets, street food, yum cha and sushi trains.
Beauty Talk #2: Covering up & Chanel Vitalumière Aqua
As my skin has been improving, I’ve been eager to try out some new make-up techniques and where better to start than from the very foundation. Literally.
Lunch at 4Fourteen
With dishes featuring the likes of marrow, pigs tails, and tripe, the nose-to-tail philosophy of 4Fourteen makes for an intriguing mealtime.
In the Studio with Kaylene Milner
A little while ago Lucinda and I visited designer Kaylene Milner at her studio, for a feature published in Curium magazine. It was a treat to get a behind the scenes look at Kaylene’s design process – definitely one to watch!
Lunch at Jamie’s Italian Sydney
“I should have been Italian. There is such diversity in the lifestyle, cooking, traditions and dialects. This is why as a chef I find this country so exciting and what inspired me to create Jamie’s Italian.” – Jamie Oliver
Backstage at Gary Bigeni
At the time, backstage was dim – the light coming from the fridge, the bulb-framed mirrors and the big camera flashes all seemed to dull under the veil of reverence, anticipation and the mild onset of a headache I was having from eating too many lollies in the morning.