KEY POINTS:
There's so much going on in Sydney over the next few months there isn't space to list it all. But here's a little sample:
Star Wars
A must for Star Wars droids, with costumes, models and replicas from all of the SW movies, plus you can play with interactive magnetic levitation devices, make the robots do your bidding and journey into that far, far away galaxy. At Powerhouse Museum of Science and Design until April 26.
Musicals
Cheerful classics are flooding into Sydney this year, with the London
Donmar Warehouse production of Guys and Dolls, which won the 2006
Olivier Award, at the Capitol Theatre March 12-May 31. It stars Lisa
McCune, Magda Szubanski and Garry McDonald.
Nightclub floozie Velma returns to the stage in Chicago at Star City's Lyric Theatre from May 14, starring Caroline O'Connor, while the Opera House is staging the "filthy, funny" Jerry Springer - The Opera in April. Stephen Schwartz's block-buster Wicked, which has been playing to full houses in Melbourne, transfers to the Capitol at the end of the year.
Opera-classical
Australian soprano Cheryl Barker, who starred in an Opera NZ production of Madame Butterfly some years back, reprises the role in an Opera Australia staging at the Opera House until March 23.
At the same venue, Sydney Symphony, led by new principal conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, presents A Midsummer Night's Dream - Mendelssohn and Shakespeare, in a "marriage of music and theatre", from February 25-March 2.
For a full list of events see visitsydney.com.au
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One of the great pleasures of Sydney is the eye-popping variety of places to eat, from high-end to budget. A quick sample:
Lucio's Italian Restaurant
47 Windsor St, Paddington
A Sydney institution celebrating its 25th year, Lucio's engine is suave host Lucio Galletto, author of award-winning food memoirs Soffritto and Lucio's Ligurian Kitchen. Lucio's walls are crowded with mainly food-related paintings by Sydney artists, including a life-size portrait of the man himself, giving the impression he is always scrutinising every detail - which, in fact, he is.
The service is formal yet friendly, with Lucio flitting around the tables, encouraging a glass of Bellini here, an extra salad there. I had prawn-stuffed zucchini flowers, then stuffed lettuce parcels in delicious broth, followed by the signature dish of green noodles with blue swimmer crab. End result: pleasantly stuffed luncher; credit card
down $120.
lucios.com.au
bill's
359 Crown St, Surry Hills (also at 433 Liverpool St, Darlinghurst & 118
Queen St, Woollahra)
Celeb chef Bill Grainger's airy cafe on Crown St is a popular spot for its all-day breakfast and lunch, where you can try treats like ricotta hotcakes with banana and honeycomb butter for $16 or scrambled organic eggs for $13. I'm still salivating over bill's delicious open prawn sandwich with fennel slaw and caper mayo ($16.50). The service is crisp and bill's neighbour is Kylie Kwong's legendary Billy Kwong.
bills.com.au
Wine Odyssey Australia
39-43 Argyle St, The Rocks
The place to go to sample an impressive range of Aussie boutique wines, matched by tasting dishes such as seared scallops, beetroot and goats' cheese ravioli, barramundi, and squid salad. A Wine Odyssey credit card gives access to wine tastings which each cost $2-9, depending on the quantity of the quaff, ranging from a tasting glass of 25ml to a full glug of 150ml.
Wine Odyssey, in a heritage-listed building, offers experiences such as an Aroma Room and a Tasting Theatre with a 45-minute film featuring winemakers discussing their products. The aim is education. Outside, around The Rocks, eccentric old drunks provide interesting examples of boozing gone bad.
wineodyssey.com.au
Tropicana Caffe
27 Victoria St, Darlinghurst
A 30-year-old, no-frills place for a cheap meal if you're in the King's Cross area, with a popular breakfast menu and a range of salads for $10 or pasta and other pretty basic options for a few dollars more. Order at the counter, go to your numbered table and hey presto, your tasty salad arrives in a utilitarian steel bowl. It's a buzzing place - and Tropicana, founder of the famous TropFest film festival, donates a chunk of its takings to the Sydney Children's Hospital each year.
tropicanacaffe.com
MoS Cafe
cnr Bridge & Phillip Sts, central city
Auckland Museum's cafe could learn a lot from this popular indoor-outdoor eatery, situated beneath the Museum of Sydney and packed each time I walked past from my hotel on Phillip St.
Highly rated by the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, MoS's all-day breakfast offers porridge for $10 and eggs any style for $9, or for lunchers and diners more substantial fare like green chicken curry or beer battered fish of the day (both $26).
A few minutes' walk from the Royal Botanic Gardens, MoS also has a good kids' menu and lots of tempting little extras, like veal and chive sausages and a terrific BLT.
moscafe.com.au
