Melbourne Candid Series #893 Bourke St Mall

 

He is often seen playing there

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 644

Melbourne Candid Series #882 Bourke St Mall

 

Juxtaposition 

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 632

Melbourne Candid Series #872 Bourke St Mall

 

Holding a cup each 

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

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Melbourne Candid Series #871 Bourke St Mall

 

Feeling the day

Sony A7RV

Fe 35mm f1.4 GM

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Melbourne Candid Series #870 Bourke St Mall

 

The strolling pedestrians 

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

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Melbourne Candid Series #852 Little Bourke St

 

A little spooky to enter

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 601

Melbourne Candid Series #849 Bourke St

 

The couple having lovely conversation 

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 599

Melbourne Candid Series #727 Pellegrini's Espresso Bar on Bourke St, Melbourne

 

Pellegrini's Espresso Bar is iconic for Melbourne

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 478

Melbourne Candid Series #725 Little Bourke St

 

Teppanyaki time through the window

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 476

Melbourne Candid Series 718 Xiao Long Bao on Little Bourke St - Shanghai Street

 

Nice Xiao Long Bao here. But their portions are suffering shrinkflation over the years.

Sony A7RV

FE 24mm f1.4 GM

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Melbourne Candid Series #714 Little Bourke St, Melbourne

 

He was scooting very fast there

Sony A7RV

FE 24mm f1.4 GM

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Melbourne Candid Series #713 Little Bourke St Melbourne

 

This section of Little Bourke St has the rustic look

Sony A7RV

FE 24mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 464

Melbourne Candid Series #709 China Town Little Bourke St

 

Quite unusual to see no traffic on this road. The shop sells Chinese medicine. 

Sony A7RV

FE 24mm f1.4 GM

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Melbourne Candid Series #708 Little Bourke St, China Town

 

At night, they walk in company

Sony A7RV

FE 24mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 458

Melbourne Candid Series #575 Spanish Restaurant

 

Bourke St, Melbourne CBD Simply Spanish https://simplyspanish.com.au/

The meal is lovely here.

Pansonic G9

Leica 12mm f1.4

Check out Candid 338 and Face OFF

Melbourne Candid Series #409 Bourke St Mall Melbourne

 

Good to walk in the morning, not many people around

Sony A7RIV

FE 14mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 251

Melbourne Candid Series #393 Hopetoun Tea Rooms est. 1892 421 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000

 

Hopetoun Tea Rooms est. 1892 

Outside this family eatery

When the Hopetoun Tea Rooms opens in its new home on the corner of Bourke and McKillop Streets later this year, it will continue a 128-year legacy.

 

After more than a century in the Block Arcade – where generations of Melburnians have queued for a pot of tea, a slice of cake and a piece of history – the institution announced in 2020 that it would be moving to a new CBD site after a change of ownership.

 

The local treasure will reopen this summer in the grand 163-year-old Bourke Street building that was formerly home to Kozminsky jewellery, under the stewardship of new owner Vikram Singh. But before then, Hopetoun’s sought-after cakes, pastries and house-blended teas are available at its new shop.

 

Hopetoun Bakeshop – located at the new site – is a “modern take on a traditional English bakery”, says Singh, with heritage-green walls, marble counters and gold trimmings, as well as shelves lined with loose-leaf teas, house-made jams and relishes, and a collection of teaware.

 

A display case is crammed with spongy gateaux, delicate biscuits, seasonal fruit tarts and savoury sandwiches, pies and pasties geared towards the grab-and-go crowd. But those dining in can watch the pastry chefs at work in their new kitchen, which will also function as the “engine room” for the tea rooms.

 

“We were in a very small space in the Block Arcade,” says Singh, who was a Hopetoun customer before saving the stalwart from closure when it went into administration in 2020.

“People knew the brand because it had been running in the same space for such a long time. But it was constrained, especially the kitchen,” says Singh. “It was set up to prepare scones and sandwiches, but people’s eating habits have changed – they want more variety, and, at the same time, really good quality … the art of pastry has evolved so much. We couldn’t have taken the brand to the next level in that place.”

 

When the tea rooms reopen in December, the building will house a ground-floor dining room, afternoon tea service on level one, and on the top floor, a function space for bridal parties, baby showers and so on.

“It was important we remain in a heritage building that has a bit of history,” says Singh. “Melbourne is well-known for its food expertise, so how do we differentiate ourselves? We’re offering people a piece of history.

 

When Singh and the team landed on the former Kozminsky building, they also found a surprise connection to Hopetoun. “Lady Hopetoun [the wife of the Governor of Victoria from 1889 to 1895, and the shop’s namesake] was a customer of Kozminsky jewellers, and we’ve got some photos where she actually modelled in a newspaper wearing Kozminsky jewellery.”

History and heritage are inextricably tied to the Hopetoun brand, and Singh has no intention of changing that. “Our customer base – some of whom have been going to Hopetoun for 60 years – have been telling us beautiful stories of how they went with their grandmother and now they’d like to take their granddaughter. We don’t want to change.”

“I come from a tea-loving nation, India,” says Singh. “So the tea part really excited me. I want to promote good-quality tea drinking, which is what’s lacking in Australia. People still see tea as the humble teabag.”

A signature of the tea rooms is its traditional afternoon tea service featuring dainty sandwiches, pastries and scones. While that’s on hold until the new space opens, the bake shop is offering a Devonshire tea, including those scones topped with house-made berry jam and Gippsland Jersey clotted cream.

The tea rooms will open in late 2023 at 421 Bourke Street, Melbourne.

Sony A7RIV + FE 14mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 234

and FACE OFF

Melbourne Candid Series #228 Bourke Street Mall

 

Bourke St Mall, Melbourne

Fujifilm XPro2

Fujiinon 16-55mm f2.8

Check out Candid 89

Melbourne Candid Series #217 Motionless Busker at Bourke Street Mall

 

At Bourke St Mall

Canon 6D

FE 135mm f2

Check out Candid 76

Melbourne Candid Series #214 Bending backwards at China Town

 

Acrobatics off Little Bourke St, Melbourne

Fujifilm Pro2

Fujinon 90mm f2

Check out Candid 72