Troy McNaughtonSurry Hills - the language of trend
August 10th 2006 06:45
Surry Hills, somewhere between Newtown and the Eastern suburbs. Close enough to Oxford St to be full of people of particular persuasion, far enough from the CBD to be without suits and cigarettes.
So the rumour mill was pumping with the exciting speculation that somewhere in Surry Hills, there was a shit little boutique store with $35 dresses. So Miss E and I went to investigate.
After being bolstered by a spot of cafe review research, (soon to appear), we headed down to some shop that will remain nameless (because we don't remember the name). This is partly due to the fact that, in true "we live upstairs" fashion, the owner seemed to be ironing his dresses in the middle of the shop, but, more to the point, was releasing his wares in unmarked paper bags; and partly due to the fact that there is an endemic trend in Surry Hills which the public should be aware of.
My Girl Guides history has taught me to be prepared, so I impart this advice from our recent excursion:
Take your reading glasses.
Cafes, restaurants, pubs, galleries, shops in Surry Hills all have illegibly miniature (often scrawled in some kind of artsy script) names.
Take Cafe Mint for example, which has fading green writing (about 5cm high) on a rough wood panel with not so much as a hanging sign of a sandwich board to announce the presence.
But Surry Hills relies on word of mouth, and the foodie community, to ensure lines out the door: because as we all know, the least known is the most trendy.
Surry Hills is officially too good for advertising, or even publishing any kind of recognisable name that you could use for directions or organising meeting places. If you're not a local, they'd rather you didn't know they were there. And they've managed to seal the place up from access by train, reliable buses, or cars you can park (or ferries or planes).
So what's the moral of the story, kids?
Bring along a local guide who knows the language, has a private driver, will shout you lunch, and knows that the shitty place with plastic chairs and a plastic sign in Chinese is, actually, Billy Kwong's! (Where entry after 6pm means you have to give your mobile phone number to the "bouncer", who may or may not call you, if you are lucky and look trendy enough.)
So wear your belt too high over several layers of retro clothes that would be ugly out of context and take a trip down Crown Street - stay tuned for a look inside one of those unpretentiously pretentious cafes.
So the rumour mill was pumping with the exciting speculation that somewhere in Surry Hills, there was a shit little boutique store with $35 dresses. So Miss E and I went to investigate.
After being bolstered by a spot of cafe review research, (soon to appear), we headed down to some shop that will remain nameless (because we don't remember the name). This is partly due to the fact that, in true "we live upstairs" fashion, the owner seemed to be ironing his dresses in the middle of the shop, but, more to the point, was releasing his wares in unmarked paper bags; and partly due to the fact that there is an endemic trend in Surry Hills which the public should be aware of.
My Girl Guides history has taught me to be prepared, so I impart this advice from our recent excursion:
Take your reading glasses.
Cafes, restaurants, pubs, galleries, shops in Surry Hills all have illegibly miniature (often scrawled in some kind of artsy script) names.
Take Cafe Mint for example, which has fading green writing (about 5cm high) on a rough wood panel with not so much as a hanging sign of a sandwich board to announce the presence.
But Surry Hills relies on word of mouth, and the foodie community, to ensure lines out the door: because as we all know, the least known is the most trendy.
Surry Hills is officially too good for advertising, or even publishing any kind of recognisable name that you could use for directions or organising meeting places. If you're not a local, they'd rather you didn't know they were there. And they've managed to seal the place up from access by train, reliable buses, or cars you can park (or ferries or planes).
So what's the moral of the story, kids?
Bring along a local guide who knows the language, has a private driver, will shout you lunch, and knows that the shitty place with plastic chairs and a plastic sign in Chinese is, actually, Billy Kwong's! (Where entry after 6pm means you have to give your mobile phone number to the "bouncer", who may or may not call you, if you are lucky and look trendy enough.)
So wear your belt too high over several layers of retro clothes that would be ugly out of context and take a trip down Crown Street - stay tuned for a look inside one of those unpretentiously pretentious cafes.
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Comment by edward
Rocky's Running Diary
And who's this 'Miss-tery' Miss E we keep hearing about?
Comment by Cibbuano
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Comment by elana
Comment by amy
Nothing against Bill K, Ed, but you have to know where you're going to find him - I don't think his name is in English anywhere outside the establishment!
Elana,
Welcome fellow Sydney-sider! I'm a recent Surry Hills convert - stay tuned for reviews on Kawa and the Bourke Street Bakery =) And certainly many areas are just full of people doing life, not prancing around being trendy. People like me can only blend in with so much trend...
Comment by edward
Rocky's Running Diary