Sasha Murray

Broadsheet • 19th January 2024

Nine To Try: Melbourne’s Best Specialty Iced Coffees To Keep You Cool This Summer

If you’re as passionate about iced coffee as Ben Affleck is, our city’s coffee shops have you covered. Affleck – a Boston boy if there ever was one – has a particularly strong affinity for Massachusetts coffee chain Dunkin’, formerly known as Dunkin Donuts. But here in Melbourne, of course, it’s the specialty coffee shops and cafes that make the best (and most creative) iced brews. In recent years, Melbourne coffee makers have been getting inventive, turning out more than just iced long blacks a

Broadsheet • 5th December 2023

Melbourne DJ and Producer Moktar on His Upcoming Set At Sun Cycle NYD and Celebrating His Egyptian Heritage Through Music

In the less than three years since Moktar released his first EP, the Egyptian-Australian DJ and producer has established himself as one of the best in the techno and club music scene, both locally and abroad. Moktar grew up in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire surrounded by music (his father is a conductor and Arabic and folk music composer) and started DJing in high school. He took an extended break from DJing to pursue live music and production, performing as half of electronic duo Pholographia for mu

Broadsheet • 17th November 2023

Now Open: Two Chefs with Michelin-Star Cred Bring Inner-City Wine Bar Vibes to Warragul With Messmates Dining

“I can’t believe we’re in Warragul.” That’s been the reaction of many visiting Messmates Dining, a new restaurant in Gippsland that feels more like a London wine bar than your typical Victorian destination diner. Messmates is a family affair, owned by siblings Chris and Jodie Odrowaz, and their respective partners Jess Odrowaz and Michael Clarke. “It was perfect timing” Jess tells Broadsheet. Last year she and Chris (ex-Square and Compass, Mammoth Cafe) closed the Warragul cafe Main Street, whic

Broadsheet • 25th October 2023

Now Open: A Jet-Black New Studio in Collingwood From Functional Fitness Group Revl

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intimidated at my first class at Revl. Hot Pilates and yoga have been my thing for years and, when I do head to the gym, you’ll rarely find me lifting weights heavier than five kilograms. Looking around the jet-black studio – filled with fit regulars, squat racks and unfamiliar machines – I felt out of my depth. Co-founded by Ben Woolford and Josh Mildren, Revl is a group of functional fitness studios offering personal training techniques in a supercharged group s

Broadsheet • 14th September 2023

Eleven To Try: Melbourne’s Best Restaurant Bread and Butters

It’s not just the bread receiving the royal treatment, but also the butter. Remember those tiny, hard yellow discs served on equally small silver trays? They’ve been replaced with expertly cultured churns and towers of whipped butter. If it’s not butter, it’s infused olive oil, soft cheese, or even sweet spreads.

Yes, you can still find old-school bread baskets around town, but most restaurants have elevated their bread from humble appetiser to a leading role. Now, diners begin their meals by d

Broadsheet • 23rd May 2023

First Look: Late-Night Cafe Quiet Time Brings Toasties, a Charming Homey Mood and a Radio Station to a Cosy Heritage Site in Clifton Hill

Jack Burton and Jo Crago have never had their own venue before, but they’ve got a knack for hospitality. That’s clear as soon as you enter their new late-night cafe, where comfort food, music and art collide. “We love hosting … we want [Quiet Time] to be like [your] other living room,” Burton tells Broadsheet. By day, it’s a great spot to read or work, with a pastry and a hot chocolate on hand – especially if you snag the window bench at the front. By night, it feels like you’re at a friend’s ho

Broadsheet • 20th February 2023

A Little Taste of Haven: What to Expect at Collingwood’s Serene New Private Wellness and Social Club

My ears popped – a similar sensation to the one you may have on a plane – and I tensed up. But once I got comfy, tension turned to lightness. Half an hour later, I felt more relaxed.

I admit, dozing off wasn’t the first thing that came to mind when I was locked in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber earlier this month. I’d never inhaled 100 per cent pure oxygen before, so it was more nerve-wracking territory than sleep territory. As I reclined back into the hyperbaric pod’s chair, enveloped by lights i

Broadsheet • 25th October 2022

This Melbourne Institution Transports Me Straight to My Lebanese Grandmother’s Kitchen

There are lots of incredible Lebanese eateries across Melbourne, but arguably none as loved or enduring as Carlton icon Abla’s. I was lucky enough to grow up with Lebanese grandparents. They immigrated to Sydney more than 65 years ago, from a small northern Lebanese town called Bane. My grandmother – or “tata” in Arabic – brought with her everything she knew about cooking; most importantly, the knowledge that herbs and spices can bring out flavour in the simplest of dishes. She filled her days i