Photo from Wikimedia Commons, labeled for non-commercial reuse
Went with husband last night to Sasha Velour’s show Smoke and Mirrors at the Enmore Theatre. By chance, we’d been across the street from the theatre the night before, when the Suicideboys were playing. Wikipedia tells me they’re a depressed hip-hop duo from New Orleans and the street was packed and rowdy, sweaty straight boys had ripped off their shirts, and their was an aggressive, drunk atmosphere. What a difference for a drag show!
While I loved the show, observing the culture of the show, the cultural moment, was as interesting to me as the show itself. There were a fair few drag queens, dressed to impress, and by my count, the audience was about 70% women (or women-presenting, if I’m trying not to assume or be dismissive of the gender-diverse) and 25% gay men, and a handful of straight men who appeared to be boyfriends, friends or relatives of whoever they came with.
Just as RuPaul’s Drag Race has popularised drag, and brought it out of gay clubs and into mainstream American pop culture, the audience reflected that. Drag is no longer a gay cultural phenomenon. And while old-school drag had a tense relationship with trans people, there were certainly trans audience members, which shows me that contemporary drag celebrates inclusivity and trans and other identities.
What’s more, as we’d observed when we went to see Kim Chi, another RPDG alumni, at ARQ nightclub, a few years ago, a new phenomenon has appeared: straight women dressed as drag queens. I wonder if this is happening elsewhere in the world, but I think it’s fascinating. Women are not dressing as ultra-feminine women (as some drag queens do), nor to imitate women, or drag queens. They are dressing in a way to express creativity with exaggeration: fierce, fabulous, strange and occasionally grotesque.
The show was a dozen performances accompanied by video, and often with video interludes, giving Sasha time to change or alter costumes. There was a reprise of her famous season-winning performance of ‘So emotional’; the second number transforming from an all-white angel to a devil on a red bodysuit was amazing; I loved a witty performance of ‘Fame’, with Sasha as the RPDG trophy with a chequered flag where the performance starts to glitch and breakdown, a complicated commentary on fame in front of an audience who had discovered her through television and a fame-making machine.
Sasha is the real deal. Her commentary in between songs was funny, honest and revealing. She’s grateful for and acknowledges that the medium of TV has allowed her to make a living from her creativity, and also push a message of inclusivity, diversity and creativity. Sometimes the queens on the show feel false to me, in terms of their convictions or self-knowledge, or just feel very unformed: that they haven’t figured out why they do what they do, or what they want (except to win Drag Race!) But I get none of this from Sasha, who is fierce and smart.
The audience was absolutely lapping it up from the second she appeared on stage, out-of-proportion, I’d wager to say, to the actual person, Sasha Velour, or the show. People were screaming and whooping and clapping. They were there to enjoy themselves, to celebrate Sasha, and perhaps themselves. This felt somewhat jarring to me in that it felt that many were there to consume entertainment and be in contact with someone who is famous, to enjoy a colourful show and a good night out.
But the performances were much more complicated and sometimes felt more like performance art than say, a lip synch for your life. Here is Sasha translating the concept of the ‘other’ from French philosopher Jacques Lacan into a lived experience (and a painful one, referring to an eating disorder and self-hatred) and the audience claps and screams supportively, as if Sasha had instead just said, ‘YOU GO GIRL’.
In fact, some of what the audience is applauding and connecting with is certainly attitude, which was evident from the first performance. Sasha’s resting face, her go-to expression, in her performances, is one of proud and gleeful defiance, clearly enjoying herself. There was a crackle of electricity in the room every time.
But I also thought the performances were subtle. There were many cases where she could have done the drag queen trick of opening one’s mouth wide and vibrating slightly in time with the big notes, a visual exaggeration of singing which I find quite effective. But Sasha’s lip synchs are quieter than that, relying on the images and music, and perhaps her own integrity and connection to the songs to come through.
And perhaps the level of images and dreams that Sasha works with does cut through to an emotional, non-verbal response better than intellectualising. A number playing with the idea of a woman sawed in half by a magician; another with drawings (dreamlike, childlike) are torn off an easel and change but keep coming back to the same image; the finale with an amazing costume of a tree, and projection of a tree, and Sasha’s performance melding life with projection and image and music… These will stay in my mind. It was fun to hear this was only her fourth performance of this show. Considering the packed house and its reception (and standing ovation), Smoke and Mirrors will obviously be a huge success. Go see it if you can.
We stumbled across Vino e Cucina, looking for somewhere to eat after the exhibition at the Lyons Gallery in Five Ways, ‘Let’s Dance: Celebrating the Life of David Bowie’. My friends couldn’t be convinced to try Tequila Mockingbird (too expensive and upscale, they said, though I’d noted Spooning Australia’s rave review). So Vino e Cucina looked buzzy and nice.
In fact, I found it surprising. While created by a husband and wife team who were responsible for Eat Thai and Tuk Tuk bar, just a half a block down, they’ve staffed the place with Italians with fabulous, strong accents. It really makes it feel like a piece of Italy (except for all the locals from Paddo).
We ordered a number of plates to share, washed down with a tasty Italian white wine, a Fruilia. And again I was surprised because the food really was tasty and high-quality, somewhat above what I was expecting from the casual feel.
Tasty fritters of some sort and really delicious pizza bread to start with; a caprese salad with some luscious rough-looking buffalo mozzarella. The pizza, with sardines, had a real kick to it.
I though the gnocchi looked a a bit plain, but nope: it was typical of what I’ve had served in Italian restaurants in Sydney lately: delicious, pillowy bites of potato goodness, and in a delicious sauce.
So, we were after a casual meal and stopped by the Pig and the Lady, on the recommendation from my brother, who works in the food industry, and said this was the hot place. He was right. There was an hour’s wait to get in. But it really was charming to ask the host if he’d recommend other restaurants and he enthusiastically directed us a block away. Then we couldn’t get into Yakitori Hachibei, which looked fantastic, but the host called up Fête to see if we could get a table, and then walked us over (two restaurants down) and didn’t leave until we’d gotten our table. Now that’s island hospitality!
Brother had a rich cioppino soup with a generous amount of seafood. We each tried a spoonful of his broth and it was pretty amazing. Husband had polenta and meatballs, which he found a bit plain but I found had a comforting texture, like cream of wheat for breakfast, and you know, meatballs.
Fête was an interesting combination of casual and fine dining. It wasn’t as stiff and formal as fine dining usually is (appropriate for Hawaii) but I thought there was a care and attention put into the food, service and the creation of the menu which felt fine indeed. A lovely meal.
Hey, I said to my friend Davy, as we were looking for a place for a casual Sunday brunch. That amazing little Italian bar is now open for brunch. Let’s try it. But it had an Asian-themed menu, and it was only after I sat down that I realised that the cute place that we’d had a drink at one night (and meant to try the food; it looked good) has turned into an Asian cafe.
So, casual and tasty; with enthusiastic service. They’ve not been open long and are hoping for business, I could tell. Lots of competition in the area though, so hopefully their Asian fusion approach will attract enough customers to keep them afloat. My rating is closer to a three, but I’ll give four stars as encouragement for a new restaurant.
I had an appointment in Bondi Junction so whipped out my handy Entertainment app to see where I could use a coupon. I love coupons.
Calabur Cafe & Diner is discretely hidden justs below street level off on Spring Street. It’s very cute and was completely empty that Saturday morning until we were about to leave.
That’s a shame because the food was excellent. The special wasabi eggs benedict that I got didn’t taste much of wasabi, and it was just on a big piece of toast, so not very benedict, according to me.
But it was a very generous serving, lots of bacon, and the presentation was gorgeous. Loved the watermelon radishes. The hollandaise sauce was suitably rich. And the perfectly soft-cooked eggs were marvelous. Also the pomegranate seeds. Nice touch.
My better half had chicken tacos, also a generous portion and nicely presented. So, I thought all in all it was a nice place for breakfast, and was happy to use my coupon. Strangely, when you exit, it smells of the sushi restaurant right across from the entrance. But don’t let that put you off.
Opal Thai Food was the best food I had in my first few days in Hawaii, and it’s not just the food that’s great. Chef Opal comes to your table, asks you what you like to eat, and then brings out food accordingly.
The food was tasty and fresh, with vibrant flavours, and a nice surprise too, since you’re not sure what you might be getting. Opal told us he came with his family at age 12 to the US, and now has this wonderful mixed vibe of local, laid back Hawaiian local, and Thai guy. He’s also very funny.
There was something tasty and fried (taro root?) with beansprouts and green onions. Some chicken wings with deep-fried crispy basil.
I’d told him that I love Northern Thai food, and was so surprised that he was able to serve up sticky rice, a favourite of mine, but not available at most Thai restaurants in Sydney (the Northern ones, yes). Matched with Thai sausage, also not a common dish, I was in heaven.
If you’re trying to find it, here’s their 
In the meantime, as a food blogger who prefers using Zomato, it’s evident that no one else uses it in Hawaii. They use Yelp! A few days here, and I’ve managed to get to #5 reviewer, #7 photographer, and this blog post will get me on the board, last, but tied for #2 as there are only 2 people currently on there.
From what I can tell, Mikirin is the new restaurant from the two sisters who have the Spicy Lips Asian-fusion restaurant at George Street cinemas. I’ve been intrigued by the name, but have never tried it. Their website is under construction so that’s all the infotel I could find out, which is fine: it means I just have to explain what I experienced.
I had dropped by the post office at World Square and decided to treat myself for lunch. So. Many. Options. I haven’t wandered up the particular corridor much that leads from the middle of World Square to the corner of Pitt and Liverpool Streets. The food alley next to it is more busy; I’ve often ended up downstairs for a matcha ice cream or to see what’s new among the ever-rotating restaurants and cafes there. But find Mikirin next to the bull sculpture!
This little strip seems to be buzzy with new restaurants, including this one. I wasn’t sure what to make up the slogan ‘Journey through Cuisine’, but the menu, as you can see, is interesting. It feels to me like Northern Chinese as a base, but expanding and incorporating other kinds of cuisine, from Korean to Thai, with some Southeast Asian cuisines thrown into the mix.
Appropriately then, I had a Vietnamese coffee as my beverage, which had a chocolate biscuit straw. It was delicious, and pricey ($7?), and probably not the right drink to go with a spicy bowl of noodles. What had really caught my eye though was the hot and sour soup with wonton. I love hot and sour soup. Growing up in a Cantonese Chinese-Canadian family, the few times we went to Szechuan or Northern Chinese style restaurants were an exotic treat for us, and I love the particular mix of spices in this broth: vinegary sour and a spice that’s not too peppery or hot, but can have a nice kick.
But it was really, really tasty, I have to say. And delicious enough that I’d be curious to go back and try more dishes. It was also fun sitting in the back corner, and watch the world at World Square go by.