Chef Lennox Hastie’s success with Firedoor, the refined Surry Hills heritage dining venue that serves some of the best steaks in the world, has led to another sensational venue — Gildas, a Basque-themed Spanish tapas and wine bar located a few doors down on Albion Street.
Taking over the former home of Chur Burger, the new Surry Hills foodie haunt is inspired by Chef Hastie’s time in Spain’s northern Basque Country, in a small seaside town called San Sebastian.
For such a small region, Basque Country earned a global reputation for having the highest number of Michelin-starred restaurants, with heaps of world-famous chefs. Chef Hastie lived in the region for over five years to find out and learn from the best. He trained at Astelena, a pintxos bar serving finger foods (pintxos or pinchos), and became very passionate about creating bite-sized flavourful dishes.
The chef has the help of Zach Elliott-Crenn in the kitchen, combining top-quality Spanish ingredients with Australian flavours. Food served at Gildas includes the traditional Spanish Jamon Iberico paired with ham from Bundarra Berkshires in New South Wales.
Regulars cannot get enough of Matilda, a classic pintxos with an Australian twist. It’s made with Seared red Paroo kangaroo, salted desert lime, charred onion, and pepper berry dressing.
Photo Credit: Gildas/Instagram
The Alubias is quickly becoming the go-to dish as well and it’s made with jamon broth, pipis and manzanilla sherry.
Chef Hastie has also envisioned Gildas to replicate the vibe of the pintxo bars, where diners are served with plenty of choices without any obligations. Gildas is typically a drop-in place where people come for a quick drink, some bites, and a chat before deciding where they want to spend the rest of the night or they may decide to settle in and stay for the evening.
In true Basque Country style, the wine bar is not overly decorated. Gildas is mostly open for walk-ins and has limited reservations.
Photo Credit: Gildas
Visit the official site to learn more about Gildas or follow their Instagram page.
A small precinct within Surry Hills has evolved from an industrial area to a world-class velodrome to a car plant and then to a site visited by the late Queen Elizabeth, the day she came to Surry Hills.
Imagine an international cycling track in the middle of Surry Hills, packed with spectators 7 days a week, jazz bands, and a huge party atmosphere every night. The velodrome on Riley Street was one of the most popular local entertainment precincts, with top-class track cycling that included international stars.
Velodrome From Canterbury to Strawberry Hills
Built in Strawberry Hills in 1937, it was named the Sydney Sports Arena. The velodrome at Canterbury had been dismantled and the boards were used to build the track on Riley Street. The track was built with a 55-degree bank and was 200 metres long.
During his cycling career, Sir Hubert Opperman set many world 24-hour records here, where he was held in similar standing to Don Bradman, Phar Lap, and Sir Charles Kingsford Smith by Sydney society.
The Velodrome gradually lost its lustre and was closed in the 1950s, when the Larke & Hoskins assembly plant for Leyland vehicles was built on the site.
Then, the site and surrounding areas were taken over by the construction of John Northcott Place, an enormous Public Housing building, built to accommodate the huge number of migrants who needed cheap housing after WW2.
The scale of the project deserved a grand opening.
It was 2nd March 1963 when Queen Elizabeth came to Surry Hills.
Having sailed from Hobart during their 5-week tour of Australia, the Queen and Prince Philip arrived in Sydney, where they were asked to officially open John Northcott Place.
The building had already been occupied for two years. Every balcony across all its 15 floors seemed to have people hanging over it, watching as the Queen officially opened and toured the building, including the rooftop looking across the city.
Photo Credit: National Archives of Australia
She dropped into a family on the 14th floor unannounced and joined them for tea, a story that went around the world at the time and did a lot to engender warmth towards the monarchy.
Of course, the Queen also had a pair of golden slippers made at the Perkal Brothers Bespoke Shop, Sydney’s premier bootmakers, located on Crown Street in Surry Hills.
Beysis co-founder Ariana Hendry had no idea that the “Oprah” insulated water bottles ordered from their Surry Hills-based customised gift store were for the famous media personality until they saw a video of Oprah Winfrey raving about their bottles. And that was the start of something good…nay, great(!) for their business.
Ariana and her business partners, Anthea Hendry and Jessica Bryce, thought someone who was a die-hard fan of Oprah ordered the customised bottle until they realised who it really was.
Oprah gave away personalised Beysis water bottles for the guests of director Ava DuVernay’s 50th birthday bash in Maui. The popular TV personality was hosting the party for her.
In the video, Oprah could be heard raving about Beysis: “Here’s what I love so much…. I was looking for the perfect water bottle. I love the smoothness of this one when you pull it out of your bag, and the most important [thing] is having everyone’s name on their water bottle.”
She then shared the product on Oprah Daily and her Instagram reel, which has over 21.4 million followers. Beysis was tagged on the post, thus quickly gaining a boom in its sales by 1,200 per cent and heaps of traffic to their website by nearly 5,000 per cent.
“We have been working tirelessly to design a collection of beautiful sustainable products. The last three years have not been without their challenges, but when you receive such positive feedback from one of the world’s most influential people, it creates a fire to keep persevering,” Ariana said.
Oprah’s endorsement came at the right time as Beysis was also launching in the U.S. Ariana said that Oprah’s endorsement was such a welcome opportunity for a young business that usually cannot afford a celebrity to recommend their products.
The company opened in Surry Hills in late 2019, or just a few months before the pandemic hit. Aside from the challenges of opening a new business, the company had to overcome an economy pulled down by the global crisis.
Meanwhile, Beysis also sells sustainable customised iPhone and AirPods cases, makeup cases, candles and vases. A percentage of the company’s profits is coursed through Project Change International, an Australian social enterprise that supports causes for women.
The company is due to launch six new products for the next quarter, which are focused on reusables. For now, the Beysis team is busy filling out orders as a result of the Oprah endorsement.
Follow Beysis on Instagram for updates on new products.
Visit the Four Pillars in Surry Hills on Father’s Day and score a free G & T for your gin-loving dad!
Visits to their Sydney Gin Laboratory or to Eileen’s Bar could even include a masterclass or Maker Session, perfect for a father and son bonding, or for your dad to enjoy with his friends. All you have to do is pick a date and book online.
Everyone can still have an unforgettable gift time even after Father’s Day, as Four Pillars unveils their exciting new events for September 2022.
Four Pillars Lab Launch: 2022 Bloody Underhill Shiraz Gin
On Thursday, 8 September, Four Pillars will launch the 2022 Bloody Underhill Shiraz Gin at the Sydney Laboratory with the “tasting to end all tastings.”
This one-night event will be hosted by two of Four Pillars’ famous personalities, Stu and Cam. One makes the jokes and the other makes the gin, alongside Sarah Crowe from Yarra Yering.
Photo Credit: Supplied
“The evening will feature a mix of gin and wine, with a tasting of the barrel-aged Rare Dry that goes into making the single vintage, followed by both vintages Four Pillars have released – 2021 and 2022.”
“Sarah will be pouring three wines on the evening from Yarra Yering, one of which is made from the same grapes as the Bloody Underhill Shiraz Gin. Expect canapes to start and bigger bites during the evening, with all dishes tied to Four Pillars’ and Yarra Yering’s home in Victoria’s Yarra Valley. Get ready to taste from some very special producers.”
The following week, on Wednesday, 14 September Four Pillars is teaming up with Nour, its Surry Hills neighbour for a Middle Eastern feast. Dinner at Nour for Negroni Week will include gin-infused Middle Eastern courses, each paired with a different cocktail.
“On the menu is classic flavours such as labneh, yellowfin tuna, date-glazed lamb shoulder and caramelised kishk, but look out for the gin-twists of Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz caviar, Campari marmalade and Four Pillars Gin-infused chocolate and buckwheat tart.
Lastly, Four Pillars is hosting a Fabbrica Pasta Party in collaboration with The Lab on Friday, 16 September, from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m., and Saturday, 17 September, from 3:00 to 10:00 p.m.
“Dishes will celebrate classic Italian flavours with mafaldine cacio e pepe, casarecce and pork and fennel sausage, and the Four Pillars gin spiked baba with truffle cream on the menu, while the tailored drinks include La Salut Salad (Olive Leaf Gin, hazelnut, blood orange + tomato fizz, EVOO), a Fabbrica Negroni (Olive Leaf Gin, Campari, Oscar.697 Rosso, salted ruby grapefruit, EVOO) and a drinkable gin Tiramisu (Bloody Shiraz Gin, Mr. Black, Veneziano cold brew, mascarpone, savoiardi milk).”
Photo Credit: Supplied
Photo Credit: Supplied
After enjoying the meal, swing by The Lab for packs of Fabbrica Cacio E Pepe with Spaghetti and Pork and Fennel Sausage with Trotolle, as well as bottled Fabbrica Negroni, made with Olive Leaf Gin, Campari, Oscar.697 Rosso, salted ruby grapefruit and EVOO.
Did you know that one of Australia’s most notorious illegal operations was established and run by two legendary gentlemen in Surry Hills? In an undertaking that spanned the better part of the 20th century, a secluded area at the end of Foster Lane became home to Sydney’s infamous den of iniquity, Thommo’s Two_up School.
The Game
Historically, the origins of two_up are unclear but English and Irish settlers were said to have been playing this game involving coins, a stick, and a wager since the 18th century.
Painting of a game of two-up in the 1800s Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The game steadily grew in popularity in the 19th century. The game was also very popular with Australian soldiers during World War I.
In 1910, ex-boxer George Joseph Guest launched the two-up school as a mobile operation or an outdoor casino, including in boats and ferries. Despite being unlawful, the underground ring ran, thrived, expanded, and lasted until 1976.
Mr Guest called his business ‘Thommo’s Two-up School’ because he boxed under the name “Joe Thomas.”
His gambling site was frequented by both straight and crooked Sydneysiders looking for the thrill of an unsanctioned pastime.
Mr Guest’s operations flourished because this was a very exclusive boys club patronised by rich businessmen and famous celebrities. It was also enabled by corrupted government officials and the police, who were on the weekly payroll.
Mr Guest managed a strict operation. Women and photographs were not allowed at his casinos. Guests were held off from leaving the place until 20 minutes after the night’s winners left to give them a headstart, in case someone had any plans of robbing them. The big winners were also escorted by security.
At its peak, Thommo’s Two-up School was in multiple establishments on Commonwealth Street, Wentworth Avenue, and somewhere at the end of Foster Lane and Reservoir Street near Elizabeth Street. The schools’ locations were deliberately concealed and hard to find, just like a maze.
Area near Thommo’s location at the end of Foster Lane, near Reservoir St Photo Credit: Google Maps
Thommo’s Under Mr Joe Taylor
When Guest died, his friend, Joe Taylor, who was also an ex-boxer, took over the business. Mr Taylor had a few nightclubs in Sydney, including the Celebrity Restaurant Club in the CBD, which had American stars as headliners, and the Carlisle Club along Kellet Street in Kings Cross.
There were illicit casinos at these establishments, with Thommo’s Two-up School adding to his string of successful businesses.
Mr Taylor, nicknamed “The Boss,” was a gracious host to his guests and a generous person to his friends. He was known to Sydney’s Who’s Who, including then-state Premier Sir Robert Askin. Famous Australian bookmaker Bill Waterhouse once said that Mr Taylor would the gambler he feared the most because he “doesn’t give a damn about money.”
Under Mr Taylor, Thommo’s Two-up School was raided a number of times but there were impressions that these raids were staged. It was said that Mr Taylor was given advance notice of these raids so he could hire vagrants to be “arrested.”
In the late 1960s, the Premier turned gambling clubs into full fledged public casinos. However, Thommo’s Two-up School eventually closed with the death of Mr Taylor in 1976.
His funeral had more than a thousand mourners. Gangsters, the police, and politicians gathered with the ordinary folks to pay their final respects to Mr Taylor, whose death marked the end of an era for gambling in Sydney.
Did you know that Surry Hills has earned a new honour as the most Instagrammable suburb in Australia and the 11th most Instagrammable neighbourhood among 50 locations all over the world?
UK real estate agency Savoy Stewart ranked the world’s most popular places on the photo-sharing social site based on specific hashtags. The company also look into the most famous places in the world from Timeout, Complex and Forbes to narrow the choices down to 50 places. These places were then entered as hashtags on Instagram.
Wynwood in Miami, Florida, a neighbourhood splashed with awe-inspiring artistic graffiti and vibrant nightlife led the ranking with 5.2 million photos tagged.
However, Surry Hills’ numbers were also high up on the list with these hashtags: #surryhillssydney – 589,825, #surryhillslife – 3,962, and #surryhillssydney – 12,142.
Yarraville, in Melbourne’s inner city and has always been renowned for its architecture and quality of life, takes the second most Instagrammable Australian suburb and the 19th among 50 with 228,505 for #yarraville and 1,346 for #yarravillelife.
In the mid-1800s, Surry Hills took four decades to transform into a village precinct and it has been shifting ever since. From desirable to run-down, to up-and-coming and now, the happening place-to-be. In recent years, the culture and demographic of Surry Hills has attracted younger professionals and creative hipsters.
Kate Leigh, Sydney’s “Worst Woman” was an in-demand sly-grogger, a popular brothel madam, drug dealer, and hardened criminal who had done repeated stints of hard labour in gaol that would have cowed lesser men, let alone women. Yet, she was also a generous community figure who got along equally well with the ‘haves and have-nots.’ Did you know that she ran her empire from a succession of houses in Surry Hills? Find out more here.
Kate Leigh: The Early Years
Born Kathleen Mary Josephine Beahan in 1881 in Dubbo, Kate – also known as Katherine Lee, Katherine Barry, and Katherine Ryan — was raised a Roman Catholic and attended the Parramatta Industrial School for Girls until the age of 16.
As a teenager just released from school, Kate found work in the factories and shops of Surry Hills and Glebe. As a teenage runaway, she led gang wars in Surry Hills.
Just after the turn of the century, Kate was arrested for vagrancy in 1901, and did 14 days of hard labour in gaol. That was the first of her many stints at Long Bay Gaol.
Her troubled younger years and subsequent fall into disrepute soon landed her firmly on the wrong side of the tracks. By her early 20s, she was working as a prostitute to raise a daughter born out of wedlock.
Around 1914, whilst living with other criminals in the slums of Frog Hollow, Kate helped plan the Eveleigh Railway Workshops payroll heist. She was caught and sentenced to Long Bay Gaol for five years.
Photo Credit: NSW State Archives & Records
Buying Her Riley St Home in Surry Hills
From her teenage years to young adulthood, Kate settled into a life of crime where she gained wealth and notoriety as Sydney’s Queen of the Underworld, a cocaine trafficker, sly-grog trader, brothel madam, and gangster.
Upon her release from prison in 1919, Kate saw a profitable business opportunity as a sly-grog trader taking advantage of the Liquor Act 1916, which shut down legal pubs at 6:00 p.m. Anybody looking for a thirst-quencher had to find another venue, and these were Kate’s operations.
During her peak, she had over two dozen bootleg outlets, catering to the Sydney’s worst residents but also doing brisk business among an upmarket clientele made up of the city’s ‘reputable’ businessmen.
To the authorities, she often said that she didn’t consider sly-grogging to be a criminal activity. Instead, she believed to be a service to the community.
Her lucrative sly-grogging business allowed her the means to buy a property on 104 Riley St, Surry Hills, which eventually became the centre of her empire. She also became “one of the wealthiest and most flamboyant” Sydney-siders.
According to “Razor” author Larry Writer, Kate Leigh succeeded because she never tasted any of her drugs or alcohol, unlike her competitors. She was also generous and charismatic to the underdogs and the members of the razor gang, despite being perceived as a “sinister, shadowy character.”
In 1930, Kate Leigh shot John William “Snowy” Prendergast in front of her house after he tried to break in. However, Kate was not indicted for the killing.
Following the incident, Kate’s Riley St property was raided and investigated by Judge Laurens Armstrong and the Sydney Police. She denied any illegal wrongdoing but authorities found a stash of cocaine in the premises. She was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Kate also had a house at 2 Lansdowne St, Surry Hills, where she lived with her second husband. It became known as the brothel Lansdowne Hotel and was frequently raided by the police, yet she used to host Christmas parties for the kids here, blocking off the streets so they can enjoy themselves in peace.
Photo Credit: vox300/Flicker
Photo Credit: National Library of Australia
Kate’s last known address was a dilapidated four-bedroom Victorian terrace home at 212 Devonshire St, Surry Hills. It was one of the properties she acquired during the peak of her illegal trade and it became the haven of her later years.
The property was named Mum’s. Kate lived there until 1964, the year she died of a stroke. A nephew who ran a fruit shop downstairs took care of her.
She was 82 years old when she died, and she no longer had a fortune to her name. She had gone full circle — a determined country girl who started with nothing, achieved criminal notoriety and wealth in the city, and then gradually lost it all in the twilight of her years.
In 2015, the house at 212 Devonshire St was sold for $1.7 million. It used to house a cafe called Sly. Today, the Jazzy Cafe Bar does brisk business in the place where Sydney’s notorious vice queen finally found peace.
Did you know that Surry Hills was once home to a world-famous boot-making workshop along Crown St that catered to clients like the Beatles, Kerry Packer, and royalty? Get to know Morris and Adam Perkal, brothers from Warsaw, Polandwho survived the Holocaust in World War II and then went on to cobble their place in history.
In 1939, Morris and Adam Perkal, then in their teens, watched their mother and youngest brother burn when the Germans set fire to their synagogue in Warsaw. The brothers tried to escape the Nazis through Russia but had no money to cross the borders. Adam wanted to return home and find their father and other siblings whilst Morris said he will try to cross through the snow and frost to find a safe place for their family.
Morris came into a crowded Russian-Polish city and was told to go to the next town where there were no refugees. An old couple with no more children took Morris in, however, the Germans invaded Russia in 1941 and Morris thought he should get away as far as possible. He was able to reach central Russia and worked as a shoemaker until the war ended.
Meanwhile, to ensure that his family had money Adam smuggled items and people into the Warsaw ghetto and ended up getting arrested. He was detained in at least three concentration camps, including the Ebensee concentration camp in Austria, for the rest of the war.
Prisoners of the Ebensee concentration camp in 1945 Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
After the liberation by the Americans, Morris took a train to Italy because he came across friends who told him that Adam lived there. After more months of searching, Morris finally stepped off a plane in Sydney, where Adam was waiting for him.
After surviving the horrors of Hitler’s concentration camps, the Perkal brothers migrated to Australia after World War II to start their lives anew. Having been sent to separate concentration camps, each was unaware that the other had survived.
As fate would have it, they were reunited through an uncle living in Wollongong. Overcome with emotions at their reunion, the brothers decided to live next door to each other in Dover Heights. Since then, the two became inseparable.
In the 1950s, Morris and Adam worked as shoemakers. After a few years, they decided to strike out on their own and open a shop along Hay St in Haymarket. Armed with grit, determination, and a strong work ethic, it wasn’t long before the “Perkal Brothers” became Sydney’s premier bespoke bootmakers.
The Perkal Brothers Bespoke Shop received its first high-profile order from a young Queen Elizabeth II who wanted a pair of golden slippers during her first Australian tour in the 1950s. They never met the Queen in person but they were provided her shoe size and specifications by the British Embassy. Morris and Adam also made shoes for the King of Tonga, who visited their shop, and Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, Fiji’s first Prime Minister.
When the Beatles came to Australia in 1964, they asked the Perkal Brothers to make boots with Cuban heels. The brothers had to go to the hotel to avoid a riot to get the men’s measurements. The boots became popular as the Beatle Boot.
But it was the Australian tycoon Kerry Packer who became their best customer. At first, the brother had no idea who he was and nearly lost his patronage when they couldn’t deliver the polo boots he wanted the next day. Mr Packer offered to pay double for the boots, which kept the brothers and six laborers busy overnight.
Mr Packer went on to order more pairs of shoes from his favourite cobblers every year until his death in 2005. He’d use the shoes a least three times and give them back to the brothers, who donated the billionaire’s used shoes to the Salvation Army.
Photo Credit: Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences
From Hay St, the brothers moved to Crown St in Surry Hills and worked side-by-side, six days a week, to create shoes for their high-profile clients.
The Perkal Brothers also made shoes for Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Mick Jagger, James Packer, Bob Hawke, Bob Carr, Stanley Wong, John Saunders, and several international polo teams.
Closing the Shop, Auctioning the Surry Hills Property
The Perkal brothers were maintained their closeness until the very end.
In 2012, Adam passed away at 92 years old. Though Morris said he would continue with the business alone, everyone knew that he was seriously grieving over Adam’s passing. Morris, 94, died of a heart attack on Christmas Eve, just 12 days after the burial of beloved brother.
A year later, the Perkal Brothers workshop in Surry Hills was emptied of the last of the boot leathers, machines, and the pairs of shoes that Adam and Morris had left behind.
Marilyn Hauptmann, Adam’s daughter, said her father and Uncle Morris loved working side-by-side in this shop. In a sad footnote to the brothers’ passing, the family decided to give up the business, despite its history and sentimental value, as no one had the skills to take over the Perkal Brothers’ business.
The property, 386 Crown Street, went up for auction for the first time in nearly three decades. The property was sold to a private buyer for almost $1.7 million.
Locals can expect a more pedestrian-friendly George St following the expansion of a pedestrian boulevard that runs from Bathurst Street to Rawson Place, advancing into Devonshire Street in Surry Hills.
The new pedestrian boulevard, from Bathurst Street to Rawson Place, is part of the City of Sydney’s $43.5 million dollar project to create a seamless car-free path for walking, dining and seating, and align with the light rail tracks running the full length of George St from Haymarket to Circular Quay.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore graced the public opening of George St in June 2022, saying it was worth celebrating, especially because the project has been carried out with minimal disruptions and it was delivered in record time.
“Working together, we have completed a beautiful and inviting boulevard that creates more than 9,000sqm of additional space for people to move safely around the city centre,” the Lord Mayor said.
Photo credit: City of Sydney
Cr Moore said the work to turn noisy, traffic-choked George St into a pedestrian boulevard and central spine for the city began in 2007, when Jan Gehl’s report on public spaces suggested three city squares at Circular Quay, Town Hall and Railway Square, all linked by a light-rail and pedestrian boulevard.
Minister for Infrastructure, Cities and Active Transport, Rob Stokes also came to see the street’s transformation, stating how Sydney’s streets were being reclaimed as places for people.
“George Street has been completely transformed from a road clogged with buses and traffic to the thriving spine of our city where people can walk, linger, catch up with friends and enjoy a meal on the much wider footpath,” Mr Stokes said.
The project has been supported with more than $1.1 million from the NSW Government and $7 million from the Federal Government.
A street block in Surry Hills which accommodates the heritage-listed Hotel Stellar and the Soda Factory bar is up for grabs for a price tag of $100 million.
The old hotel and its four neighbouring buildings, located at 4-22 Wentworth Avenue spans 1,218 sqm.
The Soda Factory Bar, considered one of Sydney’s best hidden gems, has remained a go-to for locals since it first opened its doors in 2013.
Inside the Soda Factory bar (Photo credit: Dee Y/Google Maps)
The expressions of interest campaign for the five freehold assets is being managed by realtors from Raine & Horne Projects, and JLL and I.B Property, and IB property.
Developers can take advantage of the approved DA over the current hotel site, which is a new 19-storey development by architect Ed Lippmann. Plans include over 200 luxury appointed rooms with a ground floor restaurant and bar offering.
Artist’s impression of approved mixed-use development (Photo credit: City of Sydney/Lippmann)
“Not only is this a premium site in an outstanding location, but there are also multiple value-add possibilities with Stage 1 DA approval already in place for a major mixed-use project of approximately 7500 sqm of Gross Floor Area (GFA),” said Mr James Nixon, Director of Raine & Horne Projects.
Photo credit: City of Sydney/Lippmann
Realtors believe the precinct will attract significant interest, especially from hotel operators because of the pipeline of exciting projects in the immediate precinct. This includes The Hyde and the Tech Central, dubbed as Sydney’s Silicon Valley.
“As an alternative to redevelopment the assets are an attractive landbank opportunity with existing holding income and strong rental upside by repositioning into a variety of uses, including creative office and retail accommodation,” said Mr James Aroney, Senior Director of JLL Capital Markets (NSW).
The properties were all owned by Nick Pongrass of Pongrass Properties.
