‘Is that legal?' Hospo identities share weirdest customer requests
Difficult requests, intriguing orders and just plain weird queries are a daily challenge for our chefs, waiters and bartenders. And Australia's best have to keep on their toes, because they might be called on to puree steak frites in a blender or asked to make a cocktail with breast milk, or accommodate a diner who wants to wield a sword at dinner.
But back to that possum. Moscovitz, who recently opened French-Japanese restaurant Bellevue Woolloomooloo in Sydney, said the request for a marsupial main course came not at the new venue on Finger Wharf in Woolloomooloo, but from a regular customer at his Glebe restaurant, Bellevue Cottage.
'They wanted a private function for 50 people,' he said. With possum the star of the show, Moscovitz's first thought was, 'Is that legal?' He briefly pondered practical matters, like how you'd even cook it? 'I'm guessing like a rabbit,' he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
20 hours ago
- Perth Now
Paris mural honours legacy of Josephine Baker
Paris is reviving the spirit of US-French entertainer and civil rights activist Josephine Baker with a new mural. Fifty years after her death, Baker now gazes out over a diverse neighbourhood of northeast Paris, thanks to urban artist FKDL and a street art festival aimed at promoting community spirit. Born in St Louis, Missouri, Baker became a megastar in the 1930s, especially in France, where she moved in 1925 as she sought to flee racism and segregation in the United States. In addition to her stage fame, Baker also spied on the Nazis for the French Resistance and marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr in Washington. She died in Paris in 1975. ''I feel moved and I feel happy, because this is part of a memory of my mother," her son Brian Baker told the Associated Press at the unveiling of the mural on Saturday. He was one of 12 children Josephine Baker adopted from around the world that she called her "rainbow tribe" and what her son called ''a little United Nations". The mural of Baker, meant to symbolise freedom and resistance, is among several painted in recent days in the neighbourhood and organised by the association Paris Colors Ourq. The artist FKDL said he focuses on ''bringing women back into the urban landscape". "Josephine Baker has always been, for me, a somewhat iconic figure of that era. Both wild and free-spirited, but also deeply connected to music, musicals, and dance," he said. ''She was an extraordinary character, an incredible woman." Baker was the first black woman inducted into France's Pantheon, joining such luminaries as philosopher Voltaire, scientist Marie Curie and writer Victor Hugo.
The Advertiser
2 days ago
- The Advertiser
An uplifting biopic of a screen icon and true eccentric
The Divine Sarah Bernhardt MA 15+, 98 minutes 4 Stars In these days of everyday celebrity, a French stage actress who was a pioneer in theatre arts and became a major international celebrity a century ago is irresistible. Her gifts in performance were one thing, but the story of how Sarah Bernhardt became famous the world over, before Hollywood had begun to connect its A-list actors with fans everywhere, and long before the international news channels and social media got going, is quite something. The daughter of a courtesan, who became an unmarried mother herself, she earned a reputation as a great actress of fierce intelligence. She was also uncompromising, with a highly tuned sense of injustice that got her into trouble but also earned her admirers. Her contemporaries during the Belle Epoque of artistic and intellectual foment in which she lived, including Oscar Wilde, Victor Hugo and Sigmund Freud, all of whom were celebrities in their own right, sang her praises. Some notables did not. This lively French biopic directed by Guillaume Nicloux and starring Sandrine Kiberlain in the title role has arrived on screen around a century after her death in Paris in 1923. It will dovetail with the events and exhibitions to mark this centenary, offering an interpretation of a life and career that can't be underestimated. Who was this actress who has been caricatured as the original drama queen, but was seen in her day by contemporaries like Mark Twain as in a class of her own? There was so much to Bernhardt, a thespian who stirred grand passions and operated as a theatre entrepreneur, accomplishing much, never waiting for permission from the establishment to do more. She was the first Hamlet to be seen (briefly) on screen, and as she grew older, she developed a preference for portraying male characters who had a brain to work with, not just a heart. After an opening montage of clips and stills that set the scene of her era, it's a shock to find Bernhardt on her deathbed. No, she is actually in character in the closing scene of Alexandre Dumas' play La Dame aux Camellias, her most famous theatre role. After she expires in the arms of her lover, there is rapturous applause. Laurent Lafitte plays opposite Kiberlain as Lucien Guitry, who in this version of the Bernhardt story, was her lifelong and only true love interest. No sooner is she done playing the tragedienne than Bernhardt is on her way to surgery. It's finally time to do something about a gammy leg, an injury that has been troubling her for years. The swift transition from a stage death to a real amputation is an opportunity for Bernhardt to exercise her devastating flair for bleak humour. At other points in the film, this refusal to succumb to the gravity of any negative situation is something of a trademark skill. After the procedure is performed and she is receiving visitors, she is quickly in command again, a clue to her courage and indomitable spirit. Kiberlain gives a skilful, subtle rendering of the diva, her light touch avoiding any histrionic overplaying that Bernhardt attracted criticism for. It's clear that the lucidity, liveliness and fierce intelligence that informed her life also informed her craft. Nor was it simply her artistry that people were charmed by. It was an unconventional approach to life that included having countless affairs and keeping a menagerie of unusual pets, like a lynx and a boa constrictor. There was a comfortably fitted-out coffin in her rooms where she sometimes slept; she was quite the eccentric. Nathalie Leuthreau's screenplay focuses on the personal, doing its best to capture Bernhardt's remarkable life within the feature film format. Like Bernhardt's best remembered role in Camellias, a little poetic licence can have its way. The Divine Sarah Bernhardt MA 15+, 98 minutes 4 Stars In these days of everyday celebrity, a French stage actress who was a pioneer in theatre arts and became a major international celebrity a century ago is irresistible. Her gifts in performance were one thing, but the story of how Sarah Bernhardt became famous the world over, before Hollywood had begun to connect its A-list actors with fans everywhere, and long before the international news channels and social media got going, is quite something. The daughter of a courtesan, who became an unmarried mother herself, she earned a reputation as a great actress of fierce intelligence. She was also uncompromising, with a highly tuned sense of injustice that got her into trouble but also earned her admirers. Her contemporaries during the Belle Epoque of artistic and intellectual foment in which she lived, including Oscar Wilde, Victor Hugo and Sigmund Freud, all of whom were celebrities in their own right, sang her praises. Some notables did not. This lively French biopic directed by Guillaume Nicloux and starring Sandrine Kiberlain in the title role has arrived on screen around a century after her death in Paris in 1923. It will dovetail with the events and exhibitions to mark this centenary, offering an interpretation of a life and career that can't be underestimated. Who was this actress who has been caricatured as the original drama queen, but was seen in her day by contemporaries like Mark Twain as in a class of her own? There was so much to Bernhardt, a thespian who stirred grand passions and operated as a theatre entrepreneur, accomplishing much, never waiting for permission from the establishment to do more. She was the first Hamlet to be seen (briefly) on screen, and as she grew older, she developed a preference for portraying male characters who had a brain to work with, not just a heart. After an opening montage of clips and stills that set the scene of her era, it's a shock to find Bernhardt on her deathbed. No, she is actually in character in the closing scene of Alexandre Dumas' play La Dame aux Camellias, her most famous theatre role. After she expires in the arms of her lover, there is rapturous applause. Laurent Lafitte plays opposite Kiberlain as Lucien Guitry, who in this version of the Bernhardt story, was her lifelong and only true love interest. No sooner is she done playing the tragedienne than Bernhardt is on her way to surgery. It's finally time to do something about a gammy leg, an injury that has been troubling her for years. The swift transition from a stage death to a real amputation is an opportunity for Bernhardt to exercise her devastating flair for bleak humour. At other points in the film, this refusal to succumb to the gravity of any negative situation is something of a trademark skill. After the procedure is performed and she is receiving visitors, she is quickly in command again, a clue to her courage and indomitable spirit. Kiberlain gives a skilful, subtle rendering of the diva, her light touch avoiding any histrionic overplaying that Bernhardt attracted criticism for. It's clear that the lucidity, liveliness and fierce intelligence that informed her life also informed her craft. Nor was it simply her artistry that people were charmed by. It was an unconventional approach to life that included having countless affairs and keeping a menagerie of unusual pets, like a lynx and a boa constrictor. There was a comfortably fitted-out coffin in her rooms where she sometimes slept; she was quite the eccentric. Nathalie Leuthreau's screenplay focuses on the personal, doing its best to capture Bernhardt's remarkable life within the feature film format. Like Bernhardt's best remembered role in Camellias, a little poetic licence can have its way. The Divine Sarah Bernhardt MA 15+, 98 minutes 4 Stars In these days of everyday celebrity, a French stage actress who was a pioneer in theatre arts and became a major international celebrity a century ago is irresistible. Her gifts in performance were one thing, but the story of how Sarah Bernhardt became famous the world over, before Hollywood had begun to connect its A-list actors with fans everywhere, and long before the international news channels and social media got going, is quite something. The daughter of a courtesan, who became an unmarried mother herself, she earned a reputation as a great actress of fierce intelligence. She was also uncompromising, with a highly tuned sense of injustice that got her into trouble but also earned her admirers. Her contemporaries during the Belle Epoque of artistic and intellectual foment in which she lived, including Oscar Wilde, Victor Hugo and Sigmund Freud, all of whom were celebrities in their own right, sang her praises. Some notables did not. This lively French biopic directed by Guillaume Nicloux and starring Sandrine Kiberlain in the title role has arrived on screen around a century after her death in Paris in 1923. It will dovetail with the events and exhibitions to mark this centenary, offering an interpretation of a life and career that can't be underestimated. Who was this actress who has been caricatured as the original drama queen, but was seen in her day by contemporaries like Mark Twain as in a class of her own? There was so much to Bernhardt, a thespian who stirred grand passions and operated as a theatre entrepreneur, accomplishing much, never waiting for permission from the establishment to do more. She was the first Hamlet to be seen (briefly) on screen, and as she grew older, she developed a preference for portraying male characters who had a brain to work with, not just a heart. After an opening montage of clips and stills that set the scene of her era, it's a shock to find Bernhardt on her deathbed. No, she is actually in character in the closing scene of Alexandre Dumas' play La Dame aux Camellias, her most famous theatre role. After she expires in the arms of her lover, there is rapturous applause. Laurent Lafitte plays opposite Kiberlain as Lucien Guitry, who in this version of the Bernhardt story, was her lifelong and only true love interest. No sooner is she done playing the tragedienne than Bernhardt is on her way to surgery. It's finally time to do something about a gammy leg, an injury that has been troubling her for years. The swift transition from a stage death to a real amputation is an opportunity for Bernhardt to exercise her devastating flair for bleak humour. At other points in the film, this refusal to succumb to the gravity of any negative situation is something of a trademark skill. After the procedure is performed and she is receiving visitors, she is quickly in command again, a clue to her courage and indomitable spirit. Kiberlain gives a skilful, subtle rendering of the diva, her light touch avoiding any histrionic overplaying that Bernhardt attracted criticism for. It's clear that the lucidity, liveliness and fierce intelligence that informed her life also informed her craft. Nor was it simply her artistry that people were charmed by. It was an unconventional approach to life that included having countless affairs and keeping a menagerie of unusual pets, like a lynx and a boa constrictor. There was a comfortably fitted-out coffin in her rooms where she sometimes slept; she was quite the eccentric. Nathalie Leuthreau's screenplay focuses on the personal, doing its best to capture Bernhardt's remarkable life within the feature film format. Like Bernhardt's best remembered role in Camellias, a little poetic licence can have its way. The Divine Sarah Bernhardt MA 15+, 98 minutes 4 Stars In these days of everyday celebrity, a French stage actress who was a pioneer in theatre arts and became a major international celebrity a century ago is irresistible. Her gifts in performance were one thing, but the story of how Sarah Bernhardt became famous the world over, before Hollywood had begun to connect its A-list actors with fans everywhere, and long before the international news channels and social media got going, is quite something. The daughter of a courtesan, who became an unmarried mother herself, she earned a reputation as a great actress of fierce intelligence. She was also uncompromising, with a highly tuned sense of injustice that got her into trouble but also earned her admirers. Her contemporaries during the Belle Epoque of artistic and intellectual foment in which she lived, including Oscar Wilde, Victor Hugo and Sigmund Freud, all of whom were celebrities in their own right, sang her praises. Some notables did not. This lively French biopic directed by Guillaume Nicloux and starring Sandrine Kiberlain in the title role has arrived on screen around a century after her death in Paris in 1923. It will dovetail with the events and exhibitions to mark this centenary, offering an interpretation of a life and career that can't be underestimated. Who was this actress who has been caricatured as the original drama queen, but was seen in her day by contemporaries like Mark Twain as in a class of her own? There was so much to Bernhardt, a thespian who stirred grand passions and operated as a theatre entrepreneur, accomplishing much, never waiting for permission from the establishment to do more. She was the first Hamlet to be seen (briefly) on screen, and as she grew older, she developed a preference for portraying male characters who had a brain to work with, not just a heart. After an opening montage of clips and stills that set the scene of her era, it's a shock to find Bernhardt on her deathbed. No, she is actually in character in the closing scene of Alexandre Dumas' play La Dame aux Camellias, her most famous theatre role. After she expires in the arms of her lover, there is rapturous applause. Laurent Lafitte plays opposite Kiberlain as Lucien Guitry, who in this version of the Bernhardt story, was her lifelong and only true love interest. No sooner is she done playing the tragedienne than Bernhardt is on her way to surgery. It's finally time to do something about a gammy leg, an injury that has been troubling her for years. The swift transition from a stage death to a real amputation is an opportunity for Bernhardt to exercise her devastating flair for bleak humour. At other points in the film, this refusal to succumb to the gravity of any negative situation is something of a trademark skill. After the procedure is performed and she is receiving visitors, she is quickly in command again, a clue to her courage and indomitable spirit. Kiberlain gives a skilful, subtle rendering of the diva, her light touch avoiding any histrionic overplaying that Bernhardt attracted criticism for. It's clear that the lucidity, liveliness and fierce intelligence that informed her life also informed her craft. Nor was it simply her artistry that people were charmed by. It was an unconventional approach to life that included having countless affairs and keeping a menagerie of unusual pets, like a lynx and a boa constrictor. There was a comfortably fitted-out coffin in her rooms where she sometimes slept; she was quite the eccentric. Nathalie Leuthreau's screenplay focuses on the personal, doing its best to capture Bernhardt's remarkable life within the feature film format. Like Bernhardt's best remembered role in Camellias, a little poetic licence can have its way.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The coolest part of this Asian city is actually underneath it
It's day four of our 15-day Far Eastern Horizons cruise from Hong Kong to Tokyo aboard Viking Venus when we forgo the shore excursions to explore Zhongshan on our own. We stroll past whimsical urban art – rabbits racing snails, ducks marching in a line – all playfully tucked amid the layered plantings of trees and shrubs. Weekend markets line the path ahead, the aroma of coffee and fried pancakes drawing us along like the beckoning fingers of a cartoon wisp. The park's transformation started in 2017, but the neighbourhood's roots go back to the late 1800s when Taipei was under Qing dynasty rule. Then came the era of Japanese rule (1895-1945), a legacy still seen in the tidy street grid and abundance of ramen shops. We detour to Chifeng Street, known as 'Iron Street', where former scrap metal shops have been transformed into a creative hub of unique and design-driven stores. A time-worn belt from EWF Vintage, a pot of tea at Illumination Books and a playful snap inside the TiMELAB photo booth are the joys of exploring a neighbourhood. While many of the stores have had a modern makeover, it's the weathered bones of the century-old shop buildings that anchor the present to the past. Strolling deeper, the clang of metal from the remaining auto repair shops adds a raw, industrial rhythm to the street vibe. We see more of Zhongshan's creative soul inside the former US embassy, a Colonial-style mansion now home to the SPOT Taipei Film House. Though there's no time for an arthouse flick, we relax in the cafe like seasoned film buffs. From here it's a short walk to the Museum of Contemporary Art, where an impressive collection of works is housed inside a former 1920s elementary school. We finish on a lane at the edge of Linear Park, where a queue leads us to Mian Xian Ding, a Japanese-style shop stand serving traditional mian xian. For a handful of crumpled notes we receive a barstool at the crowded counter and a bowl each of gluey noodle soup. How much it cost or what was in it (oysters? intestines?) I'll never know, but every mouthful brings me closer to the heart of the neighbourhood, and the people who call it home. THE DETAILS Viking's 15-day Far Eastern Horizons cruise from Hong Kong to Tokyo (or the reverse) costs from $10,795 a person, based on double occupancy, flights not included. All meals, beer, wine and soft drinks with onboard lunch and dinner, one shore excursion in every port of call, Wi-Fi, gratuities and speciality dining are all included. See MORE The writer was a guest of Viking Cruises.
