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  • 12. 785LETTERSTesting times
    AUSTRALIANS make much of their strength of character. That strength is being tested more stringently than at any time I can remember. These are interesting times.
    Australians are always swept up in the rhetoric of sports journalists. We are cheerfully blinded by nationalistic fervour.
    Aussies, and Aussie teams, are always expected to win—just because they are Aussies. Harsh reality has taught me that victory depends on how both teams, or players, play on the day. It has nothing to do with nationality, as the Americans discovered when we nicked the America’s Cup on September 25, 1983. Now, Australians in general have to face the lesson and sit the same exam.
    No longer can we depend on our cricket team to rule the world (we have conveniently forgotten the West Indies had to go through the same pain 20 years ago, and before them the Poms). We can no longer depend on our tennis players to rule the world. No more do we dominate billiards. Our soccer players won through to Rio by the skin of their teeth, although we remain unchallenged in the world of Australian Rules Football.
    How we deal with coming second, or worse, will be a real test match.
    A test of character.
    Rick Duley
    Walcott St, North Perth

    Escape to the bottom of a glass
    TO expect Beaufort Street traders, who already operate from inadequate premises, to move into smaller units as suggested by the Vincent city council, is tackling the problem from the wrong end.
    The traders are asked to downgrade their rightful standard of living while real estate speculators rake in money by merely twiddling their thumbs.
    The problem which must be addressed is the widening gap between people’s earnings and the galloping increase in property values. Unfortunately, the problem is exacerbated by the federal and state governments’ policies of excessively high intake of immigrants and workers on special permits.
    And, despite the drastic reduction in the size of building blocks, there is still a serious shortage of available land.
    When it comes to the increasing spread of bars, here too there is a serious clash between the public’s expectations and WA government policies which seem to promote the availablility of the worst drug affecting the western world. Alcohol might not affect one’s lungs, but far too often it changes drastically people’s physical appearance.
    Looking on the bright side, you have to admit the extra bars will make it easier for people to escape the sorrows of their stressful life.
    F Schenk
    McDonald St, Osborne Park

    Shame Mayor shame!
    THE only one needing to be named and shamed is the mayor of Vincent and those councillors who voted yes to this unbelievable motion.
    I am shocked and embarrassed the council would even consider such a thing as naming and shaming all those convicted of soliciting a prostitute in Vincent.
    Just where do they plan on obtaining this information?
    Who gives them the right to sit in judgement and denounce someone’s character?
    Maybe the mayor wouldn’t be quite so keen if it were drink-drivers being named and shamed?
    Debbie Saunders
    Oxford St, Leederville
    The Ed says: Not sure you’re making your point there, Debbie, seeing as the mayor’s stumbles with drinking and driving are indeed well publicised. The kerb-crawlers’ information is already publicly available, it’s just no-one bothers to collect and publish it from the court.

    They’re both winners
    WIN or lose come September, already well-heeled Julia and Kevin will win.
    Little imagination needed to see their best-selling autobiographies on offer for the festive season.
    Biographies, too. Can you hear the squeaking quills of furious scribblers—the clichés and venom pouring from illiterate ousted MPs?
    Hold on. Fences have been jumped. Has gutsy Julia won through this week?
    Ron Willis
    First Ave, Mount Lawley

    Seeking Robert Robson
    I AM looking for the descendants of Robert Edward Challoner RobsopPRn, born in Morpeth in 1904, emigrated on the Ballarat in 1828 and I believe died in Fremantle in 1956.
    I am assisting in making the family tree and extending it to Australia would be wonderful.
    Could this letter be printed with my e-mail address please?
    Jim Robson
    (nephew of the above and son of Ernest who was ‘Ted’s’ younger brother.)
    Morpeth, Northumberland UK
    jimrobson462@yahoo.com

  • From frocks to Fiore

    13. 785FOOD

    MONTE FIORE, Mt Lawley

    by JENNY D’ANGER:

    MONTE FIORE in Mt Lawley deserves “mountains of flowers” for its delicious Italian cuisine.

    It was the quirky flower and bird motif (no mountains though) of the restaurant’s sign that caught my eye as a potential spot for lunch.

    Once seated my lunch companion and I debated whether the old building with its massive timber beams holding up the soaring ceiling, and the art deco stained glass windows, was once the foyer of a cinema.

    But it appears it was a frock shop, back in the days of haberdashery, frocks and petticoats, our helpful waiter said.

    Monte Fiore serves up good, old-style Italian Australian food with plenty of modern twists, including a new take on anti-pasta, with a share plate of grilled Spanish chorizo, arancini cheese balls, smoked salmon crepes, prosciutto, Turkish bread and homemade dip ($28).

    For those wanting something light for lunch there are simple choices such as a variety of burgers ($16.50) or bruschetta ($14).

    But I was in a pasta mood, so having sadly set aside the delicious sounding pumpkin risotto ($26) opted for the quattro stagiono ($25).

    The aroma of pine nuts and basil rose from the steaming dish of vegetarian pasta, its siren song making my mouth water.

    With plenty of sundried tomatoes, roasted pumpkin, capsicum and a liberal lacing of olives, and doused in the oily  pesto dressing, it was superb.

    My lunch-mate ordered a half serve of garlic prawns ($18), with a choice of either a cream sauce, or the more traditional oil, which she chose along with a serve of toasted Turkish bread to mop up with ($5).

    It certainly was a very generous half, with eight large, succulent prawns in a wonderfully garlicky oil, and a side serve of salad.

    We were going to pass on dessert but succumbed to the lure of a couple of panna cottas ($10.90).

    This classic Italian dessert is nothing like its English boarding school counterpart, blancmange (fittingly, a synonym for bland and unimaginative).

    Made by simmering cream, milk and sugar, the creamy sweetness of the panna cottas beautifully contrasted with the sharpness of the blackberries topping them.

    And when Pat couldn’t finish hers I was only too happy to help.

    Replete, we staggered out to do battle with pre-peak hour traffic. Where does the time go when you’re having an enjoyable meal?

    by JENNY D’ANGER

    Monte Fiore
    628 Beaufort Street, Mt Lawley
    9227 9898
    open 7 days 11am till late    

  • Steak your claim to a Pepper Lunch

    14. 785DINING

    PEPPER LUNCH, Perth:

    If you’ve traveled throughout Japan and South-East Asia you know how insanely popular the Pepper Lunch franchise is.

    There are 200 across Japan, 80 through SE Asia, two in Sydney, one in Melbourne and, in Perth…there’s Pepper Lunch at 95 Barrack Street.

    Pepper Lunch is popular for a reason: Fantastic Japanese steak that’s affordable and cooked unbelievably fast.

    Perth franchise owner Aditya Pratanu is just 25 but he’s known since he was a child he wanted to own a restaurant.

    Travelling through Japan as a youngster the Pepper Lunch franchise seemed a great fit: He’s just clocked up his first year and couldn’t be happier.

    “Everybody loves the Japanese steak house experience,” he says with infectious enthusiasm.

    “It’s so different to western cowboy steakhouse, they’re worlds apart.

    “It’s fun being able to sizzle your own steak on a hot iron plate and you get to cook it exactly how you want.”

    And if you thought that meant time-consuming and fussy, think again.

    “This is fast-food, Japanese style,” Aditya laughs. “We have it prepared within five to seven minutes and then you finish off the cooking.

    “Some of our best customers are office workers who pretty much need to eat and run: This is perfect, and a lot more healthy than a pie and chips.”

    Aditya runs Pepper Lunch with sister Adelina and brother Aditama.

    “We keep it in the family—it’s lots of fun. Hard work, but fun,” he smiles.

    You can enjoy a full-on steak meal for anything between $12 and $18.

    “One of the favourites has to be the kimchi beef pepper rice,” Aditya says.

    “Sure, it’s more Korean than Japanese but the flavours are so unique. Everyone loves it.”

    Pepper Lunch runs happy hour specials between 3–5.30pm with some dishes at reduced prices. You’ll generally find the place packed at this time with local students on a budget who want to eat well.

    Head down to Barrack Street and check out for yourself why everyone’s raving about Pepper Lunch.

    Pepper Lunch
    95 Barrack Street, Perth
    9325 3532

  • Laughs and tears the name of the game

    • Ivan King. Photo by Jeremy Dixon
    • Ivan King. Photo by Jeremy Dixon

    Theatre is society’s political and social barometer says Ivan King.

    The veteran curator at His Majesty’s Museum of Performing Arts says it’s one of the reasons he’s so passionate about preserving and promoting WA’s theatrical history.

    People don’t think things happened in WA, he says, and he hopes the exhibition Comedy and Tragedy will change that perspective.

    When African-American singer turned social activist Paul Robeson arrived in Australia in 1958 promoting equal rights for Aboriginal people—who at the time counted as fauna in the national census—he was followed by ASIO and head-butted the Menzies government that was determined to silence him.

    “He sang on the back of a truck outside [Midland railway] because he was not allowed on government property,” Mr King says.

    Flamboyant

    When flamboyant Sunraysia entrepreneur Jack De Garis moved to WA in the 1920s he mixed publicity for his dried fruit with that for his musical.

    “People were confused and bought his dried fruit and the show opened to an empty house,” Mr King recalls.

    Sir Ian McKellen—Gandalf, Richard III, Magneto, etc—dropped into the museum when last in town and Angela Lansbury was so impressed during her recent visit she dragged her New York manager back.

    Rescuing a horde of photos from a defunct vaudeville joint run by Michael Edgley’s dad and uncle in 1978 started what has become a life pursuit for actor and singer King.

    His twin passion for Perth’s built heritage dates back to the 1960s, when he was part of a small band trying to stem the haemmhorage of glorious buildings falling to the wrecking ball.

    One of the few remaining, the former Public Trustee, is now an uber-trendy bar/restaurant, which plays on its heritage credentials. A smattering of other Goldrush-era buildings are also coveted for their historic cachet.

    “If St Georges Terrace had not been used as a drag strip for bulldozers we could have six or seven Brookfields,” Mr King sighs, wistfully.

    The museum, now in its 11th year, recently took charge of its 40,000th item, a marionette from West Perth’s Nutshell Puppet Theatre.

    Behind the scenes, shelves overflow with photographs, programs, posters, sound recordings, videos, scrapbooks, designs, scores and sheet music.

    Costumes worn by opera singer Joan Sutherland and ballerina Margot Fonteyn along with actors Judy Davis, Debbie Reynolds and Dame Edna Everage are amongst the impressive collection.

    Waiting in the wings is Mr King’s 53rd exhibition, Ladies of the Chorus, a mouthwatering collection of more than 120 photographs of WA chorus girls, now grandmothers and great-grandmothers (the tales they could tell of those swinging days!).

    In the movies it’s the chorus girls who replace the suddenly ill leading lady, saving the show and going on to become a star. But that’s Hollywood, Mr King says: “This exhibition applauds those who didn’t.”

    Comedy and Tragedy is on until July 8, when Ladies of the Chorus will step up to the boards.

    Entry is gold coin donation—or an item of memorabilia.

    “At the moment I’m desperate for concert parties during WWI,” Mr King says.

    by JENNY D’ANGER

  • Stunning in Stone

    I am used to homes being pristine when I arrive and this place in Stone Street, Bayswater was no different.

    Then I discovered the vendor has four-year old twin boys, a seven-year-old daughter and an energetic dog.

    I take my hat off to her, I can’t stay mess-free for more than five minutes with just a husband to contend with, and by the look of this four-bedroom home it wasn’t spruced up on my account.

    This home, sitting on 545sqm, is great for a tribe of boisterous kiddies, with high, secure (and attractive) fencing front and back.

    There’s a pool to work off excess energy, and apparently the twins swim like fish—after mum ensured they had swimming lessons from a very early age.

    Clever woman that she is, the floors of the huge, downstairs, open plan living and large entry are black and white terrazzo, easy to clean, hard-wearing and, I must say, very attractive.

    Light fills this area, thanks to soaring windows and doors which allow mum and dad to keep an eye on the kids, whether at play on the lawn fronting the covered patio/deck, or in the fenced-off pool area.

    The spacious kitchen reflects the vendors’ eye for detail and requirement for low maintenance, with a walk-in-pantry and an appliance cupboard, not to mention white caesar stone benchtops, including the island bench.

    The main bedroom is on ground level, a large space with walk-in robes and ensuite.

    The kids’ bedrooms are upstairs, including a gorgeously girly one decked out in pink and butterflies while the boys’ bedroom has impossibly cute mini twin beds—and Darth Vader toys.

    A street-facing room could be a fourth bedroom, with a balcony and walk-in-robes.

    But currently it makes a great playroom, with space for imaginative play and big built-in robes to hide in—or hide away any mess.

    The local state primary school is nearby and there’s an independent one even closer, a mere 800 metres.

    When it comes to exercising the dog (or kids) the foreshore is a stroll away and there’s a swag of shops, cafes and restaurants aplenty a short drive away.

    “The good thing about living here is you are 6ks to anything,” the vendor says.

    by JENNY D’ANGER

    108 Stone Street, Bayswater
    EOI from $879,000
    Carlos Lehn | 0416 206 736
    Acton Mt Lawley | 9272 2488

  • Smith to quit politics

    Julia Gillard, Stephen Smith, Nicola Roxon, Tony Burke 1 STEPHEN SMITH will not re-contest the seat of Perth and lawyer Tim Hammond is emerging as a likely replacement.
    Mr Hammond, a Mount Lawley local, is a barrister at Francis Burt Chambers.
    We put it to him that he was next in line of succession after Mr Smith.
    “I don’t know about next in line but I’m certainly giving it a lot of thought,” Mr Hammond said.
    “It’s something I’m now discussing with my family and friends and trying to come to a decision about as quickly as possible.
    “It’s only minutes old, the news [that Mr Smith isn’t recontesting], so I’m certainly thinking long and hard and getting advice on it.
    “It’s a massive decision.”
    Formerly a partner at Slater & Gordon Lawyers, Mr Hammond has worked in state and federal workers compensation cases, medical negligence, and has represented asbestos victims.
    In 2010 he contested the marginal seat of Swan against Liberal incumbent Steve Irons, who won with 52.5 per cent of the two party preferred vote.
    The ABC reported Mr Smith as telling parliament that the events of the past two days gave him the “clarity of thought” to make the decision.
    “This is something that I cannot in all good conscience say to the people of Perth that I can continue to do win lose or draw at the next election for another three years.
    “20 years I can do, 23 years I can’t.”
    by DAVID BELL

  • Makeover for Mertome

    BAYSWATER city council is considering a $175 million redevelopment of its Mertome aged care village.

    The concept plan includes four options, ranging from 257 to 396 apartments, over five or seven storeys.

    It includes parking and community facilities such a clubhouse, and the option of a residential care facility.

    At a briefing last month councillors favoured the 316-apartment option, a maximum of two blocks at seven storeys and an 80-bed RCF.

    $22 million is required to fund the first stage.

    The council has $9m from the aged persons home and is looking to fund the $13m shortfall.

    Consultants have advised that proceeds from apartment sales should cover construction costs. Any loan or funding requirement would be self-supporting.

    The Winifred Road home was established in 1972 and accommodates 213 people in 200 units. It was the first of its kind to be constructed by a council and pioneered the sector’s involvement in aged care.

    Mertome’s tired facilities and pressing demand has prompted the redevelopment.

    by STEPHEN POLLOCK

  • This is Planet Perth

    HISTORY and technology mingle in a new innovative artwork on Perth’s King Street.

    Media artist Sohan Ariel Hayes has created “6D” shifting projections that appear in a shopfront along the glitzy shopping strip.

    Hayes says his work was inspired by a fleeting moment in nearby Wolfe Lane.

    “I was working in an artists’ studio off Wolfe Lane and found an old newspaper article from the 1930s about some German aviators lost up north, missing 45 days before indigenous trackers found them,” he says.

    “In this created narrative you see a man and his labradoodle (mine, actually) called Reuben, looking out into the same storm which took that plane down 80 or so years ago.”

    6D City 6 uses a tracking algorithm which, depending on the viewer’s vantage point, merges fragments to form moving portraits.

    Perth lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi says she’s pleased the city is going all Blade Runner.

    “There are so many ways art can impact people’s experience of place,” she muses.

    “When an artist connects with a place and is able to share that artistic vision, the rest of us get to discover the city anew.

    “We ask artists to consider the built and natural environment while engaging people in the city in unusual and surprising ways and it’s exciting to see people’s reactions to that.”

    6D City 6 is part of four TRANSART temporary public art projects shown during the Winter Arts Season.

    A map of TRANSART locations is available at the i-City kiosk in the Murray St Mall.

    by STEPHEN POLLOCK

     

  • Saving BoFo

    • Ken McFarlane shows Alannah MacTiernan around the site. Photo by David Bell
    • Ken McFarlane shows Alannah MacTiernan around the site. Photo by David Bell

    TRADERS and residents along Beaufort Street are not waiting on Vincent city council to find a solution to the street’s ongoing exodus of independent retailers.

    While the council negotiates with developers (see story, right) the Beaufort Street Network is drawing up its own action plan for recovery.

    In recent months six independent retailers have shut their doors, many blaming exorbitant rent hikes, affordable only by bland national chains and pubs.

    Dean Cracknell is an urban planner and BSN member who’s collected around 120 surveys that had asked for ideas on how to keep the street’s character.

    “People like the independent local businesses, the vibe, the atmosphere,” he says.

    “One of the things people don’t like is the local shops closing [leading to] the lack of diversity.”

    He says making the street better for simply hanging around could be key to saving retail.

    Ideas on the table include parklets, where on-road car bays are converted into sitting areas, usually bordered by planter boxes. The idea’s been trialled in Leederville and worked so well neighbouring councils are poking around.

    Other plans include more public art: Mr Cracknell says around the world it’s been shown that art attracts people to the street.

    In the Albanian capital of Tirana, bizarre and brightly painted buildings have proven to draw in tourists from all over.

    A buy local campaign is also being considered, to drive the point home that if you want interesting shops to survive you have to use them.

    Planet owner Haydn Robinson, who recently downsized, says if people like his store they should buy or rent from it instead of the web.

    Making the street attractive to families “and not just the funky hipsters” is also a priority, Mr Cracknell says.

    Another sore point is the WA government determination to run dedicated bus lanes down outside lanes at peak hour.

    The BSN instead wanted trams down the middle (so fast buses don’t whip past people enjoying a quiet coffee on the footpath) but the state’s barrelling ahead with buses.

    Mr Cracknell accuses the Public Transport Authority of being narrow-minded in viewing Beaufort Street as merely a thoroughfare to the city and not a destination in its own right.

    He’s hoping the government will at least soften the bus lanes’ impact with street surface treatments, public art and plantings.

    Overall he’s optimistic about the future of Beaufort. While some predict huge shopping centres and online retail spell the end of high streets, Mr Cracknell thinks Beaufort will survive.

    “Absolutely. It is going to take some hard work, but the action plan is going to provide some guidance.”

    The survey’s at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/86PN9H9 and there’s a public meeting to chat about ideas at the Defectors Bar (at Flying Scotsman) on July 2 at 6.30pm.

    by DAVID BELL

  • Go small plea

    IN an attempt to stem the tide of pubs taking over retail centres, Vincent city council is asking developers to build smaller shops.

    Mayor Alannah MacTiernan hopes smaller rents will be attractive to independent retailers with smaller budgets.

    Along with being zoned retail, they’ll also be too small to be easily transformed into dollar-raking booze barns.

    “The problem we’ve got is everyone is turning these shops into bars and the rents are going up,” Ms MacTiernan says. The council can offer developers incentives like reduced carparking requirements if developers go for small-shop-friendly layouts.

    The council recently negotiated with Ken McFarlane from Proud Property Group to redesign the ground floor of his Beaufort Street project. He recently bought the site after the project stalled under the previous owner, and he’s hoping to get work underway this month.

    Mr McFarlane says he’s happy to make the change to add a small retail space at the front of the building, saying that in another project in Victoria Park similar small spaces sold like hotcakes.

    Ms MacTiernan says some rents on Beaufort Street now cost more than the swank surrounds of Claremont Quarter. A largish shop space on Beaufort Street can go for $6000 a month.