MELBOURNE WITH AVA MATTHEWS
NAME: Ava Matthews
WHAT YOU DO: co-founder of Ultra Violette STAR SIGN: Pisces
SOCIALS: @avamatthews & @ultravioletteau
LIVING: Melbourne (but originally from Sydney)
LOCATION: Melbourne
SLEEP
A must stay is the Adelphi Hotel - biased because my partner owns it!
Everything from the location (right on Flinders Lane in the hub of the city), to the rooft
op pool, the amazing cocktails and desserts, super friendly staff and a free minibar make it an amazing stay.
Highly recommend and make sure you take an #Adelphi_Selphi!
EAT
Late night: Embla
Best wine list, great snacks and delicious meals. Includes plenty of natural wines and the buzz is great in there - always so busy but in a good way. The chickpea pancake is fucking insane and the cheeses are always soooo good!
Restaurant: Osteria Ilaria The BEST Italian food and right in the middle of the city. You may have heard of Tipo 00? Osteria is its older slightly more fancy sister and serves the best pastas and so much more. You can’t go wrong with anything from there.
Marion I go here a lot. They change the menu frequently but always have some sort of delicious pasta/steak/chicken. Must order is the bread (sounds weird but just trust me), it’s pan fried and comes with this cheese sauce? Not doing it justice so just order it.
Café: Terror Twilight in Collingwood You’ll always get a great brunch here. Everything is good.
Pizza is next level and they serve a ranch dipping sauce to dip the crusts in.
Any markets They do really good ones here, it’s not so much of a thing in Sydney but it’s where most of my friends do their weekly shop as the produce is excellent and they generally have a mix of everything. I like Prahran markets – it’s probably the most expensive but it’s the least in terms of shit fight.
DO
We love drinking and eating so most of my recommendations are going to be food related!
Walk through Collingwood/Fitzroy, they have some amazing shops, restaurants and pubs so you’ll be covered no matter what your interests are. They have clothing, homewares, record shops, fragrance - so you can just wander.
Hit Marquis of Lorne (order the potato scallops/potato cakes) or Builders Arms for a great gastropub lunch, Bar Liberty have an outside wine bar that serves a lot of natural/organic wines and it’s only open from November (I think).
The NGV always have something good to see so definitely make sure you see what exhibition is on when you’re in town.
Also if you’re in the city walk through Fitzroy gardens – it’s really pretty.
Get a facial from Rationale – you can do this everywhere but the new Armadale store is so fancy and amazing!
I love visiting The Blow in Little Collins Street for a blow dry. (Owned by the wonderful Phoebe Simmonds!) The space is gorgeous inside and you always leave looking and feeling amazing.
Go and see the Harry Potter play (if you’re into that) while it’s still on – we loved it!
Things we do less commonly but I still enjoy: going to the Casino for a little gamble. It’s kinda daggy but we will set ourselves a budget and just play a bit of black jack. I always have fun!
SHOP
I do so much of my shopping online but to be honest when I need to shop I love going to a centre that has everything - Emporium is my fave because it’s got everything I need in there plus a nice food court.
Chadstone is just too much for me!
Lucy Folk For amazing jewellery – it’s very Melbourne but I always find something I want to buy there.
Le Labo on Gertrude St Again, I can always find something I want despite owning 4 different Le Labo fragrances
PACK
Ultra Violette SPF (of course) – it’s still Australia!
It’s Melbourne so prepare for any kind of weather – from freezing and rainy to sweltering and dry. In Winter and the middle of Summer you kinda know what you’re going to get but the beginning of Spring/Summer and Autumn is a bit of a lottery! I find it also more of a walking-friendly city than Sydney (less hills) so bring comfy shoes to walk around as that’s the best way to see everything.
If you’re staying at the Adelphi, bring your cossie (they have the most aw
esome rooftop pool!)
Make sure you get your SPF on and head to www.ultraviolette.com.au and in-store and online at Sephora Australia and New Zealand
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