Searching & rediscovering Ripponlea
Sylvia, florist
Ben Shewry @Attica Restaurant
Chris, urban cowboy & architect
Danny, mechanic
Seamus, baker
Dan, Events Manager
Jonathon, cafe owner
David, Elisa, Fiona & Audrey, neighbours
Adam, wine store owner
Hedged in
Quat Quatta Avenue
St Kilda Pier
Esplanade Hotel, St Kilda
Ripponlea Gatehouse Tearooms
Our fish pond, at home
Delivering Attica at Home
Attica at Home outlet
Luna Park
Palais Theatre
A welcome smile on the streets of Melbourne
The lights are on & everyone stays home
Flinders Street Station
GO HOME!
Captain Cook monument
Ghost town St Kilda
Searching & rediscovering Ripponlea In April my mother-in-law died unexpectedly. Her funeral was restricted to eight people, due to Covid. Later at the wake, police visited our house to check we were following Covid rules.Welcome to the weird world of Covid-19.My pocket of Ripponlea is an eclectic mix of homes, shops, cafes, restaurants & synagogues. Covid has magnified the contrast between the haves & have nots here. There are neighbours addicted to heroin & ice, one at high risk from auto-immune disease, staff on temporary visas with no job & a restaurant 12 years in the making closed two weeks after opening. After the panic of stockpiling toilet paper, we started buying more bread, wine & flowers than ever before.
Sylvia, floristWhen the public stopped panic buying toilet paper, they reconnected with the joy of buying flowers in Ripponlea Village.
Ben Shewry @Attica RestaurantWhen the fine dining at Attica was abruptly closed on Ben’s 43rd birthday, he launched Attica at Home. As the new normal built itself, Ben and Dani Valent realised that talk of ‘we’re all in this together’ didn’t encompass everybody. Temporary visa holders have been excluded from any meaningful government assistance. These people were welcomed from overseas as contributors and tax-payers. Attica depends on its 20 overseas workers to function and will need these chefs, waiters, managers and sommeliers to rebuild. They are threaded through our hospitality world and indeed our society. But the message from the government is: ‘go home’.The food writer became an activist. Dani mustered resources, started a petition, and communicated with overseas workers via an email list that swelled quickly to 1200 people, most of them unable to return to their country of origin but expected to survive in a locked-down Australia without work or a safety net. It’s not right. Looking after everyone who’s in Australia during the COVID-19 crisis is about social justice and basic humanitarian care. It’s also about health, cohesion and economic benefit. If we’re really all in this together, then it really has to be all of us.A plan was hatched: Ben and Dani will make delicious, nourishing soup to give to overseas hospitality workers doing it tough. Attica is a restaurant that gives back - focusing solely on its own survival doesn’t feel true to the restaurant’s DNA. Though each week is still an incredibly challenging reframing of what Attica is and could be, when you can, you do. Adding a pro bono soup project may not be the wisest act as a business but it is the right move.
Chris, urban cowboy & architectChris is an avid consumer of news and podcasts and hopes that positive social reforms will follow in a post Covid-19 world
Danny, mechanicRipponlea Village stalwart mechanic Danny worked through the lockdown for loyal customers. He considered himself lucky that he works alone without employees.
Seamus, bakerSeamus baked sourdough through the night, with loaves selling out early each day during lockdown in the Village.
Dan, Events ManagerWhen one of Melbourne’s busiest wedding venues was abuptly closed, Dan and his staff launched Take Mome Meals, donating over 1600 meals to people in need, including the homeless, healthcare workers, elderly, people with disabilities, woman's refuges and hospitality workers not entitled to government assistance.
Jonathon, cafe ownerThe demand for quality coffee from Jonathon's cafe never waned during lockdown. Queues patiently followed protocol and socially distanced outside every morning in the Village
David, Elisa, Fiona & Audrey, neighboursWhile her daughters studied at the kitchen table, their lecturer Mum needed the confines of the study for her Zoom meetings.
Adam, wine store ownerThree doors down from the cafe, wine sales were unexpectedly better than ever in the Village
Hedged inA desolate carpark at Melbourne's busiest wedding venue
Quat Quatta AvenueNeighbours stay home
St Kilda PierNo fishing, no penguin viewing & no coffee on St Kilda Pier in lockdown
Esplanade Hotel, St KildaSt Kilda’s busiest live venue, “gone dark”
Ripponlea Gatehouse TearoomsOnly possums & bats are here in Ripponlea Estate
Our fish pond, at homeMy feelings the day after my mother-in-law’s funeral, the start of a project
Delivering Attica at HomeAs the new normal built itself, Ben Shewry and Dani Valent realised that talk of ‘we’re all in this together’ didn’t encompass everybody. Temporary visa holders have been excluded from any meaningful government assistance. These people were welcomed from overseas as contributors and tax-payers. Attica depends on its 20 overseas workers to function and will need these chefs, waiters, managers and sommeliers to rebuild. They are threaded through our hospitality world and indeed our society. But the message from the government is: ‘go home’.
Attica at Home outletAs the new normal built itself, Ben Shewry and Dani Valent realised that talk of ‘we’re all in this together’ didn’t encompass everybody. Temporary visa holders have been excluded from any meaningful government assistance. These people were welcomed from overseas as contributors and tax-payers. Attica depends on its 20 overseas workers to function and will need these chefs, waiters, managers and sommeliers to rebuild. They are threaded through our hospitality world and indeed our society. But the message from the government is: ‘go home’.
Luna Park
Palais Theatre A desolate winter’s night in the heart of St Kilda
A welcome smile on the streets of Melbourne
The lights are on & everyone stays home
Flinders Street StationThe trains are still running, commuters stay home
GO HOME!Heavily policed Covid-19 protocols
Captain Cook monumentCook never set foot wthin 1000 kilometres from St Kilda
Ghost town St Kilda
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