To whet your cultural appetite, Kensington Street offers feasts for epicureans of every kind: art and design, live music, culinary excellence and fine wines.

This Wednesday 6-9PM, join the excitement and energy permeating Art at Night on Kensington Street, as live music ricochets off the street's heritage facades, pop-ups spring to life amidst the nooks and crannies, and aromas drift from some of Sydney's finest restaurants - many of which are opening this fortnight!

Bistrot Gavroche brings Parisian charm, while Lower and Upper Mekong promise the freshest cuisines from both sides of the Mekong River. Bar Chinois illuminates the night with its jazz and Chinoiserie style, and KYO-TO will transport you to the laneways of Japan.

It's a feast for all the senses - come and dine!

Join us on Wednesday 16 March, 6-9PM, as the Chippendale Creative Precinct and Greencliff swing open their doors, serving up a sumptuous repast of art, music and design for Art at Night on Kensington Street.

This Wednesday night will see 5000 guests flock to Sydney's creative precinct for Art at Night | Chippendale & Redfern. Our Federation terraces are transformed into exhibition spaces, the instruments tuned and the street flooded by Chippendale's community.

Sawat, Samantha Everton

Visit Head On Photo Festival (The Old Rum Store) for some brilliant visual storytelling: Sawat tells the Thai folk tale of Sang Tong, an abandoned child of royalty who is adopted by a giantess and enters her world of magical talismans. 

Breathe in perfumes of the Australian bush at Lyn&Tony (No. 48 Kensington Street), breeze through The Fortynine Studio's handcrafted wares (No. 40), put your own mark on ProjectOKYO's Just Drinks collaborative art project (No. 36).

The art does not end there.

Local graffiti legend Scott Marsh (the man behind the Spice Alley murals) will be reviving construction hoarding with a splash of paint - drop by to witness his newest masterpiece unfold on the urban canvas.

CuzN by David Clare Photography

And maybe it'll rain. But against a soft rainfall percussion, CuzN will perform his acoustic sermons on love and life, and Dave Sharpe will pop a skip in your step with his soulful tunes.

It's quite the moveable feast - come along as our little corner of Sydney opens up on Art at Night.

Learn more here…

Bar Chinois - Photography by Lauren Commens

Bar Chinois is the watering hole where East and West meet, Spice Alley and Kensington Street converge, and our friends come to dine. This is our very own French-Asian fusion bar with a 'hippendale twist of hip and chic.

A week in the life of Bar Chinois jump starts with Croque Monsieur & Madame Mondays, settles in with Creperie Tuesdays, lands on Baguette & Beer Wednesdays, continues with Wine and Cheese Thursdays, revels in Chin Chin Fridays, relaxes with Cafe Noir Saturdays and finishes up with Lazy Mary Sundays (all available from 4pm).

With Head Chef, ex-Paramount Nalinil Nonkham at the helm, the menu fuses iconic French dishes with subtle Asian infusions: the signature Sticky Pork Belly Baguette, Croque Monsieur with smoked ham, Tokyo crepes with enoki and shitake mushroom… Choose from an extensive cocktails list, relax and take in the Bar Chinois interiors, soaked in a red wine palette. At Chinois, we sip on teapot cocktails like they're going out of fashion.

With a deck of cards on every table and some evening jazz - this is could be the spirit of bohemian Montmartre, thrown against the backdrop of a Chinese folding screen.

A round of espresso martinis please! We'll be here all night.

Open Now!
Monday to Friday, 12PM – late
Saturdays 12PM – late
SUNDAYS 9AM –10PM 

Lower Mekong - Photography by Lauren Commens

Fragranced with flavours residing by the Mekong River, chef Tiw Rakarin's newest restaurant ventures through the culinary topography of Vietnam.

Lower Mekong draws from one of the world's healthiest cuisines, founded on fresh ingredients, full-bodied broths and pungent spices. Like the river's course, Lower Mekong's menu meanders through definitive dishes of Vietnamese cuisine - rice paper rolls, banh xeo (crispy pancake), and the classic bowl of pho.

Open now! 7 days a week, 11AM - 10PM.

Bistrot Gavroche will transport you to the ambience, warmth and hospitality of a real Parisian bistro.

Taking its home in The Old Rum Store, Chef Frederic Colin pays homage to childhood recipes, paired with fine French and Australian wines selected by co-owner and sommelier Lionel Richard. From Grandpa Henri's pork terrine to buttered Burgundy snails, duck confit to pike fish quenelles, Crêpe Suzette to Tarte Tartin - the delicious aromas cloud our heads like Paris in fog.

Opening this week!

KY-OTO - Photography by Lauren Commens

Adding a taste of Japanese cuisine to the gastronomic journey of Kensington Street, KYO-TO is the newest member of Spice Alley. Diners will be transported Japan's intimate laneways as they enjoy an array of delectable Japanese dishes including homemade ramen, hot and cold udon, hearty rice dishes and of course takoyaki octopus balls!

Left to Right: Nicky Ginsberg, Catherine & Jennifer Strutt, Elizabeth Fortescue

As night fell upon Chippendale on Thursday 10 March, Kensington Contemporary transformed into a vibrantly decorated space; its walls lined with an elaborate array of bespoke surface designs and mixed media. Opened by Elizabeth Fortescue, esteemed Visual Arts writer for The Daily Telegraph and Australian correspondent for The Art Newspaper (London), the eclectic vision of The Strutt Sisters - Catherine and Jennifer - was greeted with curiosity as the gallery was suddenly greeted by three Frida Kahlos...

Let the Chips Fall Where They May will be on until Saturday 2 April and the gallery will be open until 9:30PM on Wednesday 16 March for Art Month's Art at Night. There will be plenty of wine supplied by our lovely sponsor, Paxton Wines, so be sure to come along and maybe even bring a friend!

Boyd’s river, Nicole Kelly

'These paintings filter memories of experience, impressions and colour moods of my environment and reality.' - Nicole Kelly

Kensington Contemporary 2 warmly welcomes Nicole Kelly's latest exhibition Desire and Reason. Kelly's oil paintings capture fleeting impressions - where pastel hues tremble in constant flux, jolted by her passion, familiarity and nostalgia towards the rural stretches of Bundanon, where she was an Artist In Residence.  From a landscape textured and raw, Kelly herds wilderness onto the blank paddock that is her canvas, tethering them together with desire and reason. To quote former AGNSW Director Edmund Capon, "It's got spirit, that intellectual dynamic that comes out of the soul of an artist."

In the morning, a sky of white, Nicole Kelly

Kelly's career bears a slew of accolades; from the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship (granting residency at the Cite International Des Arts, Paris), to the state-wide Elioth Gruner Prize, the 2015 Manning Prize: 2D Award for Excellence, and the 2015 Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Most recently, she was selected to attend the AADK Centro Negra Artist in Residence' program in Blanca, southern Spain.

Join us for drinks at the opening reception of Desire and Reason on Thursday 7 April 6-8PM!

A FEAST FOR THE SENSES

Assisi, Italy

The hills of Assisi are calling: a call for submissions from established artists, emerging artists, students - all creatives!

In collaboration with VIVID Ideas, this year’s Chippendale New World Art Prize (CNWAP) urges local creatives to explore the theme of Spirit, being a force which invigorates the creative communities and spaces that we all thrive in.

This year, the winner will receive a $10,000 art residency at the Arte Studio Ginestrelle in Assisi, Italy. Away from congested streets and clamoured voices, the quiet idyll of Mount Subasio, Assisi will offer sprawling acres of land and a rustic studio space with all necessary facilities to encourage the growth of one’s art practice. In a town sweetened by home-grown fruit and steeped in historical heritage, our winning artist can experience the rare Arcadian lifestyle in the Italian countryside.

Submissions close Tuesday 3 May!

DOWNLOAD CREATIVE BRIEF

SUBMIT HERE

Simon Wood

Are you a young entrepreneur? Have a vision you want to activate? Want to establish your business on a heritage street?

Greencliff and Kensington Street Holdings are offering innovative individuals pop-up opportunities!

Whether you envision vintage retail, a bookstore, creative workspace or the next neighbourhood bar, bring your ideas to the drawing board and crack open an eventful year with your new Chippendale neighbours.

Direct all proposals to Creative Director of Kensington Street Nicky Ginsberg. Email nickyginsberg@kensingtonstreet.com.au, or call 0417 494 317.

Take a bite from our media story share plate:

The AU Review - New Japanese restaurant KYO-TO opens in Spice Alley
The Australian - Architecture and design in The Old Clare Hotel
Broadsheet- A new ramen joint in Sydney, KYO-TO!
Broadsheet - Explore Chippendale Gallery Walking Tour & Lunch with Pat Corrigan and The Strutt Sisters
The Daily Telegraph - Bistrot Gavroche and classic French cuisine
The Daily Telegraph - On KYO-TO and its tonkotsu menu
Evening Standard - Things to do, see and eat in Chippendale
Good Food - Silvereye x Evil Twin Brewing collaboration featured in Sydney craft beer events
Jugernauts - Trumpeting the winning combination of price and quality on Spice Alley (KYO-TO)
Herald Sun - The fine food and heritage of Bistrot Gavroche
I'm Still Hungry - Kensington Street Social is full of culinary talent…
Sydney Morning Herald - Art at Night (Chippendale & Redfern) in this week’s What’s on guide
Venue Magazine - KYO-TO will offer visitors a truly authentic Japanese dining experience
The Weekend Australian - Review on Kensington Street Social
The Weekend Australian - The spice of life in Chippendale, Sydney

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