I went to an exhibition opening at Tinning Street Presents... on Thursday night. The entrance to…read morethe gallery is around the corner in the unnamed lane way and there were people spilling out into the lane way, smoking and talking. There is a lot of good graffiti down the lane way - it is a kind of art gallery in itself. The packed gallery was full of people drinking. The gallery is single white walled room with a concrete floor in a former factory space, typical of contemporary art galleries. The well-lite room was packed for the exhibition opening, not many people were looking at the art most were watching the lineup of strange musical performances. The exhibition was all right contemporary art by unknown artists; there was some fun art to look at. I made my way through the crowd to the bar; above it there was a big stretched canvas with the beer sponsor's logo on it. and a bar with gold coin donation for drinks. All these people weren't here just for the art or the music it is also a cheap place to drink. Exhibition opening nights are advertised on their website.

Er Mark H, fuckin' der...? How do you think young folk can afford to get pissed these days?…read moreActually, I've been scabbing free (or cheap) drinks at art openings, book launches, private parties and random weddings for years. The old art gallery drink run has been a part of social fabric of this city since exhibition openings started serving alcohol circa 1931. Nowadays, it's a rite of passage for youngsters to subscribe to as many galleries as possible to organise regular gallery hops on Thursday nights. Everyone knows that. The up shot is, through all the booze scrounging and bag stealing, you actually experience a heap of art at an early age and somehow the shit soaks in. Now, I'm a fuckin' artist! Can you believe that? A fucking artist. I'm as shocked as you are. And as an artist (or even as the beer swilling younger version of myself), I can attest that the good folk at Tinning Street give a fuck about art and just because the openings they have are good, and people come, doesn't mean they don't also sell a whole bunch of the shit to savvy art loving folk. Unbelievable right? An art gallery that actually gives a shit about art... Who would've thought.

On Thursday I went to the opening event of the most recent exhibition at Counihan Gallery. The…read moregallery is located in a building next the Brunswick Town Hall and is run by the Moreland City Council. It was named after a notable, local artist, Noel Counihan and the gallery has a large number of his prints and paintings in its collection - although these are rarely on exhibition. It is a purpose built art gallery with movable walls that can divide the large gallery space into a few different configurations. Their exhibitions of contemporary art are generally of a high quality and professionally curated. The exhibitions often have a socially progressive theme to them; this time the art had a focus on sustainability issues. The gallery has a permanent staff and there is plenty of information about the arts in Moreland available at the gallery desk. There is a new exhibition every month with free wine and some nibbles, so it is an event worth attending even if there are a few boring speeches, this time from the Mayor of Moreland. I look at it as an opportunity to get some value from my rates, meet other locals interested in the arts even if I don't especially like the art on exhibition. Often there are other events associated with the exhibition: artist talks or workshops.

Next door to the Brunswick Town Hall building, this medium-sized art gallery showcases established…read moreand emerging artists with new exhibitions each month. I'm fond of the Counihan Gallery for giving me my first opportunity to see a Ron Mueck larger-than-life sculpture in all its looks-so-real-it-is-spooky glory. That's right - even before the NGV brought a whole gang of Mueck's eerily human sculptures to the masses, the Counihan brought it to Brunswick. The standard of the other works in the same exhibition was evidence of a talented and professional curator with his or her finger on the contemporary art pulse. Lucky are we in Brunswick to have such a high calibre of art dropped in our laps like this. I'm looking forward to their annual Womens Salon exhibition showcasing the creations of women artists, designers and craftworkers from the Moreland area, which opens on 17th November.

I went to Sutton Gallery to see the latest exhibition by Gordon Bennett, a contemporary Queensland…read moreartist with aboriginal ancestry. I always enjoy Bennett's painting style and the thoughts behind the paintings. Sutton Gallery represents Gordon Bennett and other established Australian artists. When I arrived at Sutton Gallery as one of Gordon Bennett's large canvases, "(Abstraction) indigene" 2011, sold for $38,500. There was a small group of people talking as the gallery assistant went and stuck a small red pin into the wall beside the painting to indicate the sale. Sutton Gallery sell art to major art galleries and other public collections; I've seen a Gordon Bennett painting that I first saw exhibited at Sutton later in the Bendigo Art Galleries permanent collection. Although the address for the gallery is Brunswick Street, Fitzroy the entrance to the gallery is on the side in Greeves St. The building looks like it has been converted from an old garage or maybe a stable; there are these large doors on the side. Inside the large white walled space is divided into two gallery spaces. There is another space behind some open half doors with the gallery office. Sutton Gallery has a different exhibition every month.

Just stumbled by this place when visiting a friend. Was absolutely taken aback by the beautiful…read moreaesthetic and artwork. Fortunately the food was the best Mexican food I've had in Melbourne. This is truly a unique experience and I can not help myself but give it a 5 Star review. The staff we're knowledgeable and accomodating and I spent a great deal of time eating a delicious burrito staring at the stunning artwork. This is a must if you want to see the best of Melbourne!

3.4 Super casual…read moreMexican cafe. The food is generally very good as you'd expect from ex Radio Mexico people. Service is pleasant but uneven and the place alternately delights and frustrates. First off it must be appreciated that this is an informal and slightly rough and ready operation. We arrived to something much more casual than I'd anticipated for a birthday celebration. That was my inadequate research. The place was decked out for Halloween and various patrons were in full garb. A party was scheduled for later on, I think. The cafe was only a third full the whole time we were there. The music was pumping and was mainly very good stuff (well done on the Stooges number). There's no table service here and you order at the counter. Our pre dinner drinks came out slowly although to be fair they were mainly different Marguerita's. My classic Marguerita was good. Even though we'd pre booked our table of six there wasn't enough cutlery provided on the table which is indicative of the slightly ramshackle nature of the place. We ordered nachos first with beef and guacamole. These were very slow to come out and were a little cool when they arrived. They were delicious though and were very quickly devoured. The remaining dishes - quesadillas, burritos and tacos - came out in a piecemeal way. Some were hot, some were cool. My beef chilli quesadilla was hot and really good. The cauliflower wedges were hot and really good too. The batter was lovely and crisp. The steak quesadilla was ok only to me with nice flavour. The steak was a little chewy I thought but but my partner disagreed and really liked it. The small burritos were fantastic. Reasonably priced but actually quite sizeable. The youngies around the table who'd ordered them were all nodding and happy saying, "...this food is so good". We finished with tacos. The fish and beef ones were good too although inconsistent temperatures were evident again. My impression was they were a bit bland unless you add some chilli or jalapeño to lift them. Service from various servers was nice and cheery throughout. It you want a laid back, cheap and cheerful Mexican experience then this is your place. The cafe itself is quirky but the food is good. Eating in is an experience. There was a lot of Uber Eats orders flying out the door.