If you know, you know. That more or less sums up the spirit of Naarm, or Melbourne, Australia—a city that carries a quiet, confident coolness about it. Just last year, Smith Street in the Fitzroy neighbourhood was named “the coolest street in the world” for its line-up of understatedly chic wine bars, laidback cafés, restaurants and independent boutiques frequented by Melbourne’s creative set. The neighbourhood, once a stomping ground for street gangs in the 1800s, has a long, proud history of sticking it to the man and defying the mainstream.
It’s an attitude that has remained and become innate in modern Melburnians; naturally the city has become a breeding ground for artists and innovators. Given the city’s plethora of multicultural pockets that celebrate its diverse immigrant population, proud Indigenous heritage and position as a cultural hotspot, we asked some of Melbourne’s established and rising stars in the art world to narrow down the options and share their favourite local haunts.
MEGGS, VISUAL & MURAL ARTIST
Edinburgh Gardens
Also known as Eddy Gardens, this is a large park that everyone on the Northside has visited to eat lunch and have a drink (or many) with friends. It’s spacious, has a skatepark, is kid-friendly and is an overall great outdoor hub.
Flinders and Cape Schanck
I love to go surfing, swimming and walking around Point Leo, Flinders and Bushrangers Bay, and to Cape Schanck and Gunnamatta Beach.
Great Northern Hotel
An old-school pub with a classic, cosy front bar, good vibes, cold pints and outside tables that face west for some end-of-day rays of late-summer sun.
