Martin Benn Finally Reveals The Name Of New Melbourne Restaurant
Society is set to open late March 2021.
< 1 min
When three-hatted chef Martin Benn announced that his lauded Sydney fine-diner Sepia was closing more than three years ago, heightened levels of anticipation surrounded his next move.
Combining with Melbourne restaurateur, Chris Lucas, Martin Benn and Vicki Wild kept their cards close, only revealing that an upcoming venue would be housed at 80 Collins street in Melbourne’s CBD.
Today, the trio announced the launch of Society – a 300-seat landmark establishment of dining and drinking due to open in late March 2021.
“This year we have been challenged like never before, but we have proven our resilience and in 2021 we will celebrate our achievements,” says Lucas. “Society is a restaurant for Melbourne and Australia, it will signal a rebirth of our great city and I hope it will be a restaurant that places us comfortably on a global stage.”Three venues will complete the offering at 80 Collins Street, with the centrepiece, the Society dining room – to also offer customised private dining – alongside the Lillian Terrace and a luxurious lounge bar.
The fit-out, by leading Melbourne design firm Russell & George will see the lounge bar connect the two restaurants, acting as a perfect hideaway for a Martini and a pre-dinner taste of what’s to come. Elsewhere, the main Society dining room sees lofty ceilings for a grand, yet intimate experience and the Lillian Terrace enjoys a leafy, open-air terrace experience for indoor-outdoor dining.
Martin Benn’s avant-garde cooking style will continue to evolve on the plate however the menus in all three environments will be entirely unique to each setting and will be a la carte throughout.
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
< 1 min
A water lily painting by Claude Monet of his Giverny gardens is expected to achieve at least US$65 million at Christie’s November sale of 20th-century art in New York
Le bassin aux nymphéas, or water lily pond, painted around 1917 to 1919, is a monumental canvas extending more than six-and-a-half feet wide and more than three-feet tall, that has been in the same anonymous private collection since 1972. According to Christie’s, the painting has never been seen publicly.
The artwork is “that rarest thing: a masterpiece rediscovered,” Max Carter, Christie’s vice chairman of 20th and 21st century art said in a news release Thursday.
A first look at this thickly painted example of Monet’s famed and influential water lily series will be on Oct. 4, when it is revealed in Hong Kong.
The price record for a Nymphéas painting by Monet was set in May 2018 for Nymphéas en fleur, another large-scale work that had been in the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller. That painting sold for nearly US$85 million.
The current work for sale is guaranteed, Christie’s confirmed. The auction house did not provide further details on the seller.
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
