11 minute read
Festivities with Friends
Subiaco locals are gearing up for a Christmas with all the trimmings. Gail Williams finds out how they’ll be spending December 25th.
For some Subi-ites, it’s not Christmas until they’ve sung The First Noel at Lake Jualbup. For others, it’s only when the big, jolly guy dressed in red and white strolls down Rokeby Road. For many it’s the ritual lighting of the tree outside the council offices.
But many locals have their own unique way of spreading the Christmas love. Here we meet a few of the City’s more colourful characters putting their indelible stamp on our community’s Christmas vibe.
After all, it wouldn’t be a Subi Christmas without them.
Mark Coughlan
Pianist, Chairman of OpusWA Arts Orchestra and Chorale Artistic Director of New Year’s Eve concerts at the Perth Concert Hall Owner, The Orangery Gallery 320 Onslow Rd, Shenton Park 9386 8818 Visit facebook.com/people/ The-Orangery-Gallery
“Christmas, like all festivities, is best celebrated with music,” says Mark Coughlan, the affable owner of one of Subiaco’s most charming galleries, housed in a beautifully restored 120-yearold old former deli.
He should know. Having lived in Shenton Park for 25 years, he has garnered a huge following as he combines music with the visual arts to create symphonic harmony and wide public acclaim.
If you haven’t done so yet, take a peek into the Orangery Gallery – not just to check out the Steinway, but for his annual Christmas Art Show which features works by local artist Michael Doherty, ideally priced for Christmas gifts.
Currently, he’s busier than a workshop of Santa’s elves as he oversees several music events – all with a festive theme.
First up is Handel’s Messiah concert on December 9 at St Joseph’s Church in Salvado Road.
Then, on December 19, he’s conducting Christmas In The Quad at St George’s College in front of 1,400 people picnicking while a 50-piece orchestra plays popular classics with soprano Rachelle Durkin leading the carols.
It’s Mark’s favourite time of the year, despite the busy schedule. He does allow himself a Christmas morning indulgence when he heads to the beach with his two German shorthaired pointers.
“This is followed by a bottle of exquisite Champagne and some Rottnest lobster then I’m back to work!” he says. “Catch-ups with friends and family usually take place in the lead-up to Christmas Day.
“I also love seeing family and friends at the restaurants and bars around Subiaco. Lulu La Delizia is my favourite for a long pre-Christmas family lunch. Drinks with some of my artists and colleagues at Cherubino Cellars is always great fun. And my go-to Christmas shopping favourites are Table Culture, Dallimore’s and, of course, Simon Johnson, where indulgence should actually be encouraged at Christmas!
“I love Norman Vincent Peale’s famous quote about Christmas: 'Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful'."
Robbie Burns
Owner Cluedunnit, Creative Director, Writer and Performer A Christmas Carol, December 17, Subiaco Arts Centre, 180 Hamersley Road, Subiaco Visit cluedunnit.com.au/
It’s all “bah” and “humbug” for the actor who earns a living by playing the literary world’s most famous cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas. But Robbie Burns is actually quite the charmer who loves, loves, loves Christmas. He’s as light as a feather, happy as an angel, merry as a schoolboy and giddy as a drunken man as he prepares for his role as Ebenezer Scrooge in his oneman show, A Christmas Carol, at the Subiaco Arts Centre on December 17.
The veteran British actor has spent the past 50 years starring in musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof, Mack and Mabel, Hello Dolly and Goodbye Mr Tom. So playing Charles Dickens’ most famous curmudgeon comes easily to him, as do the other 23 characters in the 60-minute show – including Jacob Marley, and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future
Robbie – who hails from Bristol – wrote the play, basing it on Dickens’ most famous work, which was published in 1843 at the end of the Industrial Revolution. He has performed it before high school audiences and at The Maj to great feedback and believes the story sums up Christmas better than any other work.
“It’s about the true spirit of Christmas,” he says. “It’s about love. At the end you have this very angry, skinflint of a man who has gone through a transformation and realised the importance of love.”
He also believes that it was through Dickens’ novella that the celebrations of Christmas, which had fallen out of favour in 19th-century England, became popular again.
“With A Christmas Carol, Dickens helped reorient Christmas to focus on humanitarianism,” he says. “He popularised the phrase “Merry Christmas” and helped Christmas become a day for feasting and family. And he also instilled a collective yearning for a white Christmas.”
Robbie and wife, Debbie, emigrated to Western Australia four years ago to be closer to their son, Reuben and his wife and their two children.
Together they started their business, Cluedunnit, performing Agatha Christie-style murder mysteries at The Maj.
But the Burns family are not yearning for a white Christmas this year. They have established their own tradition of spending Christmas around the pool with their family.
This year, though, it will be just the two of them at home.
“We love Perth,” says Burns. “We are so happy to be here.”
And the Subiaco Arts Centre is happy to have them.
Edwina and Larry Cherubino
Owners, Cherubino City Cellar, 169-171 Rokeby Rd, Subiaco. Visit citycellar.com.au
When your name is Cherubino, Christmas is the perfect time to unleash your inner angels and cherubs. That is definitely the case with Edwina and Larry Cherubino, residents of 20 years and one of Subiaco’s most popular couples. They regularly pour Whispering Angel rosé from Provence for their pre-Christmas customers at Cherubino City Cellar, along with Cherubino’s own Laissez Faire riesling and his Ad Hoc prosecco.
But the lead-up for them this Christmas has been hectic, with dramatic changes to their staff line-up and menu. With the departure of the enigmatic Will Roser, former Bread in Common man, Jonathan Diaz took on the role and has just become a proud father to add to the mix.
There’s also a new chef, Aarin Fraser – with stints at the Loose Box, Friends, Windows and Henry M’s on his resume. He’s tweaked the menu adding a vanilla panna cotta, and vegan and glutenfree dishes, but kept old favourites like their beloved Nonna’s meatballs.
They also welcomed Clement Dufeu to the team as the new sommelier.
Christmas Day, then, will find the Cherubinos lounging around their swimming pool in Subiaco with their three boys after a relaxed brunch polishing off Pitta di San Martino, fruit mince pies made by Larry’s mum, Natalina.
Larry usually cooks up an evening feast of roast something in the pizza oven serving it with greens, salads and roasted peaches filled with homemade chutney (a nod to Edwina’s mum).
“The last few years we have been having a prawn cocktail to start and usually oysters,” says Edwina. “Dessert is always a trifle, sometimes a pudding (if Larry’s sister has made it) and often my take on tiramisu – think lots of booze, dark chocolate and raspberries. Oh, and lots of Champagne and wine of course. And this year a few martinis I think to get the ball rolling.”
All washed down with a top-notch Cherubino drop, of course.
Rachel Torre
Owner, Wholefood Circus, 107 Nicholson Rd, Shenton Park, 6380 2196 Visit wholefoodcircus.com.au
Ssh . . . don’t say this out loud but there really is a Father Christmas. Well, a Mother Christmas, actually. And she lives in Shenton Park at Wholefood Circus under the pseudonym of Rachel Torre.
You’ll be lucky to see her at this time of the year, though, as she is usually out the back with her band of 30 busy helpers curing salmon gravlax, making fruit puddings, baking bread and panforte and roasting turkeys – all so her faithful and very grateful customers can enjoy their own Christmas day feast without having to lift a finger.
Wholefood Circus is the goto local providore and artisan delicatessen which has Rachel and her crew working 24-hour days in the lead-up to Christmas catering to the demands of busy hosts.
Think table-ready glazed ham on the bone, roasted beef fillet, Exmouth prawns, potato dauphinois, fruit mince pies, traditional Christmas cakes and calico-wrapped puddings. All you have to do is pick it up.
As for Torre’s own celebration? Don’t be silly.
“We spend the day sleeping, and celebrate on Boxing Day,” says Rachel.
Of course they do. We spend the day sleeping, and celebrate on Boxing Day"
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Justin Linney
Creative Director, Linneys 37 Rokeby Road, Subiaco, 9382 4077 Visit linneys.com.au
It’s been a right royal year for Justin Linney as he slotted into his new role of creative director with the family jewellers, overseeing a long jubilee celebration culminating in a huge party at the Rokeby Road store and a launch of their Art Series Collection of 50 exquisite pieces.
But fresh from the gala party – and competing in the Eagle Bay Epic, a mountain bike, ocean swim, kayak and trail run in November - he is looking forward to a quieter Christmas with his daughter, Elle, and wife, Cat, around the pool after a morning trip to the beach.
Cat prepares most of the salads and seafood while Justin takes over the barbie.
Ask him if he has a favourite Subi spot that symbolises Christmas and, not surprisingly, he flashes back with “Linneys!”
“It’s our busiest time of year. It’s so exciting to see our loyal clients in store each year buying a special gift that can be treasured forever and handed down through the generations to be worn and enjoyed,” he says.
“Sometimes the parents let the kids choose the presents for the husband/wife which is fun; they probably don’t realise that one day they will be wearing it and how symbolic it will become.”
Christmas in the store, for the Linneys’ clan is the culmination of months of preparation, making new pieces of jewellery in the workshop, getting all the packaging and bags ready, looking over the visual merchandising and ensuring an enjoyable shopping experience for customers.
“It’s really an honour to be involved with our clients’ special occasions like Christmas,” he says. “It’s a privilege to have that trust with our clients becoming our friends as we develop relationships with the family and the kids. Seeing the family grow, we truly feel a part of their family and they feel a part of the Linneys family.”
Luke Foyle
Owner/Operator, Juanita’s Bar, 341 Rokeby Road, Subiaco Visit juanitasbar.com.au
He’s always been known as a cheffing maestro, but in the lead-up to this Christmas, Luke Foyle will be donning a genuine musical hat and honing his post-punk and alternative rock lingo as he joins Nick Cave and Warren Ellis on their 15-show Australian Carnage Tour.
No, he’s not singing. But he will be backstage for the duration of each show as he prepares a feast for the hungry boys and five band members at the end of the performance.
The well-loved Juanita’s chef, known for his in-house made parfaits, terrines and charcuterie at Subi’s go-to bar, scored the gig – which goes from November 20 to December 18 – through his mate, Paul Sloan, of Billions music agency.
But Luke, who immediately packed together his own oneman show of cooking utensils and equipment to go on the road, will not be cooking up those Juanita’s favourites.
“Nick Cave is a pescatarian, says Luke. “It’s a new menu for each night, and I will be on the hunt for great produce in each city and see where it takes me. I will have the time to go to the suppliers and producers each day. I really like to start with what ingredients are looking really nice and come up with the dishes around them.”
The tour starts in Adelaide and ends at the Sydney Opera House, taking in Perth, Canberra and Hanging Rock along the way.
“I’ve never been to the Opera House, so I am looking forward to that,” he says.
And, as a fan of 70s and 80s metal and 90s hip hop, he’s never really listened to much Nick Cave.
He’s happy to make the switch.
As for Christmas, when he returns from the tour, Juanita’s will close from Christmas Day to January 3 so he is looking forward to a relaxed break with his girlfriend, Lily Rossen, of Rossen & Cook catering.
“We will spend lunch at Lily’s nana’s place and then dinner at my business partner, Jeremy’s place,” says Foyle.
“He’s family now too.”
Make it a date at Bar Amelie’s Supper Club
Indulge in a cocktail or whisky paddle with a cheese board accompanied by live entertainment every 2nd Saturday at Bar Amelie.
118 Rokeby Road, Subiaco To book: admin@bar-amelie.com.au
