Simon Food Favourites: Model

19 August 2011

Strand Arcade: An Evening with our Designers, Sydney (16 Aug 2011)

193-195 Pitt Street Mall, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.strandarcade.com.au

A night to meet the designers

For those lucky enough to have received a free invite ticket to An Evening with our Designers at the Strand Arcade were treated to a generous selection of tasty canapés provided by Sweet Infinity plus free flowing Chambord cocktails and Peroni beer. There were also in-store tasty treats to be had and quick hair and makeup sessions by Maiolo Salon — I think I could have done with a bit of a makeover. The fashion parade was the main focus of the night with impossibly thin models showing off a selection of designer labels. I think my favourites were the blue flowing dress from Ms Couture(?) and the simple yet stylish short red dress (not sure of the designer) — I'm so professional aren't I as I hold my Peroni.

It was a fun and lively atmosphere with plenty of opportunities to meet the designers in their shops. The crowd bottlenecks of last year were better managed this year and it was good to see plastic glassware being used instead of real glasses from last year — multiple open levels from above should always be a no glass zone for safety. Best in show was probably the well-mannered dog called Buddy in one of the lower ground jewellery shops — just too cute.

Other events at the Strand Arcade:
• 16 Aug 2011 - An Evening with our Designers 2011
• 1 Sept 2010 - An Evening with our Designers 2010

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Free cocktails and tasty canapés, Free makeup and styling session available from Maiolo, Fashion parade, Meet the designers, Better crowd control this year with less bottlenecks, Fun atmosphere, Plastic glassware a lot safer this year

CONS: Invited guests only although sign up to the Strand Arcade mailing list to be notified of future events, Chambord cocktails are too easy to drink for a mid-week event

MUST TRY: Hopefully attending next year

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Cocktails

Chambord bar serving French Martini cocktail of Chambord, Vodka and pineapple juice

Chambord bar serving Chambord with soda and lime

Peroni bar — make mine full strength thanks

Canapés

Sweet Infinity canapes

Sweet Infinity counter display

Some in-store tasty offerings

Fashion parade

Love the blue dress

Love the red dress

Lovely short dress with black heels for those who can

Fashion & styling

Party people

Lovers of fashion

Photographers

Sydney Chamber Orchestra

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03 September 2010

Strand Arcade: An Evening With Our Designers, Sydney (1 Sept 2010)

193-195 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.strandarcade.com.au

Cocktails & Fashion

For those lucky enough to get a free invite to 'An Evening With Our Designers' from the Strand Arcade were welcomed to a sea of 3000 French Martinis laced with Chambord, Vodka and Pineapple Juice — all that was missing was a twist of lemon peel. They were pretty strong but that didn't stop me having at least 3, or was that 4? — whose counting anyway. Fashion was on the agenda tonight with two catwalk shows presenting some of the top leading fashion designers. My favourite fashion spotting of the night was probably Alannah Hill, Leona Edmiston, Nocturnal Designs, Fleur Wood, Alex Perry and Ms Couture. For those in need of some style advice the (sydney) magazine editor presented a couple of workshops on level 1 throughout the night.

For food there were three types of canapés with the smoked salmon being my preferred pick of the night. The tomato and feta canapé in a sweet casing was tasty enough but so messy to eat because it was a very awkward to fit a square casing in a round mouth — there was plenty of droppings left behind. The rare beef canapé looked promising but didn't really have much taste and unfortunately I found mine rather sinewy which made it difficult to bite and ended up being an all or nothing in your mouth affair. Sweet Infinity came to the party and finally reopened it's doors after some renovations and provided mini lamb pies — my god they were so hot I nearly burnt my fingers trying to hold them although I wished they were cooked for a little bit longer to crisp up the pastry but they were still yummy.

Other events at the Strand Arcade:
• 16 Aug 2011 - An Evening with our Designers 2011
• 1 Sept 2010 - An Evening with our Designers 2010

Entrance