Newtown brewers Young Henrys are back with a new release just in time for winter. Called Motorcycle Oil, the brew is a hoppy porter that salutes a Newtown local who rides a big black Indian motorcycle. “Last year we brewed a small batch of Motorcycle Oil with one of our Newtown mates, to celebrate our loves in common,” says Young Henrys co-founder Oscar McMahon. “It was a hoppy porter primarily consumed by us and our mates. This year we’re bringing it back, bigger and blacker in our first ever 500ml can…to see just how many mates we actually have.” Fellow Newtown locals Rising Sun Workshop have made a special black ramen to celebrate called ‘Darker than Darkness’, which is available in a special offer for just $25 with a schooner of Motorcycle Oil.

House of Suntory has brought a new Japanese whisky, The Chita, to our shores. With hints of honey and crème brûlée, it’s enjoyed equally neat or on the rocks. Meet your new favourite drop. Kampai! $89.99

Mother’s Day is just two weeks away, and if you’re after some inspiration, the new Dinosaur Designs collection, Blush, launches tomorrow. Shop chic homewares in organic shapes and muted pastels at dinosaurdesigns.com.

Fans of Potts Point’s Paper Bird will cheer the return of the site’s standout weekend brunch menu, a rollcall of greatest hits that nod to Korea, China and Japan. Saturdays and Sundays, 10am-3pm, paperbirdrestaurant.com

St Kilda Burger Bar has two new buns on its menu, a chicken number and the Vegan Victoria – cooked on a separate grill – with a beetroot bun, pickled and roasted mushrooms and cheese made from coconut oil.

Prahran Market hosts the Wicked Dessert Festival next Sunday. Try chocolates, doughnuts and Middle Eastern treats, and look out for demos from Glacé’s Christy Tania, and LuxBite and Bibelot pastry chefs.

Join Andrew McConnell and delicious. at Cumulus Inc. tomorrow evening to celebrate 10 years of this standout restaurant, and enjoy a bespoke menu with matching wines ($185 per person). Phone (03) 9650 1445 to book.

In an effort to support rising awareness of mental health in the community, The Lansdowne is partnering with frontline service ReachOut on a new initiative. The venue’s Jake Smyth and Kenny Graham are this year’s campaign ambassadors and on May 1 will be launching the campaign at The Lansdowne with a new pizza menu. “Historically, kitchens have been bastions of functionality- run by the dysfunctional. Teams of misfits, drop outs, strugglers, burn outs, rat bags and worse have bonded over a desire for order- for calm within the eye of the storm. Take the combination of pressure, fire, fast moving sharp edges, tempers and egos and yet there is calm at the heart of a well run kitchen. Therapy via Gastronomica, perhaps. Raising Dough is an initiative that we are so very proud to work with, as the need to speak clearly to the importance of mental health among our next generation of chefs and for our wider community of young people. We are choosing pizza to Raise Dough to bring a little noise to the classic bake sale and hope to bring the same noise to raise awareness to this vital message to the next gen of cooks, bakers, chefs and beyond.” say Smyth and Graham. The night of the event will see all profits from pizzas sold being donated and for the month of May a special silver beet, ricotta and pumpkin pizza will be available in honour of the campaign, again, donating all profits to ReachOut.

Marrickville’s Cornersmith are at it again with a new citrus class that comes courtesy of co-owner Alex Elliott-Howery. The preserving queen will offer workshops where she will teach how to get the most out of lemons at the height of their season. Using the whole fruit, students will learn to make a range of sweet and savoury preserves such as an Indian lemon pickle, sweet lemon jam, preserved lemons and how to make use of the peels with infused salts and sugars. Alex will also demonstrate her famous limoncello. “I love this class because it reminds me of my first few years preserving when my kids were little,” says Elliott-Howery. There are so many lemon trees in my neighbourhood of Dulwich Hill, I would go see so much go to waste…lemons just rotting on the ground. I took my kids for walks and knocked on people’s doors asking if we could come in to pick lemons from their backyards. I would go back and trade them a jar of the final product when it was ready.” This class showcases all the preserves Alex learned to make in that time. Classes will be held on June 16 and July 28 and can be booked online.

The Wild Harvest Chef series at the beloved Newrybar dining establishment only continues to grow. The venue’s next series dinner on May 16 will host celebrated French chef Burno Loubet, who is back in Queensland after 9 years spent in the UK. Before he sets up shop with a cooking school in the sunshine state, Loubet will be joining Harvest for a one-off dinner exploring and showcasing Australia’s native ingredients. Head chef Alastair Waddell and forager Peter Hardwick are looking forward to commemorating his return in Byron Bay’s humble village of Newrybar. The 4-course dinner will be available for $75 per head, with the option of an extra $45 for beverage pairing. Tickets can be purchased online.

Melbourne’s beloved vegan venue Smith & Daughters is undergoing a shake-up shortly. The restaurant will be changing the menu for winter on May 8 and will be undergoing a complete transformation – name included. Taking on the name of Smith & Bella’s, the venue will be changing over from Latin to Italian. Expect vegan takes on Italian favourites from cacio e pepe to pizza fritta topped with a fresh vegan ricotta, as well as a vegan take on nduja and xo.

Amanpuri is a favourite of many an Australian traveller thanks to its luxe amenities. Now the Thai accommmodation favourite is celebrating its 30th anniversary, with (of course) a special food focus. Celebrity chef Ian Kittichai will be the hotel’s special guest chef for the nights of May 4 and 5. Guests at Amanpuri and non-resident guests will be able to experience Chef Ian’s culinary skills, which will showcase the best of Thai cuisine. Ian is Thailand’s first international ‘celebrity chef’ and now has restaurants in New York (Jum Mum, Spot Desert Bar, Kittichai Restaurant), Barcelona (Murmri Restaurant), Bangkok (Namsaah Bottling Trust, Hyde & Seek Peek-A-Boo, Issaya, Smith) and Mumbai (Koh by Ian Kittichai). More information on the special event can be found online.

An Old Fashioned is by now well and truly one of the nation’s favourite cocktails, especially coming into the cooler months. Kingsleys Woolloomooloo has a twist on the original that integrates the flavours of the much loved dessert the apple pie. The bar and restaurant’s Apple Pie Old Fashioned melds together apple pie syrup with rye and whiskey for a cocktail that will even appeal to those who don’t consider themselves whiskey fans.

Southern-Californian restaurant and bar SoCal Sydney will be celebrating Cinco De Mayo in style this year. It will be a week-long fiesta of tacos, tequila, live entertainment, ‘My Taco Rules’ championship, charity street-art battles and a hot chilli eating contest to boot. To kick off the week-long celebrations is the Cinco De Mayo Party on Saturday 5, with Mexican themed entertainment all day and in to the night, including free Mexican flower crowns and live music galore. BYO sombrero!

Ten month old Australian distillery, Never Never Distilling Co. has won a gold medal for its Triple Juniper Gin – an impressive feat given that the competition received more than 2,200 entries. The Adelaide distillery was also the only Australian gin to be listed on the Top Trending Gin list by Drinks International at the end of 2017. “The team is incredibly proud to have achieved this in our first year of production, with our bold, juniper-driven style,” says George Georgiadis of Never Never Distilling Co. “This gin is a throwback to the times when gin had juniper and lashings of it,” says Sean Baxter, Never Never Distilling Co.’s director of sales and marketing. It’s a drink prepared with juniper that is distilled in three separate ways (partially steeped for 24 hours, partially put fresh in to the still pot at the beginning of distillation, and partially put in to a vapour basket). “We take the classic profile of a London dry gin and turn it up a notch. The appeal of the brand lies in a return to flavour, a return to the classic characteristics and traditional ingredients that make a gin special,” continues Baxter.