Santa Maria Novella delivers Florence to Sydney
Fans of this much-loved apothecary will be delighted to sniff out a corner of northern Italy in Sydney.
HOT IN THE CITY
Santa Maria Novella Boutique, Glenmore Rd, Paddington, Sydney
Florence might shimmer as a faraway fantasy for now but at least fans of the northern Italian city’s much-loved Santa Maria Novella apothecary brand can now get a fix much closer to home. Its heritage stretches back to 1221, when Dominican friars established a pharmacy dispensing balms, ointments, lotions and medications made from healing herbs grown in their monastery garden; later they distilled richly scented petals to create rose water, still one of Santa Maria Novella’s best-loved fragrances. And the rest, as they say, is history. The Florentine headquarters on Via della Scala, acknowledged as the world’s oldest pharmacy, is as much museum and shrine as a store, with a tea room, original laboratory apparatuses, historic displays and, of course, ample shopping opportunities for the likes of hand-wrapped milk-based soaps, “aged” for 30 days on ventilated boards and said to last three times more than your average variety.
The new Sydney boutique, which also offers online purchases (free shipping for orders over $100), can’t compete with such lineage but it’s a pretty treasure trove of key Santa Maria Novella products, all produced in the time-honoured way with natural herbs, flowers and oils.
There are scented terracotta diffusers, rose or freesia wax tablets that are perfect to perfume a linen cupboard, haircare and shaving unguents, even toothpaste in florals such as iris, potpourris of buds and leaves from the hills of Tuscany, bathing gels and those legendary soaps (box of four, $68). Make mine a 250ml rose water splash ($48) that perfumes, refreshes and tones skin; also sold in 500ml bottles ($81). But it’s not all about beauty and wellness. Beautifully bottled liqueur elixir syrups, in flavours that include rhubarb and chocolate, are guaranteed to add pep to any cocktail mix or, I say, to drizzle over ice cream. And make that Italian gelato, of course. Open daily 10am-5.30pm (Sundays, 5pm).
SUSAN KUROSAWA
Cool in the Country
The Briars, Burradoo
The Briars touts itself as “a good old-fashioned pub with a modern twist”; a collision of snug English pub and sunstruck Hamptons. Perched on a rise on the road winding from Bowral to Moss Vale in the NSW Southern Highlands, the 1845 former inn recently reopened after a fire two years ago and subsequent restoration. The pastel pink-hued building, with grey shutters, flowering window boxes, potted olive trees and a flagstone veranda, has a spacious country feel with a flash of urban style. A sheltered deck caters for dining alfresco and another offers laid-back seating and a fire pit. A giant chessboard will keep Queen’s Gambit fans engaged.
On a late autumn day, sunlight streams through the windows into a sage-green restaurant with blond wood furniture and bronze lightshades. The menu is reassuringly old school and deftly executed; try the unctuous confit duck, slow-braised lamb shank or crispy-skinned salmon. There’s also on-trend pizza (butternut pumpkin and goat’s cheese, perhaps?). But it’s really all about the Long Paddock prime aged beef and the potatoes – baked, fried, roasted in duck fat or whipped to a heavenly mash. Desserts also take a classic tack, such as chocolate fondue and sticky date pudding with lashings of cream. The Throsby Bar, with its inky walls, open fires and gilt-framed portraits, offers snackier fare, and is an ideal bolthole for a quiet ale or after-dinner port.
Open daily for lunch and dinner.
MARGARET BARCA