The Brief, April 2026
What has just opened, what is allocated, who is moving.
The first edition of The Brief, the monthly insider memo for VF subscribers. Time-sensitive intelligence on the Cabinet entries: openings and closings, allocation windows, people movements, and the bookings that need to lock now to be on the list later.
Award
Eleven Barrack named Best New Restaurant of the Year
Bentley Group's wood-fired grill at 11 Barrack Street, opened February 2025 in the 1849 First Savings Bank of New South Wales building, took the SMH Good Food Guide's Best New Restaurant of the Year for 2026. Brent Savage culinary direction; head chef Aiden Stevens. The grill counter is the booking; the dining room handles the overflow.
Closing
Quay closed for good after twenty-five years
Peter Gilmore's Quay served its final dinner on 14 February 2026 after twenty-five years at the Overseas Passenger Terminal. The 2018 renovation retired the Snow Egg; the closing months sold out within the hour of the announcement. Bennelong, on the other side of the Cove, is where Gilmore's work continues. We have removed Quay from the active Cabinet.
Allocation
Wendouree mailing-list applications: how it actually works
Tony and Lita Brady's near-mythical Clare Valley Shiraz remains the hardest allocation in Australia. The mailing-list rule: write a hand-written letter to the Bradys at Wendouree Road, Clare SA 5453, explaining why you should be on it. They reply by hand. First order must include a varied case (only Shiraz on first order means struck off the list).
People
Liz Silkman: first Hunter Valley winemaker named Halliday Winemaker of the Year
Liz Silkman of Silkman Wines was named the 2025 Halliday Winemaker of the Year, the first Hunter Valley winemaker ever to win the title. Silkman started in 2013 as a side project with husband Shaun. The wines are hand-crafted, ultra-small-batch, single-vineyard. Order ahead; the cellar door is by appointment.
Reopening
Southern Ocean Lodge reopened on Kangaroo Island
Baillie Lodges' flagship reopened December 2023 after a four-year, AU$55 million rebuild led by original architect Max Pritchard. Twenty-five suites along the limestone cliff above the Southern Ocean. Named in TIME's World's Greatest Places List for 2023. The post-fire revegetation is part of the experience: the original landscape is recovering, and the new lodge is calibrated to its return.
Coming up
Vivid Sydney 2026: Park Hyatt suite tier already booked out
The annual Vivid Sydney light festival runs late May through early June 2026. The Park Hyatt's harbourside suite tier sold out for the festival fortnight by late January, as it does every year. The Sydney Suite at over 3,000 square feet has been on the waitlist since November. For Vivid 2027, book by August 2026.
Next issue: May 2026, the first edition of the season's allocation calendar.