Original post 19 June 2014:
Usually hidden by the #damntrees, the wonderful inventive #redbrick #RomanesqueRevival / #QueenAnnestyle #shoptop pair was built in 1901, designed by #WilliamSalway. Love the #bracketedpiers forming the keystones of the #arches below, and the growling lions between.
It was the location of the (Italian) Society restaurant from 1932, the first of a number of Italian cafes, bringing change to the staid Melbourne food scene, and the beginning of our love affair with #italianfood, and coffee. My mother was taker there as a teenager in the late 40s by her father, who told her to order the ‘horses doovers’ – which sounds rather French to me, but I’m sure it was about the Society. Changed name, cuisine and owners a few times in the last 20 years. Update : seems to be vacant, again.
Storey of Melbourne 