Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 9 i Winning Magazine

FROM THE EDITOR What does “empowerment” mean to you? This issue we explore what has become a ubiquitous yet still elusive term through the lenses of design, architecture, culture, travel and personal history. While brainstorming content, questions kept cropping up around the subject of power: Who gets to create our world? Who gets the credit? And is it possible to reclaim power? Which brings me to our extraordinary cover star, Candice Mama. This author, broadcaster and activist empowered herself by facing – and, amazingly, forgiving – the man who, as a tool of the state in apartheid South Africa, murdered her father. Now, she's channelling her resilience and empathy into helping others through her new leadership role at AIME, a systems design organisation based here and doing good in more…

I know what many of you are going to say when I suggest making baguettes at home: “Why?” I hear you. Really. If you happen to live near a top-notch bakery or if you just don't enjoy time in the kitchen, it may not be worth the effort. But I know many others – those who, like me, find baking bread an exciting and productive way to spend part of a weekend – will be amazed at how fun and rewarding the process can be. Among technical breads, baguettes are well suited for home baking because they're typically made with commercial yeast rather than sourdough starter. This means there's no maintaining a starter and feeding it in advance before you can begin. In fact, the entire ingredients list couldn't be…

TASTE | GRENACHE Aquarter of a century ago, a young Peter Fraser fell in love with the grenache grape. The McLaren Vale winemaker remembers walking along the vines of a 20-hectare patch of old vine grenache that his employer, Normans Wines, had just bought, and he felt enlivened. They were now his. These days, there's a new vineyard owner (Jackson Family Wines) and the vineyard has a new name (Yangarra Estate), but Fraser continues to walk along the same vines. His emotional connection to the grape and to McLaren Vale remains as strong as ever. What has changed, fortunately, is Australian wine drinkers’ perception of grenache. “I remember being so passionate about grenache in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, and I would present it at wine dinners,” says Fraser.…

On a busy road in Sydney's cosmopolitan Paddington, behind a traditional cottage facade, sits a modern retreat that dances with light. Inside, one is greeted by a moody palette of muted blues, greens, greys and dark joinery, counterpoised by glinting mirrors, glass surfaces and shiny objets d'art. It's a far cry from the bustling street outside, just steps away from car dealerships and cafes. This jewel box of an abode is the brainchild of Sydney-based interior designer Nina Maya, who set out to create a luxurious oasis in the inner city. Maya – who started out as a fashion designer and pivoted to interiors 10 years ago – also owns and resides in the house with her young family. She and her partner, Trent, happened upon the house in their…

LIVE WELL | NEWS & VIEWS STAY GOLDEN Whether to a loved one or yourself, give the gift of a precious metal courtesy of ABC Bullion's new Sydney flagship. The brand's Martin Place home combines cutting-edge technology with unparalleled refinement. A gold tablet such as a 1oz (31.1 gram) ABC Bullion Cast Bar represents love, prosperity and wealth, with a purity rating of 99.99. An investment of the head as well as the heart. POA. abcbullion.com.au City Scent Maison Francis Kurkdjian's new fragrance, 724 eau de parfum, blends Calabrian bergamot, a crystalline white flower accord and alluring musks to encapsulate a bustling megalopolis – an energetic essence akin to a pulse rate of 724 beats per minute. Crafted to elevate and synchronise with the rhythm of your day, this floral…

LIVE WELL | LILY ALLEN Lily Allen didn't know why she agreed to be interviewed for this article. On a recent morning, sitting outside a London cafe, the British singer said she had paused earlier for a moment of reflection. “I was like, ‘Why am I doing this?’” she said. “I sort of wonder why I put myself in these situations and open myself up to criticism.” Allen, 38, hypothesised that the answer might be narcissism or her resignation to the requirements of being in the public eye. “It's been my life since I was, like, 18 years old,” she said. Since Allen burst onto the pop music scene in the mid-2000s with lilting reggae-infused tracks like “Smile”, her relationship with the press has been fraught. She has always been…

TASTE | NEWS & VIEWS Taste of Sydney Inspired by the landscape of Australia's harbour city, the team at Young Henrys have brewed an exclusive beer, aptly named Sandstone Lager, for Capella Sydney hotel. This limited-edition beverage – available throughout the venue – embodies the spirit of the Capella and its setting within the historic sandstone precinct. The lager's packaging, adorned with Sindy Sinn's artistry, captures local flora and fauna, while the European-style brew offers sweet aromatics, subtle florals and biscuity malt notes, finishing with a hint of honey. capellahotels.com MUMBAI CALLING From the minds behind Potts Point's cult favourite Ezra restaurant comes Raja: a culinary exploration of Mumbai. An ode to India's cultural melting pot, Raja explores the city through innovative Indian dining in Sydney's Kellett Street precinct. Directed…

Australians (and Melburnians in particular) are known worldwide for our love of coffee. So much so that these days you can find cafes in New York, Paris and London billing themselves as “Melbourne style”. Here at home, our longstanding obsession with high-quality espresso and our more recent adoption of cocktail culture (a Stateside invention), has resulted in a love of coffee cocktails unsurpassed the world over. The result is that the espresso martini is undoubtedly Australia's favourite cocktail. Despite being invented in London in the 1980s by legendary British bartender Dick Bradsell, the espresso martini has made the Land Down Under its adoptive home, cemented in the hearts and minds of Aussie drinkers from Darwin to Devonport. But now that the drink has become so firmly rooted in Australian drinking…

DESIGN | NEWS & VIEWS IN THE FOLD Arthur Vallin's aptly named Chubby coffee table makes a statement with its boldly curved form. Carved from travertine, this piece was designed as an ode to the Colombian figurative artist Fernando Botero. The table's distinctive, sensual folded shape is sure to serve as a talking point wherever it's located. From $41,000. pamono.com.au CHOICE SEATS Designed by Luca Nichetto in collaboration with De La Espada, the modular Belle Reeve lounge has an aura of understated elegance, seamlessly marrying artistry with functionality. The invitingly low-profile form is supported by brass or stainless steel feet for a touch of opulence, while the backrest is customisable: embrace sumptuous upholstery or solid-wood lattice panels. More than mere furniture, the Belle Reeve elevates any living space with choice,…

Candice Mama was nine years old when she opened the book that would change the way she saw the world. It was stored in her mother's bedroom, a forbidden thing that seemed to make guests burst into tears whenever it was brought out and passed around, delicately, like a live grenade. Mama was not permitted to look herself, but she memorised the number of the page her mother always recited – the page that contained a picture of her father, Glenack Masilo Mama. The book was titled “Into the Heart of Darkness: Confessions of Apartheid's Assassins”, by the investigative journalist Jacques Pauw. One day, when Mama was alone in the house, she retrieved it and opened it to the right page. Glenack Masilo was not an assassin, but he was…

TASTE | CONCERT CHEFS In Stockholm, it was the cookies – the black sesame, wasabi and white chocolate, or maybe the gluten-free coconut almond dark chocolate – that signalled to Beyoncé's dancers, crew and roadies that Grant Bird was back. Bird is an English pastry chef and one of 14 culinary professionals on Beyoncé's current Renaissance World Tour, which has also employed a vegan chef and three personal chefs just for Queen B and her inner circle. After getting Covid during rehearsals in Paris, Bird had to take a weeklong break, leaving the dessert duties for the 400 to 600 crew members to two substitute chefs. By then, the crew had become used to his lavish desserts, which often featured a dozen different offerings at both lunch and dinner. A…

DESIGN | EMPOWERMENT Architecture – great architecture, at least – has the ability to empower you to greet the day differently and experience the landscape in a completely new way. My own house, reworked by the architect Robert Simeoni, has received numerous architectural awards both at the state and national level. As an architecture and design writer, I draw on the home for my sense of identity. It empowers me. Others with architect-designed homes or workplaces will also tell you what a difference this makes to starting their day. Simeoni himself lives in an award-winning home, an Italianate Victorian house in Melbourne's inner north that his practice sensitively renovated. He describes this empowerment as taking the form of an “otherness”; a “sense of calmness”. “You don't set out to design…

Soft Sell Going beyond the functional, comfort extras such as blankets and eye masks make any journey more enjoyable. There's nothing quite like luxurious 100 per cent cashmere to make an in-transit sleep more sound, and this Brioni scarf, each exclusively handwoven and overseen from start to finish by a single artisan from the Antica Valserchio factory in Italy, fits the bill. Approximately $3,208. brioni.com ROYAL TREATMENT Nestled on Montenegro's cinematic Adriatic shore, Villa Milocer at Aman Sveti Stefan seeks to provide unrivalled tranquillity and service. The villa, once a summer residence of Queen Marija Karadjordjevic, boasts a number of stylish suites with sea or garden views, two discreetly separate from the main house. Set against azure waters, the onsite Aman Spa exclusively caters to Villa Milocer guests, offering hydrotherapy…