Let's talk business

BRAUDIA WHO?

Bryn Thomas & Claudia Sorace

Many of you know of Braudia GM – they flitter into fashion shows with their friendly entourage and they flitter out again. But what does Braudia actually do?

Well, for our international friends who don’t actually know what we do, you’re about to learn…

What is Braudia GM?

Braudia GM Pty Ltd is a registered company and acts as a direct liaison to network Australian and International Fashion designers, with the Australian and International Fashion media, industry and its buying market.

Braudia GM endeavors to showcase an individual’s designs and assist in further representing them within the creative industry. Braudia GM, as a brand will market primarily, up and coming fashion designers, products within the fashion industry, travel, literature and journalism and food wine that centers the Australian Fashion scene also.

This of course is all well and good… but what do Braudia offer?

Braudia offer advertising; through our expansive social media avenues. Braudia also offers representation for models, actors, social personalities, designers and writers. 

PR and social promotions are a natural avenue, so event listing, advertising and product campaigns are also included under the Braudia umbrella. 

Style and Creative consultation are also available through our Creative Director for Photo-shoots, Catwalks and alike.

Obviously, there are expenses?

Sure, there are. You don’t walk into your local grocery and ask for a free banana. However, Braudia offers services that are competitively priced and sometimes what is offered may just be a negotiation of stock or a commission once our business directives have sold your label to other, outsourced markets either online or instore.

Also, because they work nationally and internationally, our corporate law team, review all contracts to ensure maximum satisfaction to our entire client base. We like to do things right the first time.

Why Braudia?

When you negotiate and work with Braudia you know you're trusting your company, product, clothing label etc. with a PR company that has directors both versed in the industry you are selling to.

To find out more about the Braudia Directors head to www.braudiagm.com

To contact us about possible representation, PR or advertising please e-mail us. And remember, Braudia GM represent Australian and international designers. More over, we work with a driven creative team of photographers, media consultants and film tech.

But Braudia have their own blog?

Correct. Braudia have writers, a food critic and travel writers. You can't be all work and no play! 

The travel bug...

Largo Di Como 

Join George Clooney and the celebrities to a place of bliss

Travel Writer Victoria Sorace

British Airways flies to Milan twice daily and Alitalia three times daily, which firstly may I add, is a major reason why you have no excuse not to visit. We flew British Airways from Heathrow to Milan, which is a pleasant two hour ten minute flight maximum, with outstanding views of the Swiss Alps on a clear day. Arriving ten minutes ahead of schedule and only one champagne down, as the views over the Alpine villages are not worth taking your eyes away. Perfectly timed our hotel chauffer was awaiting my arrival (previously arranged from the Hotel booking, by the concierge).

 

Thirty minutes later, we arrived in the lobby of our hotel checked in and went straight to dinner (at the hotel). Dinner is very formal at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo and it does not disappoint. By comparison this dinner was comparable to dining in one of Melbourne’s finest restaurants. The waiters here in this hotel (although we found this throughout Como) are a little stuck in the gallantry of yesteryear and they still regenerated the old fashioned silver dome over your meal. Amusingly, the waiters deliver the meals all together; to one’s table and make a song of uno, due, tre, and lift off the silver domes in unison to the enjoyment of all. The spring lamb was beautifully crusted in a herb and wine jus and after a delicious main course and a fair amount of vino, we retired for the evening.

Awakening at 8am the following morning to the most beautiful sound of village church bells, I jumped out of bed to view my surrounds. Lago di Como as the Italians say it is ‘one of the most beautiful romantic places on earth’. Once showered and full from feasting on the tastiest scrambled eggs. I’m not sure what the italins are making them with, but my word it’s easy to get plump on the eggs alone (not to mention the copious amounts of pasta). About three hundred yards from the Hotel, you can walk to the pier and catch the Ferry to Bellagio. This is the form of the public transport system and a daily ticket links you to an array of small towns and villages along this picturesque lake. Lake Como is the third largest lake in Italy and is of glacial origin. It resides in the region known as Lombardy.

To add to the perfection, Lake Como is less than an hour from the Swiss Border and there is a definite reason that George Clooney purchased one of the most gorgeous villas on Lake Como. He states “there is nowhere in the world as beautiful as Lake Como”. This region has quaint villages where the swimming pools are built into the Lake and the people live and work in paradise. The hotels themselves are hard to choose, as they are all superbly built and staffed. A certain must is a visit for a drink or dinner at Villa D’Este. On the pricey side yes, but this striking hotel sits in grounds one can never forget. The gardens are simply magnificent and a panoramic stroll around them with the view of the Lake in the background will be a memory you will treasure forever. A Campari and Lemonade under the Renaissance Veranda allows for a soothing indulgence, as one cools down and watches the activities upon the lake; from wind surfing to skiing and kite sailing.  

Bellagio was one of the towns visited and to commute their using the ferryboats you pass the Villas of the rich and famous. Disembarking from the water ferry with a pleasant Italian wishing us a wonderful day, somewhat consoling to know that the Ferry’s depart on the hour every hour. You won’t be stranded, not that it would be of great travesty.

What’s the most beautiful way to spend a day? You can jump on and off the water ferry’s to many different quaint towns . What to eat? The Northern style of pasta is very different to the southern regions of Italy and beautifully cooked as almost every Italian meal is. The gelato is magnificent albeit the ice-creams, they present an uncommon creamy taste from the lush pastures surrounding. The shops are plentiful and every towns, (i.e. Bellagio) market days are worth attending. Each town has its own Market days abounding all kinds of trinkets to fine-looking (and tasting) hot donuts and mouth-watering fruits. One most Donne flat shoes as most of the towns have cobbled streets, which isn’t conducive to heels. 

Not to be missed is a trip to Milan where one can visit the Duomo. This is the third largest church in Christendom, A staggering 3,500 statues and has the most amazing Baroque and neo gothic façade as well as five bronzed doors carved by five different artists! It took five hundred years to complete and work still continues today. To appreciate this beautiful building, you must venture on the roof where one can also appreciate the view of the Swiss Alps. Savor the flavors of the Milanese cuisine and visit the oldest shopping mall in the world. A Milanese coffee should must and also that dreadful credit card (shocking when you get home and are greeted by your impending debt) will come in handy, as the shops garnish must haves.

The Funicular railway is a must in the Town of Como. It took us an hour of talking our selves into this unbelievable ride. For five Euros round trip it is value for money. Being afraid of heights and not for the faint hearted this is a very daunting experience, but thoroughly worth doing and such a fun ride. If you have an extra ninety minutes the tram is a fabulous way to see the Lake from above. Also not forgetting The Basilica of San Fedele, a very peaceful and charming church, in the middle of town is worthy of a visit.

Each day we ventured to a different part of the lake to experience the individual, old-world villages and towns ornamenting the Lake. One day however, we booked a tour to the Town of St Moritz. A private car picks you up and takes you to your coach. Spending a fabulous day in this very upmarket breathtaking part of Switzerland. The railway to the top of the peak is also unbelievable with everyone oohing and ahhring along the way. At the top the bus meets you and in twenty minutes you are sitting amongst snow covered peaks in a beautiful Swiss town; dining on potato frittatas and local made sausages with pints of local lager or wine or mugs of hot chocolate – of course liquid Lindt.

Lake Como is a central point for so much or so little. It can be very busy and you can bustle along with the other tourists from May to September or visit in early October when the tourists have left and still enjoy the mild weather and the slower pace to really relax. This famous impressive Utopia is always going to be a destination for the most discerning traveller and to keep rambling does not do this magnificent part of the world justice. It does however, remain a constant memory, for me, as I gaze around the room at work or out of my office window. Lake Como gets a strange hold on you and one visit will never, ever, be enough.  

The Giant Nerd

An introduction to science: 

With the Geek Giant Richard Manning 

Once upon a time there was a poor little Giant, who everyone called a geek. He wasn’t really a geek, as least he didn’t think so, but society had him placed in the round peg hole marked ‘nerd’. The young Giant was also reader, but what was worse, was he remembered everything he read.

At the most inopportune of moments useless trivia would spurt forth into the unprepared and unenthusiastic ears of whoever happened to be close. Most of the time these people were like Braudia’s Bryn and Claudia; who essentially would be too busy consumed in their own affairs, to be concerned with the geeks facts. So The Giant learnt to speak to them in ways that they could understand, and alas, like Frankenstein’s monster, they grew into smart little Braudia’s, able to take on the world.

With this passion for knowledge undiminished, I, The Giant Geek - has found a new willing audience to enthrall. The now ‘brainy Braudia’s’ decided that they should share this information and here is where my purpose lies. I’ll try to explain how modern science makes the previously impossible, possible in a way that translates the esoteric language of hyperspecialised scientists; into something we can all understand.

Any Paris Hilton can understand Science. Ok, slightly debatable – but I’m sure, she must have some amount of grey matter, even if it has been damaged by years of fake tanning and sheep dipping herself in peroxide. It’s just that scientists have a desire, for using their own impenetrable vocabulary. It’s as if they feel, that because they’ve devoted years of their lives buried in books and huddled in libraries, to reaching that cutting edge of human knowledge, that no one else (who has not sacrificed as they have) should be able to understand what it is they do.

I shall attempt to bring to you the latest developments in a manner that strips bare the basic facts from the jargon, laying bare the essential truths behind new discoveries.

For now lets start with some cerebral stretches to get our brains accustomed to new thoughts and ways of thinking.  So limber up your hippocampus (your brains memory center), activate your left hemisphere and whip your cerebral cortex into shape with these tasty facts.

Hippopotamuses don’t sweat; instead they excrete a pink liquid which acts as a natural sunblock.

The first modern bra was made of two handkerchiefs.

There is only one Chobe black rhinoceros left in the world, 3 other subspecies of black rhinoceros have already become extinct in the last 150 years and poachers are doing their best to kill off the rest…

The human stomach produces a new mucus lining for itself every two weeks, if it didn’t it would digest its self. Strange!

Scientists voiced concern in 2012 about how radiation may be affecting humans after a recent finding of mutant butterflies in Japan with abnormal legs, eyes, wings and other mutations were discovered. The mutations were caused by radiation from the Fukushima nuclear accident.

And finally, director Claudia Sorace is terrified of butterflies. This ridiculousness has a name believe it or not and that is “Lepidopterophobes”. In fact I’m sure she will recoil into herself once she reads that now, there are mutated versions of them out there, flying around. 

Until next time friends, nerd up! 

Up in the Attica

Attica

Ripponlea, Melbourne 

Eleven Basils, Eight Courses, Four Diners, One Great Attica Experience. 

This was my first dining experience at Attica. I don’t usually float around the words ‘dining experience’ unless it was truly something more than simply eating and drinking. Attica had it all from stunning, organically presented food to faultless, informative service and a wine list, which covered all the necessities and so much more.

Attica probably isn’t the sort of place to go on an awkward first date, or if you have no real interest in food, as I suspect was the case on a few tables around us. The macho, well dressed, Hugo Boss model lawyer types, with their scantily clad, fake tan, blonde bimbo girlfriends, probably don’t get as much from the ‘Attica experience’ as you or I. It is, without question, an involved process. You may find yourself rolling your own sorrel leaves, in a weird foods junkie joint, kind of way. You might also be whipped away to the herb garden out back to chat about their 11 different kinds of basil, drink cider and roast marshmallows with a chef who, as proudly claimed, certainly looks like the type of bloke to graffiti the outside wall with his cooking inspirations.

The Blonde, the Giant, the Business Partner and the Queenslander represented a table with varying degrees of ‘food experience’, but we were all willing and able participants for the ‘Attica experience’. The pre-dinner snacks ranged from beautiful glossy pickled carrots, deep-fried mussels, to oysters and sorrel leaves. Needless to say, these simple ingredients were as tasty as they come. We eventually all chose the 8-course degustation menu (opposed to the 5 course which operates Tuesday-Thursday only) with matched wines, except for the blonde, who was tasked with rolling us all home. She initially improvised with a mocktail, and then furthermore by ‘refreshing’ it with her sparkling water, as if to now resemble the mocktail’s ugly sister in-law. Table etiquette was temporarily suspended. 

In reality, the whole menu was a highlight. The “Crab, Shitake, Eleven Basil” dish (yes there was 11 different types apparently!) started the night off on an extremely refreshing note. “A simple dish of Potato cooked in the earth it was grown” (insert) was not only intriguing to read on the menu, but also to eat, talk about and reminisce on for many weeks to come (just think the most outrageously awesome baked potato of all time). “Whiting in Paperbark” was the dish which generated the most table-to-waiter conversation, if not for the sheer audacity of serving a dish wrapped in paperbark. Attica’s ability to achieve the balance between simplicity and subtlety of flavour, whilst remaining utterly delicious, kept us all enthralled. The crowd favourite, however, went to the “Flinders Island Wallaby, Scorched Macadamia, Ground Berry” (although given it was served with the first red wine of the night, some biases may be observed).

Desserts continued to wow, “Fresh Curd Ice Cream and Blueberries” (cheekily served fresh and dried) was marginally ahead in my books as the winner in the dessert. The final course named “Plight of the Bees” certainly fitted in the ‘interesting’ column, combining pumpkin, mango, honey and several other unusual flavours (made less discernible admittedly, by the now ever apparent effects of wine matching).

This blog has been a little more food orientated than some previous, because the food really is the biggest talking point about Attica. Sure the décor is smart, the service and wine matching superb, but without paying huge respect to this kitchen team would be a sin. Having said this, special mention must go to the three floor staff who; lined up the next day at 7:30am for the Court of Master Sommeliers Course and Exam. At around $300 with matched wines, I consider the Attica ‘experience’ better than many washed out music concerts, candy fuelled theme parks adventures and shoe shopping splurges many of us engage in. Although caution to readers, pick your company wisely, it mightn’t be for everyone.

Need to Know

This is the sort of place you were your suit to, take ‘the one’ to, or have a fun foodie experience with friends at. It is not the sort of place you order rum and cokes at, take ‘the mistress’ to, or demand your wallaby cooked well done at.

http://www.attica.com.au/

Alex Beazley 

Food Critic without a Face 

Nationally recognised on paper, but never by his face. 

With a long history in food, he lives for fine consumption; join his adventures.