Public transport never looked so good with the addition of East Sydney’s newest small bar, eating house and place to play - Stanley Street Station (commuter or light rail - it’s up to you) - popping up on the corner of Stanley and Crown Streets.
The latest stop on the city’s social tracks, The Station joins the area’s great stash of cool local haunts - Pocket, Pong’s and The Commons - serving up fun and creative spaces to chill out and enjoy the cityscape in unpretentious style. A place to rest a while; Stanley Street Station offers punters a unique and comfortable platform to look, think, taste and talk; before setting off on new urban discoveries.
Opening with Faxhibition by The Groop – a collective of Sydney artists using one fax machine and one brief – ‘The fax of life’ this May, the Station showcases art works using that obsolete and restrictive business communication system to represent the way society has devalued the art of communication, with all cash from sales go to Médecins Sans Frontières.
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By day the Station is light and breezy, with outdoor tables and big open windows to sit back, relax and observe the East Sydney bustle over delicious wraps, sambo’s and wholesome meals or small share plates. By night, low lighting, flickering candles, a cosy bar, huge couches, board-games, good tunes and an affordable well-chosen wine list waits; with owner/chef Greg Vankuyk’s hearty food served quick, to heat the body and warm the soul.
A comfy setting for meeting up with friends in the lounge room style bar, intimate dinners in the dining area, or for drinks and bites for groups large or small in either; Stanley Street Station is based loosely on the concept of psychogeography - the arty notion of jolting pedestrians off their predictable paths, hopefully resulting in new awareness’s of the urban landscape. And the deck-out designed by Sydney artist Amy Yongsiri certainly aspires to its precursor - the utopia of unitary urbanism – encouraging spaces within the ‘functional’ city dedicated to continual exploration, leisure, and stimulated ambience.
Stanley Street Station draws upon the notion of psychogeography which aspires freely to the utopia of unitary urbanism, and is dedicated to encouraging an atmosphere of continual exploration, leisure, and stimulating ambience in Sydney. The Station uses the metaphor of train travel to create a comfortable space from which to wander through the drinks, food, artworks, books and games. The Station moves at a pace similar to that of a real train station - slowly and more relaxed in the lounging area, to a movement and buzz around the bar and eating area.
The concepts that run through the work of artist and designer Amy Yongsiri often revolve around ways to entice a wanderer to stop and linger for a little while. Amy uses narrative to engage with audiences and encourage them to draw out their own stories. She exhibits her work at various spaces including China Heights, Saatchi & Saatchi galleries, and Powerhouse museum; and teaches art and design. Familiar with the challenges of designing for an eating space, Amy grew up in her parent’s Sydney restaurants and saw them through various incarnations.
Uncover the well stocked psychogeography library, and shelves packed with favourite games and more bizarre amusements.
Explorations can be made of the tiny living scenes of citizens in glass terrariums; large interpretive views of Sydney through artists’ eyes; miniature transport themed ‘accident’ scenes; digital montages of memorable railway cinema moments flickering along; and a range of maps to inspire psycho-travellers.
A place equally as easy to sit on a pinot; read a book, or chew the fat, The Station gets the mind wandering. Practice your freedom to ‘dérive’ (drift) with no pre-planned expectations. Grab a wine, a beer, a dinner, a game of Uno or backgammon over coffee, or emails over lunch; and enjoy and observe the city in action.