This is part one of a three-part series celebrating Broadsheet’s 10-year anniversary. Read part two, “Broadsheet’s 10 Most Popular Stories” and part three, “Four Myths About Broadsheet”.
Ten Years of Broadsheet
After a decade in business, we’ve published more than 26,000 articles and 416,000 photos. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Here, we reflect on Broadsheet’s myriad projects and milestones, including cookbooks, restaurants and design awards.
Published on 07 October 2019
by
Broadsheet: 2009–2019
October 2009
Broadsheet Melbourne begins publishing online.
January 2010
Broadsheet Melbourne begins publishing quarterly print papers. The brand-new Port Phillip Estate winery appears on the front cover of issue one.
February 2010
broadsheet.com.au now reaches 10,000 people a month.
September 2010
broadsheet.com.au now reaches 50,000 people a month.
March 2011
The Broadsheet Cafe pops up on Crossley Street in Melbourne for 11 days as part of Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Different coffee roasters, including Seven Seeds, Proud Mary and Market Lane, take over the space each day, introducing Melburnians to a range of different coffees.
April 2011
broadsheet.com.au now reaches 100,000 people a month.
June 2011
Broadsheet Melbourne launches an iPhone app with 500 searchable venue listings and original imagery.
August 2011
Broadsheet begins supporting CafeSmart, a one-day initiative that raises money to help the homeless by asking cafes to donate $1 from every coffee sold.
November 2011
Broadsheet Sydney begins publishing online and in print.
February 2012
broadsheet.com.au now reaches 250,000 people a month.
October 2012
Broadsheet Sydney launches its own iPhone app, with another 500 venue listings and original imagery.
November 2012
Broadsheet begins supporting DineSmart, an annual charity initiative which asks diners to add an extra $2 to their bills to help reduce homelessness.
February 2013
broadsheet.com.au now reaches 500,000 people a month.
June 2013
The first Seven Dinners in Seven Nights competition sees winners in Sydney and Melbourne chauffeured around their city for a week, with dinners at seven top restaurants, all paid for by Broadsheet.
May 2014
Andrew Kelly, the winner of Broadsheet and the Bank of Melbourne’s competition The Keys, opens Filter, a cafe in the Melbourne CBD, with help from four industry mentors.
July 2014
broadsheet.com.au now reaches one million people a month.
October 2014
Scout by Broadsheet, a new site for finding Australia’s best creative, retail and hospitality jobs, launches.
November 2014
Bar Schweppes by Broadsheet pops up in the Birdcage at Flemington Racecourse during the Spring Racing Carnival.
May 2015
Broadsheet Sydney’s weekly “Local Knowledge” series begins, with a mission to highlight local migrant and diaspora communities and the people, places and foods that bind them together.
June 2015
The Broadsheet Restaurant opens for two months on Gertrude Street in Fitzroy, Melbourne, collecting cult dishes from across Melbourne and uniting them on one menu. Highlights include Top Paddock’s double-baked French toast, Coda’s duck curry and Huxtable’s mac’n’cheese.
July 2015
The Guardian publishes an article titled “The Broadsheet effect: is this the most powerful magazine in Australia?”, introducing people outside the hospitality industry to the term “Broadshat” – when a venue is mobbed by customers in the days after it’s written up by Broadsheet.
September 2015
Designer Bradley Mitchell wins the inaugural Mercedes-Benz Design Award by Broadsheet, with Noughts And Crosses – free-standing planter boxes for the home.
November 2015
The Broadsheet Melbourne Cookbook and The Broadsheet Sydney Cookbook are published simultaneously, containing 80 recipes each from the cities’ best restaurants, cafes and bars. Collaborators include Baker D Chirico, Chin Chin, Cumulus Inc, Dainty Sichuan, the Everleigh, Tonka, the Town Mouse and Vue de Monde in Melbourne, and Ester, 10 William St, The Apollo, Brickfields, Golden Century and Three Blue Ducks in Sydney.
January 2016
Broadsheet begins publishing in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
June 2016
Broadsheet begins publishing original video content.
July 2016
broadsheet.com.au now reaches two million people a month.
September 2016
Broadsheet wins Multi-channel Brand of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.
October 2016
Dishes from 22 of Sydney’s favourite restaurants become available for two months at The Broadsheet Restaurant on Danks Street in Waterloo, Sydney, including 10 William St’s pretzel with whipped bottarga. The team from Bulletin Place and Dead Ringer runs the bar.
February 2017
Broadsheet hosts White Noise, an all-night dance party held as part of White Night Melbourne.
July 2017
“Local Knowledge” writer and co-founder Nicholas Jordan publishes his 100th entry in the series.
August 2017
broadsheet.com.au now reaches 2.5 million people a month.
August 2017
Broadsheet and four other Australian publishers black out content and ads for three hours in support of marriage equality.
September 2017
“Local Knowledge” launches in Melbourne.
October 2017
Broadsheet’s founder and publisher, Nick Shelton, wins Executive of the Year at Mumbrella’s Publish Awards.
November 2017
Five Broadsheet photographers around the country capture the joyous moment when Australia officially says “yes” to marriage equality.
November 2017
Broadsheet Melbourne Food and Broadsheet Sydney Food, two small-format books, are published to guide locals to the best shops and produce markets in their city.
December 2017
Book With Broadsheet launches. Readers can now book restaurants without leaving the site.
September 2018
Print issues resume publishing in Sydney and Melbourne after a three-year hiatus. In Melbourne, the first cover story asks, “Are Melbourne’s Cafes Out of Ideas?” and in Sydney we interview the Sydney Opera House’s head of ideas, Dr Edwina Throsby.
September 2018
Broadsheet Studio wins Branded Content Studio of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.
October 2018
The Broadsheet Italian Cookbook, a hardback title featuring 80 recipes from restaurants, bars and cafes around the country, goes on sale. Contributors include Tipo 00, Osteria Ilaria, Fratelli Paradiso, 10 William St, Grossi Florentino, Embla, Icebergs, A Tavola, Carlton Wine Room, Fred’s, Il Bacaro, Pidapipó, Marios and Pellegrini’s.
November 2018
Two young chefs, Ryan Dolan and Matti Fallon, trial their own restaurant concepts for three months apiece at The Broadsheet Kitchen, a six-month pop-up on Smith Street in Fitzroy, Melbourne.
May 2019
broadsheet.com.au now reaches 2.8 million people a month.
July 2019
The Broadsheet Kitchen goes on a national tour, hosting one-off dinners at Supernormal Canteen, Ides, Half Acre and Bar Margaux in Melbourne; Automata and Mary’s in Sydney; Africola in Adelaide; and Arc Dining in Brisbane.
October 2019
Broadsheet turns 10.
November 2019
Broadsheet wins Media Brand of the Year at the B&T Awards.
This story originally appeared in Melbourne print issue 28 and Sydney print issue 20.
