After 15 years and 43,361 articles, how do you pick favourites? Well, it actually wasn’t as hard as it sounds. Around the Broadsheet office there are still those stories that make us laugh out loud, impress us with their elegant wordplay or just perfectly capture the time they were published. Here are 15 of the best, selected by Broadsheet’s senior editors.

by Tim Fisher (words) and Eugene Hyland (photos)

When the late Anthony Bourdain had lunch at Melbourne restaurant Cafe Di Stasio, he called it “the best [I’ve] ever eaten”. But weirdly, that’s not the main story here. Rather, it’s an exceedingly vivid portrait of larger-than-life proprietor Rinaldo Di Stasio, who, at the time of this feature, had already been running restaurants and supporting the arts for 29 years. In a quote: “Like many people with reputations that precede them, it’s hard not to approach a meeting without wondering which side of Di Stasio you’ll get.”

by Nicholas Jordan (words) and Kimberley Low (photos)

Between 2015 and 2023, Nicholas Jordan visited a staggering 236 small, owner-operated restaurants across Sydney to learn about what they mean to their various diasporas. The result is the most heartwarming, useful, important and long-running series in Broadsheet history. Start here, with entry number one, and marvel at the sheer Jonathan Gold-ness of it all.

by Katya Wachtel (words) and Josh Robenstone (photography)

Remember that weird time when every cafe in the city had white subway tiles and low-hanging Edison light bulbs? Turns out, it was the start of something bigger – cafes beginning to take design seriously. We dug into it with help from four design firms and two restaurateurs – and somehow photographed them seated together in the middle of a packed restaurant.

by Ryan Shelton (words) and Kristoffer Paulsen (photo)

Nearly a decade on, comedian Ryan Shelton’s antics still make us laugh. There was that time he ate breakfast, lunch and dinner at one restaurant without leaving. That other time he drove down the coast for a beer while waiting for a table at Chin Chin. And this time, when he did the maths on how much he’s costing his local cafe – annually – by working from there all day every day. Spoiler: it’s a shitload.

by Max Veenhuyzen (words) and Nikki To (photos)

We’ve never had much interest in publishing restaurant reviews. But if we did, they’d look like Max Veenhuyzen’s elegant, well-researched love letters to the restaurants defining and progressing Australian cuisine. This one, written a few years before Saint Peter shot to global fame, paints a prescient picture of fish-whisper Josh Niland and wholly explains his present-day mystique.

by Marcus Teague (words) and Jesse Hunniford (photos)

Former Broadsheet editor Marcus Teague is one of Australia’s most respected music journalists, who once spent a week on tour with Metallica by way of invitation from Lars Ulrich. Who better to vicariously follow around Dark Mofo, doing what he does in a way that always feels very Hunter S Thompson-ish? Until the subversive festival “paused” this year, these recaps were an annual highlight.

by Katya Wachtel and Amanda Valmorbida

Did you catch it back then? When a crop of new Australian fashion labels quietly conquered the world with savvy Instagram strategies and direct-to-consumer models with billions of potential customers? No? Then read this extensively researched feature and prepare to be amazed. Bonus: Vogue photographer Sam Bisso’s gorgeous original shots for Broadsheet, featuring Australian model Montana Cox.

by Nick Connellan (words) and Daniel Purvis (photo)

It was a genuine shock when the country’s premier natural wine festival, Rootstock Sydney, was suddenly cancelled. But it also spoke to a larger problem – the difficulty of pinning down exactly what is and isn’t “natural wine”. If you’ve ever found the term confusing or just plain useless, this is the piece to demystify it for you.

by Sarah Norris (words) and Tom Jellett (illustration)

What do strangers talk about when they’re crammed together, half naked, in a tiny sweatbox? In this short, voyeuristic and slyly funny piece, Norris – a regular at the Icebergs sauna – shares some choice anecdotes. “Just like election day, a Bunnings sausage sizzle and airport security gates, it’s a great leveller, bringing together people of all walks to live harmoniously side by side for 10 or so minutes, sharing life lessons and advice.”

by Pilar Mitchell (words) and Pete Dillon (photos)

When we got word that one of the country’s finest violin-makers was planning to retire after 65 years (!) and nearly 800 instruments, we were hooked. Long-time contributor Pilar Mitchell did the story absolute justice, humanising subject Harry Vatiliotis exactly as much as we hoped.

By Nick Connellan (words) and Dan Herrmann-Zoll (photo)

What a horrible moment for Australian history the 2019-20 bushfires were. Our hearts still ache for all the people who lost their lives, their homes and their livelihoods. But when we started interviewing farmers, fishers, winemakers and other producers – 20 all up – to find out whether prices might rise in restaurants, we heard some incredible stories of resilience and hope.

by Callum McDermott (words) and Tom Jellett (illustration)

Speaking of horrible times, remember the entirety of 2020? This piece, published in December and recapping a year full of anxiety, uncertainty, frustration and heartbreak, somehow manages to make it all seem kinda fun and bearable (Tiger King!), rather than a collective nightmare. That's a feat in itself.

by Lucy Bell Bird

We’ve gotten used to Sculpture by the Sea, the annual festival that takes over clifftops and beaches between Bondi and Bronte. But hearing the organisers and artists reflect on the first few years gives us an appreciation of just what a remarkable feat it was to get the thing off the ground. Apart from all the red tape, there was the weather to contend with: “There were torrential downpours and Marks Park turned into a mud bath. You basically dropped your sculpture at the gates and [prayed]. I wondered if they’d cancel the exhibition.”

By Daniela Frangos

A big part of being an editor is finding the right writer for the job. The one you know has the required knowledge, or the right vibe to charm the talent. You only need to read the first paragraph of this feature to know that former Broadsheet Adelaide editor Daniela Frangos was the best possible person in Australia for this job: “I celebrated my 30th birthday at The Summertown Aristologist. And my 31st. And my 32nd. I’ve cried there after a break-up, I kissed a date in the cellar, made lasting friendships and danced on the porch during many impromptu dance parties. Once, I was regaled with a colourful account of co-owner Aaron Fenwick’s birth after striking up a conversation with his mum.”

By Jenny Valentish (words) and Mia Mala McDonald (photo)

“Jenny Valentish wrote the hell out of this,” one editor commented when this story came in. Hear hear. The super honest and revealing quotes from Beatrix’s Natalie Paull? The framing of her second cookbook as a difficult second album? Chefs kiss.

By Elvin Ho (words) and Rez Harditya (photos)

By Nick Connellan (words) and Gareth Sobey (photo)

By Sven Almenning

By Marcus Teague (words) and Michael Woods (photos)

By Nick Connellan (words) and Adam Nickel (illustration)

by Emma Do

By Emily Naismith (words) and Thomas Naismith (photos)

by Nadine Ingram (words) and Symon McVilly (illustration)

By Hilary McNevin (words) and Parker Blain (photos)

By David Matthews (words) and Nikki To (photos)

By Michael Harry (words) and Liana Hardy (photos)