A first taste
Chase Kojima, the chef behind Sokyo and Simulation Senpai, is opening an omakase-style (chef’s choice degustation) ramen joint in Chatswood next year. But you don’t have to wait that long to dig your chopsticks into his noodles. He’s popping up for a two-Tuesday residency at CBD bar PS40, on December 14 and 21, as part of PS40’s Takeover Tuesday program. Not only will you be able to taste his tonkotsu ramen, but he’ll also be dishing up snacks such as sashimi, and Wagyu with scampi and caviar. There are two seatings each night, at 6pm and 8pm, and it’s $65 for the menu, including a cocktail. Book via bookings@ps40bar.com.

A roast spectacular
Surry Hills pub Forresters has brought in chef Patrick Friesen (ex-Papi Chulo) to consult on its new menu – and there’s one dish that’s captured particular attention: the Big Yorkie. It’s exactly what it says on the tin: a giant Yorkshire pudding piled high with the pub’s roast meat of the week, potatoes, peas and carrots, and drowned in gravy. forresters.com.au

Sydney’s housing market gets crazier
Famed pastry chef Anna Polyviou has created a life-size gingerbread house modelled on a classic Aussie home, with a Hill’s Hoist and swimming pool, in Westfield Sydney. It took five days of around-the-clock work to complete the dwelling, which is made from one tonne of gingerbread dough, 100 kilograms of icing sugar, 450 kilograms of lollies and 100 packets of Iced Vovos. You have until December 30 to check it out – and if you visit on December 11 or 18, you can meet Polyviou in person and enjoy a gingerbread decorating session. On December 16 and 23 from 5pm she’ll be DJing live from the pop-up. And though you might not be able to afford to buy a house in Sydney’s difficult market, you could probably stretch the budget to buy one of Polyviou’s gingerbread-house kits, also for sale at the installation. westfield.com.au

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Wreathing havoc
Save your plastic wreath for next year: Scotland’s The Botanist Gin has teamed up with Sydney florist September Studio to create a wreath made using native Australian botanicals that would go well in a Botanist gin – as well as foraged ingredients, such as lemon myrtle and Geraldton wax, which you can actually use to garnish your next G&T. Pick up a wreath from September Studio for $165, and add on a bottle of the spirit for an extra $90. septemberstudio.com.au

Barangaroo gets its buzz back
The Barangaroo precinct has just released the second instalment of its Sydney Isn’t Sydney Without You video series. Unlike the first video, which showed the emptiness of the CBD during lockdown, this one shows Sydneysiders flocking back to the streets. The video begins with a smoking ceremony by First Nations songman Matthew Doyle, who also collaborated with producer Jungle Feelings to create the video’s original soundtrack, in the Eora and Dharawal languages. The video, which was directed by Billy Zammit, features movement artist Christopher Jhureea dancing through Barangaroo. youtube.com