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“The hotel boasts floor-to-ceiling views of
graffiti-strewn concrete from almost every
room,” says its website. “And for the exhibitionists
among you – many are within range of the army
watchtower.” In Bethlehem, a few metres from the
controversial wall separating Israeli and Palestinian
territories, the elusive British artist Banksy has
opened The Walled Off Hotel. It’s a gallery, museum
and nine-room guesthouse filled with satirical
artworks and wry kitsch. A shared room with bunk
beds is kitted out with surplus gear from an Israeli
army barracks; the “presidential suite” has a water
feature made from a bullet-riddled tank. “The aim,”
writes Banksy, “is to tell the story of the wall from
every side.”banksy.co.uk>KU DE TA DOES
PERTH
Ku dining isn’t fine dining. At least that’s the thinking
of Daniel Fisher and Liam Atkinson, the two Print Hall
alumni behind the food at the new Ku De Ta in Perth,
the Balinese beach club’s first international expansion.
That might be the case, but there’s no denying the
restaurant’s chawanmushi – a shimmering custard of
duck egg studded with bone marrow, Goolwa cockles
and XO sauce – says as much about the pair’s cooking
pedigree as it does Ku De Ta’s likeable brand of
luxe-casual eating. kudeta.comBREAKING THE ICE
The coolest thing in cruising this year is an Antarctic
voyage aboard Silversea’s rebuiltSilver Cloud. The
former ocean-going ship is being ice-strengthened
and decked out with a new observation lounge and
expansive, redesigned suites for its maiden season
as a luxury expedition ship in November. It will carry
200 passengers in polar regions (260 elsewhere)
with 19 expedition experts leading excursions ashore
in 18 new Zodiacs. Silver Cloud’s 19-day Ushuaia
round-trip itinerary, departing 21 December, visits the
Falklands, South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula,
and promises a sensational combination of cruising
sophistication and remote, icebound adventure.
silversea.comPHOTOGRAPHY LEE TRAN LAM (MUSHROOM DISH) & GETTY IMAGESHOT 100
MUCH ADO ABOUT MUSHROOMS Forget zoodles, king oyster
mushrooms are the new vegetable pasta. They’re free of gluten and
mighty versatile: at New York’s Little Park, Andrew Carmellini cooks
strands of the fungi in a shallot and porcini butter sauce, while only
blocks away Ivan Ramen serves king oyster mushroom ribbons dressed
with yuzu and shiso salsa verde.littlepark.com; ivanramen.com
IVAN RAMEN’S OYSTER
MUSHROOM WITH
YUZU AND SHISO
SALSA VERDEBOUND FOR
ANTARCTICA
WEST BANKSY