#10: Adele Samra
Bondi Beach
By Annette Ekin
Interesting name, what's your background? Jewish, half French, half American.
What do you do? I work in a club in the Cross at the moment. It's a place called Melt. I'm a bartender there.
What are you up to now? Killing time on the grass; because I work nights, the daytime is my time to relax a little bit.
Where are you from? I grew up in Paddington but I now live in Bondi.
Is Bondi your usual stomping ground? Yeah. Bondi's sort of mixed, but it's got some nice places like Mojos and Motions.
Do you venture outside of the Bondi vortex? Yeah, I like Surry Hills a lot and I guess if I'm going out I like the Cross and because I work there I end up going out around there. They're great Le Specs shades. Where did you pick up the rest of your outfit? My crochet top is from Grandma Takes a Trip on Crown St and this little jean skirt is from one of those little shops on Hall St and the belt is from Funky Femme, one of those cheap, dodgy shops in Bondi.
What do you like about Sydney? What I like about Sydney is the lifestyle. You've got the beach, you've got the weather and it's pretty cruisy. It's not so hard here. Living in London can get kind of tough sometimes.
I think people in Bondi are pretty relaxed about things.
What don't you like about Sydney? I don't like the big pubs and I think now that they're changing the licensing laws Sydney will become more like Melbourne: we'll get more interesting themed bars. I don't like the architecture either. There are a lot of ugly buildings. It's naturally a beautiful city, but there wasn't enough thought put into the architecture.
So have you thought about opening a little bar when the laws come in? I've considered it.
What would Adele's bar be like? I guess I'd open a bar that I'd want to hang out in. Something really comfortable and hopefully not pretentious. I hate being in places like the Bondi Hotel that's so crowded and ugly. It'd be good to have a nice place to go to in Bondi, there isn't really anywhere that special here.
What would the feel of the place be like? I guess a bit arty and edgy and something different. Having lived in London there's so many different bars there, there's always something new and interesting to go to.
What do you think it is that Sydney needs? Maybe some more creativity? Thinking outside the box? Sydney is still halfway between being a city and a really big suburb. Melbourne has more of a European feel and it would be good for Sydney to be more like that.