REMORANDOM Shindig

What a great night! It was everything I expected it to be – and more. I was very busy being host and hunting down name stickers – but I did manage to catch a range of conversation snippets, and I could feel the good vibes. Onward!

Remo G. 5/5 October 21, 2026

REMORANDOM Shindig

Last night, I was privileged to attend the first annual REMO Shindig, a gathering of some 190 people who consider themselves part of the REMO community. For the uninitiated, REMO started as a bricks-and-mortar store on the corner of Oxford and Crown Sts, Darlinghurst, founded by Remo Giuffré in 1988 as a shop where you could buy beautiful, playful, high quality goods of all sorts that would please and delight customers who appreciate great design, high and low culture, wit, and charm. After Hazel and I moved to Sydney at the end of 1987, we “discovered” REMO and became frequent visitors, usually leaving with a t-shirt with a quirky slogan or graphic, or a toy, or a puzzle, or some delightful doodad or knicknack. Browsing the REMO catalogue was an annual ritual. The Darlinghurst store closed in 1996, followed by a Bondi version that opened from 2004-2012, followed in turn by the online store it is today. Last night’s Shindig was at the Bondi Golf and Diggers Club in North Bondi, a bastion of an older style of club that’s going out of fashion, with gorgeous views over Bondi and the perfect venue for this event. It was ostensibly a celebration of the the publication of the seventh and final volume in the REMORANDOM book series, to which I’ve been a subscriber since Volume 1. Inevitably, it was also much more than that: a gathering of the REMO family, from Remo’s actual family, to Bondi locals and an extended community drawn together by a set of shared values and an appreciation of culture, design, knowledge, and beauty. Hazel would have loved it. Looking through the guest list beforehand, there were only a few people I knew personally and a few more I knew by name only. Still, that was part of the point: to meet new people who you were guaranteed to have something in common with – REMO people. Glass of bubbles in hand, I circled the room and stood alone for less than a minute before a bloke came up and enquired as to my connection with REMO. He was an architect / designer and we were soon joined by his mate, also an architect who had in fact designed the first one’s house. We chatted about houses, design, families, cricket, and football before I excused myself to refresh my drink. I spotted David and Dani Art Wales and had a quick catchup chat with them, recalling their epic Glebe soiree from several years ago, and trying to work out how this evening was supposed to proceed. Wandering on, I said another quick hello to screenwriter Warren Coleman (Bowling Man in the revered Castanet Club), whose artist wife Therese Kenyon couldn’t make it – she’d been good friends with Hazel from Newcastle days. A young woman grabbed my arm and insisted I join her with a group sitting at a window table overlooking a glorious Bondi sunset. She worked in housing for women and was young enough to not even know about the original REMO store. Her friends were a jewellery designer, a “tour guide” (because people provided their own job descriptions, it was hard to know which ones were literal or jokey), and a financial manager. Lovely people, all, and all amazed and interested that I work in digital accessibility. Soon enough, there were some formalities, with MC Christopher Zinn (“determined consumer”) introducing Michael Mahoney for the Welcome to Country, Melanie Giuffré, whose book Love, Bondi had also just been launched (and who solved every purchasing issue we ever threw at her), Caroline Overington, Literary Editor of The Australian (and stalwart REMO supporter), and finally Remo himself. Much laughter, applause (and consideration of what “applause” means, as noted in REMORANDOM 7), and affection. A series of lucky door prizes was drawn from a hat by the gorgeous Heather Mitchell, actor and author of the brilliant memoir Everything and Nothing (who I wish I’d had the chance to chat to). Most attendees kicked on to dinner – a very tasty goat curry with accompaniments – and as I was at the bar on my way in I noticed Shona Martyn and and Christopher Read. Shona, award-winning journalist, book publishing doyenne, and for the last five years Chief Executive of the Walkley Awards, shared a close bond with Hazel, a friendship that extended to the four of us bumping into each other at theatre events. Shona, Christopher, and I sat together at dinner, catching up on houses, Shona’s inmpending retirement, and, of course, Hazel. We were joined by Jan Golembiewski, another architect with eclectic interests, and we chatted happily about the kind of interesting things Remo puts into his books, It was practically a REMORANDOM come to life! Like all of the people I mentioned it to, Shona and Christopher were delighted to hear about my move to the ABC – I think it’s fair to say an affinity with our national public broadcaster was another common thread in this otherwise disparate community. On yet another trip to the bar, I took the opportunity to say hello to Toby Creswell and how much I’m looking forward to his book on JJ / JJJ, co-authored with Stuart Coupe. I reminded him that we’d met in the late 80s when he came to HWW to discuss a possible project with Stephen Wall, a discussion I was called in on. We talked about Stephen (not the first time his name had come up that evening), I wished him well and left him to his friends. We were all still chatting happily in the dining room as the evening wound down. Among the remaining stragglers in the main bar, we said our goodbyes and thank yous to Remo (I was particularly chuffed when he complimented me on my recipes) and we drifted off into the Bondi night. I somewhat outrageously treated my self to an Uber home to Corrimal, where an indignant Baxter chided me for my prolonged absence. A nightcap, then, with my feline friend cuddled up on the counch as I devoured a few more pages of REMORANDOM 7. Did you know the Hass Avocado started life as a failed experiment? Read all about it in R7. As usual, I completely forgot to take any photos, but fortunately Enzo Amato was on hand to capture the event. You can browse a gallery of his snaps: if you’re a friend of mine and/or Remo’s you’ll probably see some familiar faces.

Ricky O. 5/5 October 21, 2026

REMORANDOM Shindig