"For a few short years, this vibrant neon strip with an edgy mix of grunge pubs, retro cafes, art galleries, comedy clubs, experimental theatre and bookstores was the hottest ticket in town."
This was Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, in its heyday, as described by author Maz Wilson in the foreword to a new book. Nowadays it's a different place altogether. Brunswick Street: Art and Revolution, which she co-authored with Anne Rittman, tells how cashed-up entrepreneurs and fashionistas moving in, and tourists from the suburbs, have quelled the street's bohemian spirit.
The book is also a celebration of the precinct's glory days, the 1970s to the 1990s, when it had a fabulous transformation from the realm of sleazy pubs, brothels and sweatshops to a booming alternative artistic and cafe hub.
More than 130 people were interviewed for the book, including restaurateurs Mario Maccarone and Mario De Pasqualeof Marios cafe, comedian Rod Quantock, sculptor Deborah Halpern, and cabaret artist Tim McKew.
The book tells how chef Stephanie Alexander opened Stephanie's restaurant there in 1976, with French cuisine that drew customers including Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall; and how supermodel sisters Jessica and Ashley Hart lived a bohemian life as children in a flat above a shop.
The street's many characters mentioned include homeless man Yiani, punk musician Jenny Pineapple and Black Cat cafe founder Henry Maas.
The book tells the stories behind irreverent records and books outlet Polyester; Roar Studios art co-op; early vegetarian restaurant the Vegie Bar; the seminal Flying Trapeze theatre cafe; and influential music venue the Punters Club.
In her foreword, Maz Wilson, a co-founder and artist at Pigtale ceramics studio from 1981 to 1994, is savage about the impact of trendy boutiques and eateries of today's Brunswick Street.
"Soaring rents inexorably pushed out the avant-garde and a raft of cashed-up entrepreneurs and fashionistas moved in.
"With them came respectability and the bohemian spirit was lost."
Florist Cherrie Miriklis-Pavlou, owner of Flowers Vasette since 1989, and whose family has run shops here since 1936, doesn't believe it's lost its soul. It still has the Black Cat cafe, Babka bakery, Sila espresso bar and the Evelyn Hotel.
She said it may now be a restaurant, cafe and clubs street with often exorbitant rents but it retains earthier elements such as the housing commission flats.
Ms Miriklis-Pavlou, who caters for society weddings and spring racing carnival marquees, says the new book is "amazing" and reminded her of a close-knit community.
Her mother, Marika, would serve soup, sweets and tea to the arty crowd from the family fruit shop. After Cherrie's father Con (the inspiration for TV character Con the Fruiterer) died in 1985, a customer helped the Miriklis family with deliveries. Local deli owners over-ordered vegies "to keep us in business".
"The support and the love of the community got us through," she says.
She has had offers to move south of the Yarra, but her identity is in Brunswick Street and she's staying.
"It's where my heart is," she said.