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aiiiiieeeeeee!! it is a hiatus!
2007-11-16 11:19:00
BAI.We are off to the land of (South) Korea for about two-and-a-half months! Wheeeeee!Have fun reading and re-reading our archives!Our hiatus will be stoppededed at the end of January or startish of February...depending on how lazy we are!MUCH BAI!
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Bourke Street Bakery
2007-10-13 13:12:00
Corner Bourke and Devonshire Street , Surry Hillsor130 on Broadway, BroadwayTuesday - Friday, 7am-6pm; Saturday - Sunday, 8am-5pmHurr hurr...how ye cannae go a day or so without a wee pastry or hot breadsies is beyond my recognition. Argch.Yes, yes. Pastries are not exactly the most Scottish of things...but perhaps you should consider that I was speaking in Piratish. No but seriously, how can you not eat something as delicious as that which is baked at Bourke Street Baker y ? Even with my (often quite severe) intolerance to products with gluten involved I still manage to hit this place up more often than should probably be.There are two stores. The original store, in the good land that is Slurry Hills, now bakes all the bread, and the store on Broadway takes care of the pastries. I imagine that they do swapsies some time in the early hours of the morning. The thing with Bourke Street Bakery is the range. There are the few select bakeries in Sydney that do absolutely amazing bread. Bou...

La Disfida
2007-09-28 15:58:00
109 Ramsay Street, HaberfieldTuesday - Sunday, 6pm - 10.30pmHands down, this is the best pizza in Sydney.I usually weigh my opinions on food-houses based on more than just the food and it's quality, such as service and atmosphere, however it testifies to La Disfida's phenomenon that this place can still stand to completely ignore those other factors.Despite my patronage for some goodly time, and I really mean goodly, there is barely a smile when I traverse their entrance, nor even a polite greeting to speak of. I have to say, without stereotyping too much, it is very typical of the area. If you are not in with speaking about the new bambini or gossiping about which landlord is going to buy the business due up for sale in seven months (yeah, it's a very 'indie' crowd), prepare to be rightfully ignored. And y'know what, it really ain't that bad. Even with my connections in both the area and with the owners I still barely manage to dredge any recognition from their faces.Now tha...

Rosso Pomodoro
2007-09-27 11:14:00
Shop 90-91, 24 Buchanan Street, BalmainTuesday - Sunday, from 6pm to lateI already had my favourite pizzeria in Sydney, and for at least 12 years that did not change. I need to clarify now that it still hasn't changed, however there was, if but for one moment, perhaps a possible contender. Imagine that?Scurrying in from the night, the warm smell hits your nose and tickles the memories of times past and comforting. Having no idea just how popular this place was, we were almost turned away on a Thursday evening due to the inordinate amount of people already seated and the bookings ready to arrive. It was our luck that we had to be at a friend's for a hootenanny and so when we told of our desire to eat quickly and be out of there in a shot, the all-smiling woman at the front was more than happy to fit us in. We were served by lovely man, who was evidently a newish import, and was as charmingly suave and European as one can get. Helpful too!Beautifully thin crusts are definitely a mu...
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Feastability
2007-09-23 11:07:00
Newtown Performing Arts School, King Street, NewtownTowards the end of September, AnnuallyFood markets are always exciting. It's a chance to sample the tastes and experience the delightful smells that infuse with each other and send you under the dizzying spell of a food frenzy. Better in public than in the privacy of your own home, where, if you may collapse, people may not discover your body for weeks.I don't really have much to say about Feastability. In my opinion it could be better, in terms of quality of produce offered, however, in it's defence, it is more a showcasing of local restaurants and food businesses than anything else. It also must be noted that I am one spoilt foodie (can I be called that? according to the wikipedia article I think I am categorised more within the realm of a gourmet!?), for sure. Feastability is an opportunity to experience the world that is King Street in the courtyards of the local Performing Arts School.So there were different roasts and blen...
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Messina
2007-09-20 11:13:00
241 Victoria Street, DarlinghurstMonday - Friday, 4.30pm-11.30pm; Friday - Saturday, midday-11.30pm; Sunday, midday-11pmOkay. Here's what happened:1/ Frozen cow's milk + sugar + amazing ingredients (usually in semi-whole form) = exciting.2/ I = looking for a car park in Darlinghurst + decision to turn left because a park is seen RIGHT OUT THE FRONTAL OF EXCITING.3/ I = temporarily forget everything but the gelato anticipated + start driving down a very busy, very one-way street, the very wrong way + blissfully not realising latter point.4/ Dude with a parked truck unloading goods of food = starts to wave arms vigorously + and shouting indiscernible things at my carface.5/ I = "Dude, seriously, wtf you wanging on about?"6/ The next second = a three-lane stream of speeding cars come towards me.7/ I = *screal* + pull massive tankbitch of a car over to the left + hunches shoulders over (...yeah, no-one knows why).8/ Police car happens to be the first car to approach and see me = I x ...
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Katipo
2007-09-15 13:45:00
101 Bondi Road, BondiMonday-Friday, 6.30pm-5pm; Saturday-Sunday, 8am-5pm**I totally dig this place. With a spade.Katipo is just the type of place that you can chill out at for hours (we did), appreciate the bohemian-style atmosphere (we did this, also), and nibble on some food as you please (yep, did that one too!). And, as a side note, this café's name is that of the species of New Zealandish spider (it's apparently run by a couple of Kiwi's) that is 'non-aggressive' and lives under logs. How cute! No seriously...most of the staff wear t-shirts that have darling little spiders hanging over their shoulders. I want one!The coffee. It is Artecaffe. A pleasant and smooth blend, definitely one of the better ones around Sydney. The milk they did here was pretty good too. If I sound a little hesitant, it's only because I have awesome coffee a great deal closer to me. Thank you inner city!!The food. From what I can tell, it's somewhat Spanish-inspired, the modern classics have a d...

Big Brekky
2007-09-15 07:41:00
336 Stanmore Road, PetershamWednesday-Friday, 8:30am-3pm; Saturday, 9am-3pm; Sunday, 9am-2pmHonestly, the innocence and playfulness of childhood still resides a little in all of us. Just ask Peter Combe. Simple concepts, bold colours, and a tendency for asking for everything to be mega-sized dominates not only the minds of human cubs but also the notion behind this café.I really like the space created. The décor sets the atmosphere with the familiarity of kindergarten and the sophistication of a modern home's reach between comfortable and classy. A big communal table with a giant bowl of lemons sits in the middle of the naturally lit room, creating a nice feel of...communism. Right? Audacious tones and dark shiny wooden floorboards always win the way to my strictly pleased-only-with-aesthetics heart. And how can you not like multi-pastel-coloured bookcases?The food amounts to huge proportions. They were not lying when they said it was big. Brekky. Man. I was pretty full! After s...

Espresso Galleria
2007-09-15 00:40:00
84 Ramsay Street, HaberfieldMonday - Friday, 8am - 5.30pm; Saturday, 8am - 3pm The coffee here is really good.In a town where the men gossip-folk more than the women and the houses need development applications for changing the colour of one's letterbox, an 'outsider' setting up shop in such a tight-knit community fuels the next couple of month's debates and rapid hand-gesturing. Haberfield - or the 'Ach-Field as I like to call it (...not...really...) - is exactly like that. For a very traditionalist Italian suburb to afford a man with a Greek background the privilege of making their beloved espresso is certainly no mean feat achieved by that single dude. Imagine that.And he is a dude! With an obvious passion for what he is doing, the roasts and blends he sells and uses reflect a modernity he is trying to bring to both the coffee and the area. The shots are amazingly consistent and, although relatively unflourished with grand flavours and flashes of enlightenment, provide the b...
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Campos
2007-09-10 01:34:00
193 Missenden Road, NewtownMonday - Friday, 7am to 4pm; Saturday, 8am to 5pm*Sigh*If only everyone could be as good as Campos . You're not, by the way. Do you consistently blow my mind? Do you actively worry about getting everything right for my approval? Do you provide a rich injection of adrenaline into my bloodstream (pre- and post-class, mind) whilst still providing the lightness of citrus-y undertones?Mayhaps. But, more likely: no.Campos in Newtown is the celebrity of coffee roasters in Sydney. Their increasing popularity does two of many things:a/ renders them an untouchable-drop-all-your-other-gods-and/ or-add-to-your-pantheon-now-deity-like status (that's usually reserved for lesser mortals), andb/ means that average local café are starting to use their beans with their average barista skills are now pulling average shots +10. And that, by mine calculations, means that Sydney's coffee is improving by at least ~3.1415926%. On average.In other words, there is a direct causal...

Artisan Focacceria
2007-08-19 13:04:00
230 Palmer Street, DarlinghurstMonday to Friday, 7:30am - 3:30pm; Saturdays, 8:30am - 3:00pmIt's strange that, despite my (what I thought was an) avoidance of 'Italian' food in Sydney, we have been predominately reviewing places which specialise in Italian cuisine. This is a problem and I now realise that my dislike for the said cuisine outside my own home is reasonably unfounded. The primary reason I resent having Italian food at restaurants or cafés other than those I trust is the blatant disregard for authenticity. Too much, in this town, is a toasted sandwich deemed a "focaccia", packet spaghetti and melted Kraft cheese termed "fettucine carbonara", and Dominoes seen as a "pizza". Urgh. Many so-called 'cooks' lie and cheat.So I thank the merry immortals that places like Artis an Focacceria exist. This is what every food house should be aiming to be. No exceptions. I have learnt, say, within the past couple of years, that anything with the word 'artisan' somewhere in their...

Gelatomassi
2007-08-06 13:04:00
262 King Street, Newtown Apparently: from all hours of the day to all hours of the nightPut the paintbrush down. There is no time for shaving your moustache. This is not the time to feed the hamsters. Come with me now, on a journey through time and space. Come with me now, to the land of wondrous rolling mountains of nutty creaminess, fruity lusciousness...and plains of white platters. Take your serve to a cone. A waffle cone, to be exact!Gelato is a staple. Just like the Koreans have their rice, the Italians have their pasta and the Russians have their Vodka, I can has my gelato. Having refined the palate for some years, I know a good gelato when I taste one. Gelatomassi produces flavours that have just the right consistency and textures, they use actual ingredients so the colours are gorgeously natural, and they just taste good!It was this particular night that there were, with chance, four of us to spare. What a perfect number for a plate of eight flavours! ...despite this conven...

Oscillate Wildly
2007-08-01 11:31:00
275 Australia Street, Newtown Tuesday - Saturday, 6pm - 10pmI absolutely love Oscar Wilde. 'Tis a pity he has departed this world for quite some time now... And the main trouble here is that I immediately love anyone who references him or his works or his delightfully piquant wit. Bless their dear souls!Having heard quite a deal about this restaurant previous to our arrival - and being made to bide one's time by weeping in my dreams about deliciousness for some goodly time on a waiting list - I had more than high expectations. Finally the day was to come. Finally we were to taste the splendours of the up-and-coming (or perhaps, more accurately, already made) Chef Daniel Puskas so anticipated. As a side note this 23 year-old has already worked in some absolute top locations - including doing an apprenticeship at Tetsuya's, which he then decided to do an overseas stint at Zuma's in London, that being tripped back home to The Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay in Glebe, and then h...

The Aroma Coffee Festival
2007-07-22 13:22:00
The Rocks10am - 5pm; annually, mid-late JulyIn general, I love markets. In particular those little white stalls with teepee hoods that dramatically sweep to the sky in that mediaeval, almost gothic, fashion. Good times!To be honest, I was not expecting much from the Aroma Festival . In the weeks approaching there was advertising in all shapes and forms (okay, SMH and small billboards), and it started to get a really mainstream feel to it. I am the first to admit that I am a food snob at heart and, thus, I cannot deal with the general public knowing about awesome. I reserve the right to say that some things are only meant for those who deserve the rad. I should probably talk to a therapist about it. Or an analyst. Or...Nevertheless, the day came. It was overcast and threatened to be drizzly. In other words it was set to be a perfect clutching-coffee-and-nibbling-on-deliciou s-things day. Ayup! I got there relatively early and had a look around at the roaster's and blender's who had c...
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Table for 20
2007-07-21 12:29:00
182 Campbell St, Surry HillsLegs under the table at 8pm: $40 Wednesday & Thursday; $50 Friday; bookings available for Saturday.Tagline: "There are 193 normal restaurants in Surry Hills. This is not one of them."With such an wonderfully unique idea, I was drawn to the prospect of the experience more so - for a first - than I desired my curiosity regarding the food to be sated.As inspired as was the concept, so too was the way the chef/host/pioneer Michael approached the evening. Having spoken to him twice before on the hellophone regarding times and the requirements of vegetarian friends that were to accompany us, he seemed a sweet and approachable guy - one who always seems to terribly pleased to see you and has that familiarity about him, the reasons for which can never quite be pinned down.Not previously aware of his Mediterranean origins, though, I was not all surprised when I found out. His food was obviously influenced by the welcoming and bold meals the Italians are renowned f...
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