“The chef said he was going to the bank and never came back.” Shannon Martinez was working as a bartender at The East Brunswick hotel in Melbourne when she was asked to take over the kitchen. She happened to put a vegan parma on the menu and it blew up – the pub sold close […]
Food has become my favourite conversation-starter. Anyone – from a three-year-old to a gastroenterologist to a taxi driver – has an opinion on what’s worth eating. It’s probably not a coincidence that the ice-breaker question used, when testing someone’s microphone for a broadcast, is “what did you have for breakfast?” It’s the no-brainer anyone can […]
“It was an old smashed-up pub that had no floor and no ceiling and no roof.” It wasn’t the greatest site, but Brent Savage and his business partner Nick Hildebrandt (somehow) transformed it into Bentley, the first restaurant they’d ever open together. 11 years later, they now run four acclaimed Sydney venues, including Monopole, an award-winning […]
Duncan Welgemoed has the most incredible “becoming a chef” origin story I’ve ever heard – it’s a crazy tale that also involves George Clooney and ends with Duncan quitting his job by escaping through a window. Duncan was prepping chicken intestines from the age of eight in South Africa, so maybe it’s no surprise he […]
Last year, Yellow in Potts Point got reclassified as a vegetarian restaurant. Adam Wolfers and Brent Savage kept the brunch menu intact (bacon and its friends got protected status), but switched dinners to be all-vego and it was fantastic. I went three or four times in 2016, and each time, the restaurant was more crowded […]
Some people have tattoos of Katherine Sabbath’s desserts – that’s how committed they are to her cakes. Given that the self-taught baker has around 400,000 followers, it’s not a surprise that fans are so dedicated. Katherine’s blockbuster creations range from a Palm Springs wedding cake to a cantilevered cake with hardware parts that she made […]
Cool Mac in Kirribilli offers a version of avocado on toast that’s a) not boring b) legitimately worth ordering and c) good enough to almost “compel you to give up any shot of housing affordability”. It cross-breeds the breakfast staple with nasu dengaku (miso-glazed eggplant). You can read my article about the cafe here – […]
Massimo Bottura once cried while eating Lennox Hastie’s food at Firedoor. When the chef behind Osteria Francescana, named world’s best restaurant in 2016, tears up while eating your steak, you must be doing something right. Perhaps that’s why Lennox was compelled to smuggle his signature dry-aged meat all the way to Italy when he visited Bottura […]
Madre in Marrickville opened last week and already qualifies as my new favourite pizza place. Maybe I’m a fast mover or maybe I was always pre-destined to be in its fan club, as this new eatery is from the excellent team behind Two Chaps – a venue I’m always happy to cheerlead for. Like its […]
Yes, Donato Toce has gelato for breakfast. And he actually gets paid for it – it’s part of his job. He is the “cow milker, sugar hauler, head chef and gelatiere” at Gelato Messina, the much-loved Sydney institution that sells desserts such as Elvis The Fat Years, Robert Brownie Jr, Biggie S’Mores, This Is How […]
