You no longer need to make travel arrangements to end up in Japan – the most direct route involves just a few footsteps down a Surry Hills alley. Restaurant Sasaki feels exactly like a place you’d chance upon in a country that has a world-beating habit of hiding great eateries in modest locations. The more […]
Restaurants
Restaurant Sasaki, Surry Hills
April 19th, 2017 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | 2 Comments »
Africola, Adelaide
April 15th, 2017 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Latest, Restaurants, Travel | 2 Comments »
Saga, Enmore
March 18th, 2017 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Cafes, Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | 4 Comments »
Saga in Enmore isn’t just named after a pair of sneakers that Andrew Bowden (aka Andy Bowdy) bought for nearly a grand (blame shipping costs and unfriendly exchange rates for that eyebrow-raising price). It’s also a tribute to the many chapters of his life spent with partner Maddison Howes – they met at Hartsyard, where […]
Burger Head, Penrith
January 13th, 2017 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Latest, Restaurants | 1 Comment »
There is no shortage of ultra-overqualified chefs opening burger joints in Sydney – so what makes Burger Head stand out? It’s the first example of this trend in Western Sydney. This Penrith venue is run by three incredibly young guns – Richard Borg, Timothy Rosenstrauss and Joshua DeLuca (DeLuca is the ‘ancient’ one, at age […]
Queen Chow, Enmore
January 11th, 2017 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | 1 Comment »
“I started telling people that we weren’t ever actually opening a restaurant, but it was a performance art piece to see how long we could keep people’s interest,” jokes Patrick Friesen, co-executive chef for Enmore’s Queen Chow – a venue that’s been flagged for launch for a year now. The opening date kept playing slip-and-slide, […]
Bar Ume, Rising Sun Workshop, Fred’s, Wilmer and other places I’m glad opened in 2016
December 31st, 2016 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | 8 Comments »
Given all of 2016’s well-documented lowlights, no one is especially keen to give the year a rerun. But it is worth recapping about the notable restaurants, bars and cafes that launched over the last 12 months in Sydney. There was a blockbuster-sized explosion of venues opening in 2016. There were spin-offs aplenty (Bentley hoisted up […]
Good Luck Pinbone, Kensington
December 26th, 2016 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | Leave A Comment »
Pinbone’s re-entry on the Sydney dining scene last month was met with high readings of hype and anticipation – and some tokens of fortune, too. The crew’s latest pop-up, named Good Luck Pinbone, was aptly greeted with charms aplenty after launching in Kensington. A gold chicken wishbone, lucky wooden spoons carved from durian, a rusted […]
Messina Creative Department, Darlinghurst
October 11th, 2016 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | 2 Comments »
Going to the Messina Creative Department in Darlinghurst is – hands down – one of the most delightful things you can do in Sydney. You walk in wondering, “is a seven-course dessert degustation really a wise move?” and walk out so cheerfully light-headed and un-anchored by gravity that you could basically be a balloon float. […]
The rise of vegan dining in Sydney
April 28th, 2016 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Latest, Restaurants | Leave A Comment »
Sydney’s always had long-time vegan institutions (the original Bodhi opened 28 years ago and Green Gourmet’s been kicking it for 16 years), but something has happened in the last year – vegan dining has jumped to a new level. I wrote about this in my cover story for Good Food this week (you can read […]