February 2nd, 2012 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Cafes | 6 Comments »
Here are a few things that preoccupied me, appetite-wise, in the last week. The Lamington Affogato ($6) at Sample Coffee Bar in Surry Hills. It’s a 2-in-1 megahit of coffee and cake – and a fine enough reason to seek out this new-ish cafe. If you’re looking for (heart) trouble, try its custom Pacemaker blend […]
July 4th, 2010 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 10 Comments »
I enjoy watching the year change according to, not the calendar, but the blackboard menu at the Luxe Bakery in Newtown. In summer, you could order oxheart-tomatoes, basil and bocconcini, fanned out on sourdough; as the temperature dropped, that disappeared and was replaced with garlicky, roasted-through mushrooms served on a thick, crusty bread-slice, and later, […]
June 7th, 2010 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Last month, I went to a great talk given by Christopher The, who runs the wonderful Black Star Pastry in Newtown. (I’ve been meaning to scribble something on it much sooner, but life has had a funny, dodgem-car-like way of throwing plans off-course.) His talk was part of the Food&Company show on at Gaffa Gallery, […]
March 7th, 2010 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Restaurants | 11 Comments »
Sometimes things seem to happen in hyperspeed. You go from never having heard of a place and within a day, countless highly food-savvy people are happily talking it up. The place is Bloodwood in Newtown and though it’s only been open a week, it’s already gotten online endorsement from Gourmet Traveller’s Pat Nourse, TwoThousand’s Alex […]
February 24th, 2010 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »
Here’s how it happens. A few weeks ago, Dan Hong, the award-winning chef of Lotus (and self-confessed sneaker whiz), passed by a new restaurant being set up and sent out this tweet: Izakaya opening soon in newtown!! Win As an izakaya-convert, I instantly wanted to know more. I didn’t know Dan at all, but I […]
November 7th, 2009 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Today I was on Anna Burns’ excellent Weekend Lunch show (on FBI 94.5FM) talking about my favourite Sydney breakfast places. I say ‘favourite’ and not ‘best’, because as soon as you use that word, you end up baiting people into disagreeing. Favourites are a personal thing. Mine are (in no order really):Clipper Cafe, GlebeRuby’s Diner, […]
July 6th, 2009 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »
Over the years, I’ve kept circling back to Satellite in Newtown. It was Tabitha who introduced me to this cafe, many menus ago. During my uni days, many sleepy weekends were jumpstarted by the mega pile-up that was Satellite’s vego breakfast option. (The mountain of toast and sides was impossible to scale, let alone finish […]
June 21st, 2009 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
I know I blogged about Black Star Pastry last year but I was recently re-reminded of how great it is. The macro-sized patisserie has sort of provided the menu to my week – or a kind of diary spelt in sugar, ganache, elderflower and rosewater. It started last Saturday with a Zucchini and Pumpkin Muffin […]
January 9th, 2009 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »
In one big broom-sweep, I’ve found all these blog-dust-bunnies that have been lurking in my “Draft” folder over the last year. So I decided to wipe them clean and give them an airing. In the same way stores go crazy around Dec/January – purging their storerooms and piling their shopfronts high with price-slashed items – […]
November 19th, 2008 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Instead of gingerbread men, you can get kick-ass Ginger Ninjas ($4) at Black Star Pastry in Newtown. Yes, ninjas. They don’t come with ninja stars, but they are clad in a thick identity-disguising coat of chocolate, which is more enticing than the sparse button-only gear their traditional friends get around in. There are many other […]