December 17th, 2018 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Latest, Podcasts | Leave A Comment »
People actively smuggle Smith & Deli‘s food onto planes – that’s how addictive the dishes are. Interstate regulars even bring their own Tupperware containers and cooler bags, so they can enjoy the food at home. That’s the power of what Shannon Martinez, Mo Wyse and El Rosa are doing at the popular Melbourne vegan deli […]
October 22nd, 2017 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Latest, Podcasts | Leave A Comment »
“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 […]
September 30th, 2017 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Latest, Restaurants | Leave A Comment »
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 […]
August 24th, 2017 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Bars, Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | 4 Comments »
“I don’t know what I’m eating, but it tastes amazing,” my friend Tabitha says about the menu at Bad Hombres in Surry Hills. You don’t need to carry out an intelligence operation to enjoy the dishes here – the tacos and quesadillas are optimised for strong rat-a-tat bursts of flavour that’d score well on any […]
May 30th, 2016 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Cafes, Latest | 3 Comments »
“Everything dies on Enmore Road!” That’s what Piero Pignatti Morano was (cheerily) told when he set up his latest cafe, El Chapel. A local helpfully pointed out the high mortality rate of all the businesses that had optimistically tried to set up on this unforgiving stretch of Marrickville. I’m gunning for El Chapel to get […]
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 […]
January 15th, 2016 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Bars, Cafes, Favourites, Latest | Leave A Comment »
The Rabbit Hole Organic Tea Bar reopened in Redfern last week, so it’s a good time to respark interest in this great one-of-a-kind venue. It’s gotten a lot of worthwhile attention for proving that there’s more to tea than a bag thoughtlessly dunked into a mug – and even though steeped leaves are a headline […]
December 1st, 2015 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Favourites, Latest, Restaurants | Leave A Comment »
Two Chaps in Marrickville is one of my favourite places for dinner right now. You’re given such an insanely generous amount of food that you wonder if the waiter might secretly be your grandmother – you know, the kind that sees empty plates as their arch-enemy. The set menu here is rustic, Italian and such […]
October 28th, 2014 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Latest, Restaurants | 2 Comments »
Some people aren’t for settling down, but I’m glad that the much-loved Veggie Patch Van has a spin-off that’s permanently in the park position: its new project, the Veggie Patch Diner, recently opened in Five Ways, Paddington. There’s no need to chase or tailgate this offshoot to get your fix of the Veggie Patch’s vegetarian […]
December 24th, 2013 | by Lee Tran Lam | published in Cafes, Latest, Restaurants | 3 Comments »
Pinbone in Woollahra is a sharp, fresh shot of oxygen to the local dining scene. By taking over the old Buzo site, this establishment does more than just hit the reset button. Chefs Mike Eggert and Jemma Whiteman (Billy Kwong, Three Blue Ducks) and front-of-house whiz Berri Eggert (Cafe Paci) manage to sneak in redefinitions […]