Lil Darlin', Surry Hills

Now I'm not usually one to frequent bars. Gastro pubs yes, fine diners yes, Asian restaurants yes but not bars. But when an invitation arises to try out a new place promoted by Simon Hancock (especially after the Crane 1st birthday extravaganza), you can't just say no. I must apologize. I've been on a little hiatus (3 weeks infact) but I haven't forgotten all my readers! I'm on my final year of uni (B.ed) now and on my work placement so I've got 28 little rugrats to take care of. Busy busy.

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Popolo, Rushcutters Bay

They're everywhere. Pizzerias are as almost ubiquitous in the city as your garden variety frozen yoghurt store or Thai eatery. Popolo in Rushcutters Bay has managed to distinguish itself enough from the others since its inception earning a chef hat and a loyal following. 

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Da Mario, Roseberry

The offspring of the hugely popular Pizza Mario, Da Mario has high expectations to live up to. They've recently opened up a store in Roseberry off the beaten path in the industrial area so it's a bit hard to get to but definitely something to check out.

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Pizza Festival Closing Event, Alexandria

There are some who eat fast food pizzas exclusively. And then there are the purists who scoff at the idea of mass produced 6+ ingredient pizzas. Me? I fall in the between. The gourmand in me wants pizza where you can taste each individual ingredient. Paper thin wood fire crust, all beautifully smoky and blistered. A deep and rich tomato pasata. Premium mozarella. But then there's the other part of me who'll just finish 2 and a half + whole large Dominoes on a good night without a second thought. I mean, seriously, who doesn't love a good large 5 dollar deep pan with the lot on a long boozy Tuesday night. 

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Lucio's Pizzeria, Darlinghurst

Lucio's pizzeria is one of the many alfresco restaurants located on a courtyard down the strip of Liverpool street. I've been here numerous times but never got to blogging it and I thought it was about due for a posting. Lucio's Pizzeria is a family favourite. A friend favourite too because it's one of the places I love to bring my friends to.

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Crust Masterclass @ cheeky food group, Surry Hills

Thank you very much to Laura Cario from Liquid Ideas for inviting me to a Crust Masterclass inside cheeky food group's headquarters. It's my first and hopefully not my last invited event and it's a rather intimidating and at the same time comforting sensation being in the same room as multiple like-minded individuals. There's no disapproving eyebrows to be found to indicate that maybe, just maybe... I should stop talking about what I had for dinner the other night or maybe I should stop waving my arms  around erratically in public to exemplify how you emulsify a hollandaise. 

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Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills

Widely agreed as one of Sydney's best bakeries and being an avid lover of good bread and pie, one morning I shot out of bed as early as I could in the excitement of getting to Bourke Street Bakery.




Judging from the queue, it seems like the bakery was one of Sydney's worst kept secrets. The line kept getting longer and longer and every time one person had ordered and left, 2 more took their place in the line. I was going with the family so that resulted in pictures of half eaten tarts and cut up pastries because by the time I came around to taking pictures of them, they had already dug in. Unusual because I'm always the one that eats everything before everyone takes pictures of food. I guess love of food and impatience does run in the family.

Chicken, Pea, Sweet Potato, Lime Pickle 5

Far from your usual cream based frozen chicken pies, this pie was packed with flavour. Chucks of chicken, peas and sweet potato are dressed in a wonderful tomato sauce and lime pickle which gave it a very... Indianish sort of flavour. Not much to go on, I know. I love the look of it, handmade with all the grooves and all. Perfection is overrated anyway.

Beef Brisket, Red Wine and Mushroom Pie 5.30

Beef pie here was dissappointing. Flavour was top notch and mushrooms gave it an earthy bite, however the beef was lacking and I think I only had one chunk out of the entire pie. What it had a lot of, however, was heaps of tendon which had a very gelatinous texture and would of went well with a bit more meat. 

Passionfruit Meringue Tart 5

Oh man this tart was goooood. You get the caramelised meringue on the outside, and a tart passionfruit custard on the inside, housed within a short pastry case. 

Ginger Creme Brulee Tart 4.80

Yeah it was like this when I got to taking a picture of it, I swear. And this tart was just as goooood.  Custard had the right amount of sweetness, full of spices and had a distinctively gingery flavour. The tart itself was wonderfully crisp and the brulee had a slight hint of bitterness that went well with the custard. I'm struggling to pick between which tart I like better. I'm looking at the recipe now and it's frighteningly difficult to make. Still won't stop me trying though...

Eggplant, Stracchino and Olive Pizza 6.50

Yeah... That's what happens when I turn my eyes away for a moment to order more. It gets eaten. It was undeniably good, melted down, freshly toasted and an incredibly awesome combo.

It's a bloody long walk from Central Station but definitely worth it. The food is surprisingly cheap, fresh and so damn tasty. Hipsters run the cornershop, highly efficient albeit slightly impatient. You've got to figure out what you want before you even enter. They ask you "how many hot items do you want?" before you even figure out exactly what. But inside, I really wanted to reply with the answer "Can I have a little of everything?". The tarts here are real winners and I am absolutely coming back for more because I know I'll fail recreating them. This is a great bakery no Sydney-sider shouldn't pay a visit.



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