Food
Insights and experiences from our chefs, critics and culinary institutions
Bilson at Table My Favourite Duck
"I often view with evil intent families of ducks walking towards the ponds in Centennial Park."
On Hospitality A philosophy on dining behaviour
"Much of the romance of food is generated by people with idealised versions of what their childhood meant... Their hospitality industry becomes Rosebud; a nostalgic rendering of what unconditional hospitality looks, tastes and smells like."
Getting Southerly Busted At North Bondi RSL
The image of Bondi is one of glitz and glamour… But the salt-blasted reality is somewhat different; the old weathered remnants of what was known locally as Scum Valley still often win out.
Eat Y’self Fitter Why vegans fall for the sausage roll
Geoff had been vegan for six years and was doing well. Then one night, with a light hangover, he was asked to hold two sausage rolls while a friend went to fetch a packet of cigarettes.
Sweet Dreams A letter to Nutri-lame
So we got the cereal. We returned home. My kid sat at the kitchen table and began shovelling the cereal into his mouth. He shovelled one bowl. Then he shovelled another...
Galluzzo Fruiterers Glebe Point Road’s Famous Family
Out front long time employee Steve Fante is arranging the streetfront display. “The principle,” he tells me, “is to arrange it to feed the eye.”
Great Wog Boozes of the Inner West Special lemonade, Tia Maria and Black Charlie
What could be more wholesome for a child than to help his father make illegal spirits?
Lunch with Friends Fratelli Paradiso with Luke Storrier
"The key to a local eatery’s longevity is to be found in the ability of their sommelier and owner to contain their greed; Fratelli hits the mark with only one or two investment-banker-priced wines."
Bilson at Table Eating the Seasons
A marriage of French and Japanese cuisines.
Lunch with Friends Bistro Moncur with McLean Edwards
“It is that sort of place, Bistro Moncur, where art dealers, ladies who lunch, colourful lawyers and failed Labor politicians can all convivially share a meal and look down their noses at tedious but ubiquitous real estate agents who seem always to be relegated to Siberia down near the kitchen.”
Secrets of the Sydney Fish Market The world is your oyster
“Sydney Fish Market is one of the best fish markets in the world... Well, it’s not Tokyo’s Tsukiji, but it’s not bad. Living so close and going so often, I’ve learnt a few of its secrets.”
4 and 20 Blackbirds Baked in a Pie A recipe to crow about
I remember driving through the bush with my father. He hated crows and every time we saw one, he’d pull over to the side of the road, carefully and quietly pull out the loaded .22 he kept under the seat.
Tropicana Bob and the Min Min Lights The beating heart of Sydney’s wayward bohemians
For whatever reason The Trop – a hole-in-the-wall with two rooms and indifferent spag bol on offer – took off with the local layabouts and the arty types.
Down the Hatch The Bourbon Hotel
These days it’s so quiet here that if the wind is in your favour, the cicada buzz of Max’s Village Tattoo will accompany you across the road, all the way to The Bourbon’s doors.
Bilson at Table The Death of Paul Bocuse
Once Bocuse perfected a dish it remained unchanged on his menu:“If a dish was worthy of three Michelin stars in 1963 it should be worthy of the same accolade in 1993!"
Down the Hatch Sydney Park Hotel, St Peters
The Sydney Park Hotel is a beautiful pub. Sitting above St Peters Train Station overlooking the Illawarra Line, its location and warm, benevolent spirit somehow magically combine to have you holding a cold schooner before you’ve even stepped off the train and past the screens.