Sydney Eat Street: Best eats and drinks at the WorldPride festival

Sydney’s pubs and restaurants are ready to party at the WorldPride festival and you can’t go past some of these spectacular treats.

Over three weeks, Sydney will be awash in colour when the WorldPride festival hits town, including these celebratory drinks and treats.

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CAMILLA X

“Loud, vibrant and fun” is how Anna Polyviou, the pink-haired powerhouse of pastries and executive pastry chef at The Langham, Sydney, has described the CAMILLA X Pride High Tea she has created at the boutique hotel.

As part of the World Pride celebration, Anna worked with Camilla Franks, the namesake of the global Australian fashion house, to create edible works of art inspired by the label’s affinity for intricate and colourful patterns to glam up The Langham’s famed afternoon tea.

“The Camilla brand is synonymous with being loud, vibrant and fun which is very much my ethos, yet it also exudes luxury and elegance, which goes hand-in-hand with The Langham brand,” Anna said.

Anna Polyviou's Camilla X World Pride High Tea. Picture: Jenifer Jagielski 5

“That, along with their shared values of inclusivity and celebration coming together for a very special Pride, for me, it’s a match made in heaven.”

In addition to her sweet creations, there are two tiers of savoury bites, including The Langham’s signature scones.

This unique event runs daily through March 31, 2023, with sittings at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm.

Prices start at $108pp, which includes a glass of sparkling wine (or a glass of Taittinger Champagne for an additional $20 per glass), an exclusive CAMILLA gift bag with a voucher, plus $5 from every Afternoon Tea sold will be donated to LGBTQIA+ charity ACON.

— Kitchens on Kent, The Langham, Sydney, 89-113 Kent St, Millers Point; kitchensonkent.com

SQUEALING PIG WINES

There’s no need to trek too far for your Mardi Gras and WorldPride celebrations when you can hoof it to a local restaurant, club, or pub partnering with Squealing Pig, the official wine of Sydney WorldPride for some fun, food and drink and drink specials.

Squealing Pig is the official wine of Sydney WorldPride.

From February 17 to March 5, we’ll have a special Squealing Pig activation and showcase their new range of limited-edition Pride label Rosés – nine distinct labels for their rosé wine, each with a love story across various gender identities and sexual orientations.

The Squealing Pig Pride Rosé pairs perfectly with our fish and chips, but you can expect to see some additional specials throughout Pride, plus our VIP party on the final weekend, to tie in with the Bondi Beach party on Saturday, March 4.

If you can’t make it to one of the myriads of venues, the Summer of Love range is available at all national liquor stores at $20 a pop.

— Bondi Icebergs Club, 1 Notts Ave, Bondi Beach; icebergs.com.au

ESCA

Before most uni students even get their first job, Ibby Moubadder had already found success with his popular Newtown coffee shop Cuckoo Callay, had just opened a second outlet in Surry Hills and was about to launch Nour, a casual chic restaurant with a Lebanese-inspired menu.

Needless to say, Ibby doesn’t do things by halves, and as executive director and co-founder of ESCA Group (Nour, Cuckoo Callay, Lilymu, Henrietta, and Aalia), when they decided to participate in WorldPride celebrations, it was an all or nothing effort.

Cocktails are the go at the ESCA group of restaurants. Picture: Jenifer Jagielski

Starting with the return of Nour’s famous brunch, which will be graced with some stellar Pride performers on Sunday, February 19, each venue will have its specials, but there’s more in store, with Ibby adding that “ESCA is inviting Sydneysiders to sip the rainbow, by trying each of the venues’ (Henrietta, AALIA, Nour, Lilymu and Cuckoo Callay) limited-edition, signature margarita, each representing a colour on the pride flag. Order the drink and collect a stamp on your Pride Passport”.

Some of the menu selection at Nour. Picture: Jenifer Jagielski

They’re delicious on their own, but to sweeten the deal, ESCA is giving away gift cards for guests who collect five or six stamps. That should be reason enough to head out and about over the next three weeks.

—Nour, 3/490 Crown St, Surry Hills; noursydney.com.au; esca.group

BELLY BAO

They started with a pop-up stand at the markets, but as word spread, Belly Bao’s Taiwanese- inspired bao-gers, a generous serving of pork belly and braised beef inside toasted bao buns, soon garnered them a cult following.

Belly Bao’s WorldPride creation.

Not to rest on their laurels, they gained even more attention with their Mardi Gras-themed creation – the Rain-bao.

Through early March, you can have one of their signature bao-gers – chopped cheese bao-gers, fried chicken bao-gers, or the famous pork belly bao served in rainbow-coloured buns.

— 184 King St, Newtown; bellybao.com.au

WHAT’S FRESH: BIRGITTA’S KITCHEN

For over 16 years, people have been going to the Kings Cross markets to indulge in Birgitta Koomen’s sweet treats, particularly for slices of her towering vanilla rainbow cakes with cream cheese frosting.

Birgitta’s Kitchen’s towering vanilla rainbow cake.

But the cakes aren’t just delicious; Birgitta says they’re also a testament to the area, noting that her inspiration comes from the colours of the community, “an integral fabric of life around the Cross”. (Kings Cross Markets are held every Saturday morning).

— Kings Cross Markets, Fitzroy Gardens, MacLeay St, Potts Point; birgittaskitchen.com.auonline