Cosmopolitan Cafe: Wine bar owners to revive renowned Sydney cafe
The men behind two of Sydney’s trendiest wine bars are determined to revive the renowned Cosmopolitan Cafe. A Double Bay institution for 40 years, the cafe has been sitting vacant since its former owners went into liquidation in July.
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The men behind two of Sydney’s trendiest wine bars are determined to revive the renowned Cosmopolitan Cafe.
A Double Bay institution for 40 years, the cafe has been sitting vacant since its former owners went into liquidation in July.
But experienced restaurateurs Anthony Prior and John Duncan — best known for Manly Wine and The Winery, Surry Hills — have taken over the lease and are in the process of returning the cafe to its former glory.
“We all know it’s institutional, it’s been there for so many years,” Duncan said.
Hungarian migrant John Gyarfas bought the cafe in 1980 and introduced outdoor seating, turning it into the ultimate see-and-be-seen destination.
Prior said he wanted to see Double Bay return to its heyday.
“There’s really good heart in the village. We’re part of the rejuvenation of that precinct,” he said.
The cafe will reopen on November 1.
DINERS JUMP ONTO HOTTEST FOOD TREND
Kangaroo is no longer just popular Australia Day fare, the red meat has hit the ingredient hip list at many Sydney restaurants.
Once reluctant to eat our national emblem, diners have said hooroo to sentimentality and are behind a surge in demand for the meat.
And with increasing pressures on meat supplies and a focus on sustainability, chefs are wild for incorporating the native ingredient on their menus.
From raw kangaroo to kangaroo toasties, chefs at some of the city’s most exclusive restaurants are experimenting with the sustainable alternative. Their latest obsession is kangaroo tartare — a raw meat dish scooped up with crusty bread or croutons.
Delicious Sydney spotted it on the menu at Cured at Manly, Sixpenny, The Dining Room, Aria, Ormeggio at The Spit and Monopole — to name a handful.
Working with the seasons, Hunter Valley restaurant Muse has added cured and charred kangaroo with wattleseed yoghurt, mulberry, purple daikon and native pepperberry to the menu for spring.
A handful of restaurants at The Rocks have also added kangaroo dishes to their menus this month for the Untamed Gourmet festival showcasing native ingredients.
Holiday Inn is serving a grilled kangaroo fillet, Pony Dining is offering wood-fired crocodile tail and seared kangaroo loin and The Doss House has a roo toastie on the menu.
They’re not the first — Bowral eatery Biota does a kangaroo bolognese jaffle that has proved popular.
The Gantry, Moo Gourmet Burgers Bondi, Rocksalt and The Meat & Wine Co all have their own kangaroo dishes, be it burgers or skewers or steaks.
Victor Churchill butcher Hugo Miles said the popularity of the meat had soared.
“They’re Australian natives and a good source of protein,” he said. “We can’t domesticate them but there is certainly a market for them.”
Discover more food trends in The Sunday Telegraph’s annual Delicious 100 where the top 100 restaurants in NSW will be listed along with exactly what makes them the best.
BURGER ME, IT TASTES GOOD
If eating your entire week’s calories in one sitting is something you enjoy, Chester’s Flaming Cob Loaf is the dish for you.
On special this month at Dee Why burger bar Stockman’s Burgers, Beers, Desserts (BBD), this bad boy is a combination of two wagyu beef patties, cob loaf and Flaming Hot Cheetos, all smothered in liquid cheese.
Co-owner Billy Fenson, who opened the venue with his brother Corey, said not even they were sure if it would taste good but the feedback had been overwhelmingly positive.
“We start with the wagyu burger, cut out the core and fill it with fries and hot Cheetos then cover it with liquid cheese,” he said. “Surprisingly the flavour is really good, we weren’t sure how it would go down but it’s epic.”
The burger concoction is available for October only.
‘WORLD’S BEST’ BARTENDER SHUTS UP SHOP
Sydney’s lockout laws have claimed another venue, with This Must Be The Place planning to shut its doors, five years after opening on Oxford St.
Luke Ashton opened the bar — which specialises in spritzers — after being crowned the world’s best bartender in 2013 and pocketing $100,000.
But he has decided not to renew the lease, blaming the city’s lockout laws for a drop in visitors.
He said he would now shift his focus to helping “rebuild and grow Sydney’s night-time economy by working towards legislative and licensing reforms”.
“With regards to a new venue, we have no short-term plans to relocate or open a new venue at this point, but who knows what the future holds,” Ashton said.
The bar will be bringing back some of its classic spritzers and cocktails before a “big closing party” on October 20.
Ashton recommends revellers “take the Monday off”.
CIRCUS CHEF’S JUGGLING ACT
Ariel Layug’s restaurant attracts an unlikely group of diners including a human accordion, a mad professor who travels through time and a pair of acrobatic Siamese twins.
Layug’s diners are the men and women of Cirque du Soleil’s travelling production Kurios:
Cabinet of Curiosities and he is their executive chef.
But satisfying this crowd does not require the culinary version of a high-wire act. From mac and cheese to spaghetti bolognese, the performers often prefer more down-to-earth fare.
“Only about 10 per cent have a strict diet and that’s either because they are competing — we have a professional bodybuilder — or they have allergies,” Layug told Delicious Sydney.
“They eat junk food … if you put junk food there they will eat it.
“That’s where we come in as well though, because we have to provide choice but we also have to make choices for them.
“If we put cookies out all day, they’re going to eat them. Just every now and again is
fine but we have to introduce healthy choices.”
There are 200 cast and crew from 25 different countries who travel around the world with the circus — and Layug’s menu must accommodate for them all.
The Russians love borscht (a beef and beetroot soup) and fish pie; the Americans love Tex Mex; the Aussies want meat pies (obviously) and the Mongolian girl loves … Vegemite?
“One girl, she’s from Mongolia, and whenever the Vegemite starts to run low she starts to freak out,” Layug said, laughing.
When the circus pulls out of town — usually after a two-month stay — the cast and crew traditionally gather for a “tear-down” spaghetti.
“We have spaghetti bolognese once every two months when we pack up and get ready to go to a new city,” Layug said.
“It’s the dinner of our last show and it’s something that you can never change.”
Another circus tradition is a “hangover meal”.
“We have these little traditions within Cirque,” Layug said. “One of them is a hangover meal the day after the premiere.
“A lot of cast and crew are from Quebec, and poutine is one of the main things they miss from home so the day after the premiere I made them poutine.”
Kurios plays at The Entertainment Quarter until November 13.
THE MOUTH — REVIEW: PETERSHAM GOES BEYOND PORTUGUESE CHICKEN
Noi
108 Audley St, Petersham
It is hard enough for councils to keep up with their DAs, much less what’s happening on their high streets.
Take Petersham, in the heart of the inner west.
About six weeks ago the local government voted to officially recognise the place as “Little Portugal”, a nod to the suburb’s once massive Portuguese population and a couple of
still-famous chicken shops.
Had the good burghers (so to speak) of the area been paying attention, though, they’d have noticed prosperous Petersham is rapidly developing quite a posh little dining strip.
The latest addition? Noi, a creation of Anastasia Drakopoulos, one of the names behind Pyrmont’s consistently brilliant (and shamefully under-recognised) Italian-Japanese stunner, LuMi.
Menu-wise, the principle is simple, and promising: just a few items each listed under entree, pasta, and mains, observing The Mouth’s rule that a restaurant that tries to do everything will do nothing well.
Service is warm and friendly on a weeknight and something of a team effort. Very matey, in the best of ways.
Snacks and house-made bread with anchovy butter, nods to Noi’s finer-dining roots LuMi, hit the table and set the tone, giving the Mouths something to nibble on over after-work Negronis.
Little deep-fried fingers of tripe (so good even offal-phobes might happily eat a bowl) arrive dressed with a sharp mustard dressing, along with a pair of bite-sized steamed buns, blowing
off any suggestions of mere neighbourhood Italian.
A carpaccio of snapper is meaty and generously sliced and topped with a cooling quenelle of lovage sorbet — a perfect summer starter that also resets the palate for the meal to come.
A risotto of salmon, sage, and peas is excellently prepared and presented but the standout winner is the tagliolini, simply dressed with a bright tomato-less veal ragu that is as correct a bowl of pasta The Mouth has had outside of Italy — particularly the noodles, fresh and cooked to a perfect snappy bite.
A sirloin comes well cooked, medium rare, with a generous slab of rich fondant potato (this is a trend long overdue for revival) but a sort of licorice cream sauce, while well intentioned, doesn’t really work and adds a sweetness that crashes into, rather than complements, the savoury.
You likely won’t be able to pass by Noi’s take on a tiramisu, a cutesy “terra-misu” that deconstructs the classic dessert — but it’s also quite possible that after three courses you won’t be able to finish it.
VERDICT
CREDIT CARDS:All majors
OPEN:Lunch Thursday-Sunday; Dinner Thursday-Tuesday; closed Wednesdays
VEGETARIAN OPTIONS:Si, certo!
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS:Yes
NOISE:Buzzy
PROS:That tagliolini!
CONS:It’s the inner west, so you’re too close to your neighbours