Stanley Street Merchants

Stanley Street Merchants is here for a good time, not a long time. A crowd-funded project by IconPark, SSM presents a new frontier on the Sydney dining scene. Fronted by chefs Matt Stone and Duncan McCance, the team is joined by bar manager Bobby Carey and general manager 'gin maestro' Jez Spencer. Together they may look like a renegade bikie gang but they're ready to serve you up decent tucker with some old fashioned Aussie hospitality. Don't mind if I do...

The rather fantastical spread of entrées that covered the table. We did still have four courses to go, mind you. I think we did good

IconPark is about concept above all else and their first instalment looks to be a brilliant success. But a viable business? Who knows, but there are definitely bums on seats. As I sit writing this, tonight is totally booked out, and it's only Monday. That's a pretty good sign, right? The celebrity card of Matt Stone was handy to get the idea over the line. He has gone from strength to strength cooking at Greenhouse in Perth and more recently Silo by Joost in Melbourne (my spiritual home, haha). 

The very thrown together appearance of the downstairs bar/eatery perfect for drinks or brunch. Upstairs is more formal dining for the 'oldies' like myself...! Credit: Alana Dimou, Broadsheet Sydney

We were quietly ushered past the bar hipsters and whisked upstairs where there is more of a proper restaurant going. Partitioned by wooden doors, it felt like we were eating in a train carriage (cute!). Rather cosy, and perfect for conversation over a drink to a soundtrack of Mumford and Sons. Can't complain. You can track the SSM team's progress as they worked busily to get the restaurant ready to open earlier this year. It's all happened very quickly and lends a rather unpolished feel to the place which has so much more soul. Tell me if I'm sounding ridiculous...?

Part 1 of snacks: charcuterie board and baba ghanoush and house made foccacia. Mild salami, bresaola and wild boar salami (pretty out there) served with aged carrot and miso toast. I could not make out the miso flavour at all unfortunately. The eggplant dip had a lovely chariness to it and the bread was a winner (can't beat freshly baked)

We decided to try the Chef's menu which is a five course affair - that part was non-negotiable. SSM's food philosophy is all about local (heard that before?!), honey sourced from Neutral Bay and native Australian ingredients featuring prominently. The sad part is that we know next to nothing about the beautiful produce growing in our own backyard. Kylie Kwong and Matt Stone are at the forefront of this movement - deep fried insects and all.

Part 2 of snacks: fried spice cauliflower (left) and fermented vegetables (right). These were stand out dishes for me - the cauliflower was cooked beautifully and had a lovely toastiness with all the heavy spice coating. The fermented veggies were punchy and tart and balanced out with some native sea succulent. Yum!

Fermented brown rice, pine mushrooms, parsley. Achieving a risotto like texture, the brown rice is soaked in whey overnight. The results combined with king oyster and pine mushrooms and the lurid green of a parsley oil make it a killer dish

Twice cooked corn fed chicken, sweetcorn puree and jerusalem artichoke crisp. This was another favourite - the chicken was so tender with crispy skin. The puree was so sweet it could have been a dessert course on its own. Pretty crazy stuff

A new addition to the menu for the night: grilled skirt steak with oregano and shaved Manjimup truffle. The meat was cooked beautifully but the truffle was overpowered by the charriness of the beef - shame!

Kangaroo, Australian native fruits, herbs & spices. The kangaroo was cooked well and complemented with the native fruits (including whoppingly sour quandongs) and astringent Warrigal greens. Can't get much more patriotic than this!

A collective sigh when this dish hit the table: poached quince, macadamia, wattleseed, and buttermilk ice cream. I definitely have a thing for quince and funnily enough, I've never cooked with it before (must change this). Ticking the dessert boxes of presentation, texture and flavour (A+). This dessert was everything I could ask for and more...

"No ants, I'm vegan" - I overheard these exact words from an adjacent table, no kidding. I. am. amazed. And not in a good way. This lovely morsel is served with its jar bottom screwed in containing cherrywood smoke. The dish itself is a charcoal toasted marshmallow, raspberries, flowers and ants. There was a bit of debate as to whether they were actual ants as garnish here (me being the cynic) but I can confirm that yes, they're real - in all their crispy glory

White chocolate and yoghurt mousse with kale/cucumber granita and rosella (left). This was plated beautifully, the white chocolate noodles added a nice height to the dish. The yoghurt mousse I could take or leave. The granita was delish, and melting fast. Aussie cheese board with dried figs and house-made carbs (oh yeaah)(right). The cheeses were a cheddar, blue and goats curd; certainly not to everyone's tastes but suits me just fine (!)

Stanley Street Merchants achieves what most Sydney restaurant/cafés could only dream of doing. Utilising some of the incredible produce Australia has to offer, I'm positive they would have no problem in another location once this 3 month stint is over. Bold in flavours and execution, SSM makes for a rollicking fun night out. They're also open for brekkie and lunch in case you're wondering. You better get in while it's hot as it's due to close (noo!) in roughly a month's time. We need something like this for keeps! My eyes and ears are peeled for the next chapter. Exciting times ahead.

Missing SSM already! Let's hope they reincarnate into something else pronto Credit: Alana Dimou, Broadsheet Sydney

Thanks for reading!

xGourmand

Modern Pantry

This time around, my café/restaurant to do list had ballooned out to colossal proportions. Patiently waiting, The Modern Pantry had been hanging in there since 2012 - it was a long time coming. Anna Hansen and her team's modern diner flickered on my radar with their take on delicious seasonal eating. Luckily during this trip I found myself in Clerkenwell time and time again. The lure of coffee most certainly had something to do with it.

Pretty as a picture, right? Hands down, dessert of the trip i.e. perfection on slate. The blood orange curd tart that pulverises the competition, seriously.

This café definitely signals the good things to come for London. reminiscent of Bills for it's all-day dining versatility, Modern Pantry prides itself on a menu that changes daily reflecting the best produce on offer. Speaking of which, the menu is a complete tome with a 2 course daily special also on offer. Several visits are probably in order, or just show up with a big bunch of friends so you can plate swap (does anyone else do this?).

The sleek interiors by Colevin Interiors. The copper lamp accents add a nice touch. The private dining room upstairs is also not to be sniffed at Credit: Colevin Interiors

Happily caffeinated, A and I proceeded to suss out what everyone else was ordering, the choices were quite extensive. The downstairs café has a lovely airiness to it, punctuated with all that white. Upstairs there is a more formal restaurant style dining room as well as a private room for hire. Adjacent to the café is a little shop window filled with magnificent takeaway meals which are sold rather promptly (work lunch, you see) as well as some beautiful gifts - preserves made in house, canvas printed tote bags and the like. It was just getting better and better for me. 

Cappuccino and matcha latte. Okay, so they looked like they've been served to us off floor tiles but anyway! The cappuccino was actually not half bad (it's all about low expectations)

The service was a bit haphazard at times. We sat for the better part of an hour twiddling our thumbs waiting for the lunch menu to be available and ready to order. Quite bizarre considering kitchens have been prepping for the better part of the morning for whole day of service? We were then shifted to another table mid coffee because  our initial table had been booked for a group. Well okay then... Lucky I'm on holiday and not in a grumbly type of mood.

Crispy juniper and fennel braised pig's cheek, celeriac remoulade, pickled mustard seed and apple dressing. This was a stellar start to the meal, this was restaurant quality food knocked out of a modest kitchen. The pig cheek was perfectly crispy and the apple mustard dressing added a complementary punch to the dish. Big tick

When our meals made it out the presentation was consistently beautiful, taking notes from the realms of fine dining. It was obvious that each ingredient was there to serve a purpose, not tampered with and unrecognisable. The food definitely did the talking, as it should always do.

Grilled miso marinated onglet steak, cassava chips (the starchy root vegetable origins of tapioca), Kalamata olive salsa. The steak was cooked well to medium rare but somehow remained quite chewy

Slow roast Gloucester old spot pork belly, edamame purée, curly kale, spring onion and almond pesto. This was a nice piece of pork belly although I found it a bit dry for my liking, perhaps it needed to be more of a braise with lashings of sauce. The purée was also a bit bland and lumpy...oops

Blood orange curd tart, cardamom ice cream, blood orange and grapefruit salsa. From the solid start of entrée to the slight dip in the mains, the dessert was the shining star fo' shizzle. I am such a sucker for a citrus curd tart and this was probably THE BEST. The tartness of the fruit was perfectly offset with sweetness from the curd and the cardamom ice cream was outstanding 

Modern Pantry has gone from strength to strength in its 6 years of operation. Chef Anna Hansen is obviously doing something right, spending her early years under the tutelage of Fergus Henderson (FERGUSSS!!!) and Stephanie Alexander (our home grown foodie hero). She's also written The Modern Pantry cookbook which I can't wait to get my paws on. Serving as a jack-of-all trades, MP caters for the ladies that lunch, the business luncheon or a raucous dinner party to be had in the comfort of a private dining room. Life couldn't get much sweeter in my book.

The Modern Pantry, an all occasion all-star

Thanks for reading!

xGourmand

Workshop Coffee Co

Ah, the thrill of the chase. C and I had made it our mission to search for that elusive winning cup of coffee, obsessives that we are. Workshop Coffee Co was on my list for rather obvious reasons, initially starting out as London's very own St Ali, a rather famous coffee empire in Melbourne. They have since parted ways, hoping to blaze a trail in its own right and haven't they done just that.

Shine like a diamond: the rather trendoid logo/signage out front

Three coffee bars and a café later, Workshop has proven it's the real deal. Sourcing and roasting their own beans is definitely a plus, and don't the East London hipsters know it. Their Clerkenwell branch is a veritable hub of tatt sleeves and cropped pant legs. The interior is a simply stylish affair with a smattering of seats, perfect for a quick gathering. Upstairs is where the roasting's at.  The whirr of the espresso machine is a very welcome sound. A quick perusal of the menu reveals a substantial number of choices from quinoa salad to slow-aged lamb loin. It all sounds rather scrumptious to me!

The timber coffee bar acts as the café's centrepiece (left) and some lilies to brighten up the grey day (right)

But now to the most important order of the day: coffee. My stock standard regular cappuccino was served promptly and it didn't disappoint. This cup had some great depth and punchy flavour; it shakes you awake. Certainly enjoyable and a solid effort, it sits pretty in my top 3 London coffees. As you probably know, Monmouth reigns supreme in my book. 

My default order (hey, at least I'm consistent) - a regular cappuccino grazie!

As with several of these cafés I do take slight issue with cost. In London you basically pay the equivalent value but in pounds. It is woeful for us Aussies. To illustrate my point, Trip Advisor has recently named London as the world's most expensive travel destination...ah-ha! Sydney manages to round out the Top 10 (fyi). It all boils down to the fact that I'm looking for an 'Australian' café experience with great coffee and high quality seasonal food at a reasonable price. I'm glad to say that we've pretty much nailed this at home (no bias or anything).

Hello healthy lunch! Maple smoked chicken salad with avocado and baby tomatoes. The menu description is quite literal but I didn't have any qualms there. It was very tasty but the smokiness didn't quite shine through in the chicken. The serving size was quite generous, even with the hefty price tag

Workshop Coffee has set a very clear message for itself in focussing 90% of its efforts in sourcing the best coffee beans, roasting and delivering good coffee to the masses. The other 10% is spent on cranking out a rather impressive brunch/lunch menu. On weekdays they even do a dinner service which is rather handy dandy. But the question remains, was it the best coffee I've had in London? Not compared to some of the crackers I've had in Oz, but it wasn't too far off the mark.

Lights! Camera! Coffee (please)!

Thanks for reading!

xGourmand