Cafe Paci, Newtown

He's back. It's been four years since Pasi Petanen shut the doors on Cafe Paci, his pop-up restaurant in Darlinghurst that ran for two years. Diners were won over by a menu of interesting and experimental dishes, like his pho-tato Scandi-Vietnamese mashup and desserts of carrot sorbet with licorice cake. Petanen draws on influences across Asia as well as his Finnish heritage, finessed with fine dining expertise (Petanen was the former head chef at former three-hat restaurant Marque).

Cafe Paci has now opened in permanent digs in Newtown, neatly tucked in between Bella Brutta Pizza and Mapo Gelato. It's a win for everyone.



The long and narrow dining room feels more like a European wine bar. Long banquettes along the wall are lined with tables and bentwood chairs. High stools at the bar are ideal for walk-ins and single diners. And the former set menu structure has been casualised in favour of a la carte. That means diners can pop in for a snack or stay for a full meal.


Potato and molasses bread with butter $4 per slice

Petanan's potato and molasses bread has thankfully been revived. It's impressively soft and fragrant with a gloriously sheen to its glaze. On the side is a swipe of whipped butter, interspersed with flecks of brown butter. It's so addictive we run out of butter and plead for more. We're rewarded with an even bigger portion that we down with glee.


Blood cake with whipped lardo and pickled onion $20

Blood cake is a hearty disc of earthy satisfaction. The pure-as-snow whipped lardo belies its mouth-filling decadence. Petals of pickled onion provide welcome acidic relief.


Raw beef with smoked tomato and parmesan $26

Raw beef with smoked tomato and parmesan is Petanen's take on steak tartare. It's not quite the pizza-inspired mouthful he presented at Rootstock and then Cafe Paci in 2014, but there's plenty to like about this tender raw beef enhanced with the umami of smoked tomato and fresh parmesan curls.


Maltagliati with sweet corn, basil and walnut $24

If you like corn, you'll love the maltagliati with sweet corn, basil and walnut. It's beautifully balanced in sweetness, and boosted with the slightly bitter crunch of toasted walnuts. The maltagliati pasta sheets are whisper thin and silky. Next visit, I'd be happy to eat just this with a glass of wine.


Potato dumpling with XO trout $26

Is there a difference between potato dumplings and gnocchi? Methinks not. What these potato dumplings do offer is a cloud of fluffy lightness. XO trout is a little harder to grasp if you're used to, and expecting scallop and prawn hit of traditional Hong Kong-style XO sauce. This trout version is obviously fishier, with less of the traditional garlicky shallot sweetness.


Flounder with sauce Florentine $38

Whole flounder is something you should order, cooked to just the right level of fork-yielding tenderness. Its mild sweet flesh is perfect for soaking up the lake of creamy sauce Florentine, speckled with mustard seeds.


Dutch cream potatoes with potato anglaise $10

And on the side, a serve of buttery soft Dutch cream potatoes, doused in butter. C'est bon!


Carrot sorbet with yoghurt and licorice $15

One of Petanen's signature dishes, the carrot sorbet with yoghurt and licorice, has survived the move. This felt like a nonsensical and crazy dessert when we first ate it in 2013. It's just as enjoyable and enigmatic today. The cloud of yoghurt foam envelopes a quenelle of carrot sorbet like an egg white eiderdown. The licorice cake on the bottom is ridiculously more-ish.

It's a surprisingly accessible menu from Petanen, which is perhaps one of its only disappointments. The former set menu format forced everyone to join a wild ride, as Petanen ignored conventional flavour combinations and applications. Is this a more economically sustainable option for inner west diners? Maybe. But I'd happily pay more for Petanen's playful whimsy in a heartbeat.






Cafe Paci
131 King Street, Newtown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9550 6196

Opening hours
Lunch Saturday from 12pm
Dinner Monday to Saturday 5.30pm til late


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Bella Brutta Pizza, Newtown

Is pizza the new sourdough? There's much to like about long fermented pizza doughs, proofed for extra flavour and a springier texture, the star of Sydney's hottest new pizzeria, Bella Brutta. Don't expect supreme or ham and pineapple pizzas. Do stand by for puffy and blistered pizzas strewn with mortadella or pepperoni (both housemade), surf clams or cavolo nero.


Smoked lemonade mojito $10
2017 Aller Trop Loin Nebbiolo, Heathcote, Victoria $14
2017 Ciello 'Rosso' Nero d'Avola, Sicily, Italy $14


Bella Brutta (translating to Beautiful Ugly) is the latest collaboration by the Porteno crew, partnering with Luke Powell to open in the former Ice & Slice by Mad Pizza site on King Street, Newtown. The space is long and narrow, flanked by banquette seating on one side and counter seats at the bar on the other.

The wine list runs close to 40 bottles - almost entirely Australian and Italian - with ten available by the glass. And while there's less of an emphasis on beer (just two available), interesting non-alcoholic drinks include a dark & stormy and a smoked lemonade mojito that is smouldering yet strangely refreshing at the same time.


Shaved fennel, burnt oranges and olives $15

On the day we dined, all the antipasti and vegetable dishes are entirely vegetarian. That's 11 dishes running from a crisp shaved fennel salad with oranges and green olives to roasted carrots with hazelnuts and marjoram ($12).


White beans, green sauce $12

From the antipasti menu, we pick the white beans with green sauce, a chunky white bean puree brightened with the zinginess of salsa verde, although we're tempted by the green tomatoes with straciatella ($14) and charred onions with romesco ($14) too.


Pepperoni pizza on the pass

Our attention is all on the pizza though. Just five pizzas are available, although the plain marinara ($17) comes with optional cheese (+$4) and four anchovy choices ranging from $12 to $28 for the tin.


Luke Powell flipping pizza dough

Luke moves seamlessly throughout the open kitchen working where needed, but more often than not, is at the pizza station. It's a show in itself watching the dough being gently portioned, dusted in flour and then slowly flipped, stretched and teased into pliable submission.


Fior di latte on pizza dough for the mortadella pizza


Cooking pizzas in the Italian wood-fired oven

The wood-fired oven - imported direct from Italy - takes pride of place in the centre of the dining room. It's mesmerising to watch the wood burning ferociously in the back corner while the pizzas are rotated through at a rapid pace. They're cooked on the oven floor for only a minute or so before being lifted up by the paddle and held aloft for several seconds.

There's a ballet-like elegance about the entire process, from the initial cleaving of soft dough to the final slide of steaming hot pizza onto the pass.


Cutting the clam pizza into quarters

We've serendipitously scored front row seats to all the pizza-making action. This also makes for sneaky photos of our pizza orders from start to finish. As soon as the pizzas are transferred to their metal serving trays, they're sliced into quarters and finished with garnishes and a slosh of extra virgin olive oil.


Surf clam pizza $26

Clam pizza might be a New Haven specialty but it's yet to be really seen in Sydney. Luke's take could become a summer favourite, brushed with a chowder-like clam reduction and daubed with fermented chilli. Pecorino, garlic oil and fresh parsley make it sing.


Making up the pepperoni pizza

We pick the pepperoni pizza over the mortadella (the latter covered in freshly shaved mortadella after the pizza is cooked).


Pepperoni pizza $26

The housemade pepperoni is thinly sliced and almost crisp at the edges, sweet and smoky without any sense of greasiness. And while I can see the intent in the generous scattering of fennel seeds, the dry seeds tend to provide more crunch than intensity of flavour.

Pockets of melting fior di latte accented with parmesan provide a oozing richness against the sweet tang of chunky pomodoro sauce (made from tinned San Marzano tomatoes).


Cavolo nero pizza ready for the oven

And while the pizzas have already gone up in price a dollar or two since they first opened two weeks ago, they've also managed to switch up the pizza toppings too. Gone is the cime di rapa I'd been keen to try, replaced by the equally enticing - and subsequently delicious - cavolo nero pizza.


Cavolo nero pizza $24

A mountain of young cavolo nero leaves ends up as a much smaller pile, toasted to a caramelly brown around the edges, and dotted with fermented chilli.

It's worth smashing the confit garlic cloves on your plate and then spreading them across your pizza slice, before relishing your green veg uptake with a garlicky, cheesy and spicy grin.


Mandatory pizza upskirt shot

The dough itself? It's not quite as thin and floppy as a Neapolitan pizza but there's still a thinness to it that allows the toppings to take centre stage. Giant blisters across the surface of the dough provide a puffy lightness, and while some may consider its char to be more on the burnt side of cooked, I would have been happy with even more smokiness.


Scooping the fig leaf ice cream

All the desserts are made inhouse, including a commendably smooth and fragrant fig leaf ice cream.


Fig leaf ice cream with yellow box honey $10

The fig leaf ice cream has all the flavour of fig, but pulled back on the jammy sweetness. It's so good on its own I don't think it even needs the drizzle of yellow box honey.  The texture of the ice cream is incredible too, creamy with an enviable silkiness.


Tiramisu $15

Of course we had the tiramisu. It's not until it arrives that we learn the traditional savoiardi fingers have been switched with an almond cake layer that tastes like an almond dacquoise. It makes for a more textural tiramisu, its signature softness interrupted by the crunch of almonds.


Bombolone $9

For maximum fun. get the bombolone doughnuts, fried fresh to order and then stuffed with stewed apple and mascarpone. It's just like an apple turnover in doughnut form. The cinnamon sugar will go all over your lips and make a mess, but just like eating a bella brutta pizza, that's half the fun.








Bella Brutta
135 King Street, Newtown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9922 5941

Opening hours
Monday to Friday 5pm-11pm
Saturday 12pm-11pm
Sunday 12pm-10pm


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Flying Tong, Newtown

Melted, oozing, gooey, stringy, stretchy cheese. Buried within it are kernels of sweetcorn. Wait until the cheese starts to brown and form a crust all along the edges. If you just experienced a frisson of excitement over that description, the cheesy corn at Flying Tong is your dream come true. The whole shebang arrives on a hotplate, the kind you get for sizzling Mongolian lamb, except here you score one big puddle of bubbling, molten cheese. Oh yes.


Roasted corn tea $5

Flying Tong opened on Enmore Road in January this year, the same stretch of road that features favourites Bovine & Swine, Queen Chow and Stanbuli. It's the first solo venture for sibling team Julie and Jeff Oh (ex-Kobe Jones), a casual Korean eatery that focuses on chicken and beer (alcohol license is in the midst!). And if you're not on the booze, there's a proper selection of soft drinks (ginger beer, sparkling blood orange and sparkling grapefruit) as well as teas. The roasted corn tea is worth ordering, with noticeable hints of popcorn.


Glass noodle $16.50

Vegetarians don't fare too badly, as we discovered, although options are mostly in the sides and salads categories. Glass noodles - jap chae by any other name - is a mushroom-heavy jumble of the classic Korean sweet potato noodle dish. It's deliciously heavy on the umami and devoid of the overly oily greasiness you sometimes find in other restaurants.


Kor-Slaw $5

Kor-Slaw is the Oh's take on coleslaw, julienned red cabbage and carrot doused in quite a sweet and spicy dressing. Black sesame seeds provide nuttiness and textural crunch. 

Cheesy corn $11

And then there's the glory of cheesy corn. Melted mozzarella cheese on sweet corn is such a magical combination it's surprising we don't see it more often in restaurants. I need to make more of this at home. The cheese bubbles away furiously, its remnants leaving a darkened crust along the edges. I can publicly declare that I carefully prised those golden treasures until the entire hotplate was clean.

Vegetarian bibimbamp ($17) rounds out the rest of the vegetarian offerings. It's a shame they don't offer a vegetarian version of loaded fries, at the moment covered in bulgogi beef. Lading a hot mess of cheesy corn over a pile of fries would be pretty glorious in my world.


Soy garlic Flying Tong fried chicken $20

Of the four kinds of fried chicken on offer, I go with the soy garlic. You can also order sweet chilli, spicy bomb and original.


Soy garlic fried chicken wing

The chicken is impressively juicy, coated in a knobbly batter that holds its crunch. The soy garlic is a little on the sweet side for me, but that doesn't stop me polishing off the entire serving (four pieces).

Chicken tacos, barbecue pork belly wraps and seafood pancake (pajeon) round out the menu. For now. Seats are limited (about 30) so arrive early or be prepared to queue.






Flying Tong
99 Enmore Rd, Newtown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 8056 5985 
Open nightly 5pm-10pm


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Rising Sun Workshop, Newtown

Prison bento? I bet they don't get these at Litchfield Penitentiary. Instead you'll find it part of the breakfast line-up at Rising Sun Workshop, finally opening up on bigger - and permanent - premises on what was once a Mitre 10 shop. Its original pop-up, only a few blocks away, first introduced Sydneysiders to the symbiosis between ramen and a motorcycle workshop. The new digs boast a much bigger space, an expanded menu and a proper kitchen for head chef Nick Smith.


Upstairs dining area

Ground floor seating lets you sneak a look at everything going on in the motorcycle workshop area while basking in the buzz around the coffee machine and in the kitchen. Upstairs a high-ceilinged dining area yields plenty of communal table seating. Tables are large enough so you don't need to sit at the next person's elbow, but create a pleasing sense of energy whether you're dining in a group or on your own.


Prison bento $15
Rolled egg, pickles, miso soup, sesame stalks, silken tofu, yoghurt and rice

The cafe sticks with three menus: breakfast daily from 8am-11am, lunch daily from 11am-4pm and dinners from Thursday to Saturday from 6pm-10pm.

At lunchtime you'll find the same ramen ramen from the original pop-up, a poetic trio of The Dark, The Light and The Monk. Smith has also thrown in a couple of banh mi (grilled kurobuta belly or black pepper tofu). There's always a vegetarian version of each dish.


Rolled egg and steamed rice with umeboshi pickled plum

Breakfast offers a quirky mishmash of Asian influences. The prison bento is a cheeky reference to its presentation on metal food trays, commonly found in prisons but also used in Indian cuisine to present multi-dish thalis. The compartmentalised recesses are perfect for keeping individual curries separated from your rice and pappadums.


Housemade pickles

Smith assembles a multi-textured vegetarian journey, not too far removed from a traditional Japanese breakfast. That means a collection of silken tofu, cooked vegetables, crunchy pickles, a rolled omelette called tamago, a splodge of yoghurt and steamed rice. Even the miso soup comes in a metal cup. Protein seekers can add grilled fish for an extra five dollars.


Breakfast ramen $15
Buttered toast broth, bacon, egg and tomato

Breakfast ramen is one of the those things that you wonder why noone has ever thought of before. Smith infuses the ramen broth with actual pieces of buttered toast, then ladles it into bowls of ramen with bacon, egg and grilled tomato. It doesn't get more East meets West than this.


Ramen noodles

Crinkly noodles are cooked to a toothsome chew, the bacon is crispy, the fried egg has a gooey yolk, there's a sweet acidity from the tomato, and yes, you really can taste buttered toast in the broth. I relished this much more than I thought I would. It works terrifically well.

Next time I'm definitely headed for the Hokkaido milk buns. The version with mushroom, egg and cheese is said to be mindblowingly good.


Flat white with Single Origin Roasters beans

I love that you can have ramen and a really great coffee here. Chief barista, Daniel Cesarano, worked at both Single Origin Roasters and Melbourne's Seven Seeds, and pumps out coffee that is sweet and robust.


Dark chocolate and ginger cookies

Dimity Genaus makes all the treats you'll find in the sweets cabinet. It's a glass cabinet filled with temptation.


Breton Bun $5.50


The Breton Bun is like a kouign amann pastry laden with cinnamon sugar. The flaky caramelised scroll unravels to reveal crisp layers of pastry. Add the crunch of cinnamon sugar and you've got one helluva addictive indulgence.


Sticky date banana loaf $8
with creme fraiche and granola dust

And the sticky date banana loaf is like some crazy tasty hybrid of sticky date pudding and banana cake. A generous dollop of creme fraiche helps allay any overriding sense of sweetness, but the favourite part of this ensemble is that granola dust. It's like crack. I have no idea what's in it, but I need more.



Grab Your Fork on 
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry podcast

Rising Sun Workshop was actually the location of my interview recording for The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry podcast. Lee Tran Lam has been food blogging since 2007 and broadcasting her podcast since 2012. As a regular listener of her podcast, it was an unexpected honour - and rather surreal experience - to be on as a guest and answer the rota of questions I almost know off by heart!

To listen to the podcast, check out Lee Tran's post.


Grab Your Fork's 
food photography tips for Good Food

I was also interviewed by Good Food on my tips for great food photography. I even like that the haters have already left their mark in the comments section! Check out the article (and witty and insightful comments) here.






Rising Sun Workshop
1C Whateley Street, Newtown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9550 3891

Opening hours:
Breakfast daily 8am-11am
Lunch daily 11am-4pm
Dinner Thursday to Saturday 6pm-10pm


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