A Little On The Side, Darlington

A Little On The Side is one of my favourite cafes in Sydney: the food and service has always been dependably good. It's often been my first stop for out-of-towners who want to leave Sydney on a good breakfast note, and it's perfect for friends looking for a new eggs-and-toast menu to wake up with.

Despite my repeated visits over the years, I have one problem whenever I go: a Hamlet-esque indecision over whether to opt for a sweet or savoury breakfast. I usually don't feel sweet-toothed so early in the day, but the Coconut Hotcakes with Bananas, Cinnamon Ricotta and Maple Syrup have often left me swayed. The best breakfast I've had here was when my friend Ben and I went halves on the hotcakes and the Whole Roasted Mushrooms with Goat's Cheese, Chilli and Tomato Relish on Sourdough Toast, so we had the best of both flavour worlds.

I have discovered another way to have it all, breakfast-wise. Order a savoury meal, and then steal a bit of your boyfriend's toast and jam.



Will had some toast with three very tasty jams (that were as easy on the eye as they were on the tongue): blueberry & pear, apple butter and orange & apricot. Having a taster of Will's toast and jam as a "breakfast dessert" reminded me of the time that a group of us ordered a makeshift "tasting menu" of bread and various jams at the Codfather in Stanmore. That time, it was our breakfast "entree", 'cos we were still waiting for people to arrive but needed something to chomp on in the meantime. (The jams were the best thing about our breakfast at The Codfather, an experience that was as hit and miss as the review in the Sydney Morning Herald suggests.)



The main event of my breakfast was the Polenta Pancakes with Bacon, Rocket and Goat's Cheese - with a vegetarian twist. I asked for something non-meaty instead of the bacon, and they very nicely "vego'd it up" for me (even going through a thorough list of what I could and couldn't eat). So I got a nice serve of tasty fried mushrooms and avocado with the fluffy polenta stack instead.

Will had the Porridge with Caramelised Pears, Rhubarb Compote and Brown Sugar to go with his toast and jam. Now, I am constantly paying Will out when he orders porridge for breakfast - to me, it seems like a dour, Charles Dickens-esque choice when eating out. But I had to concede, the On The Side version of porridge didn't sound beige or boring at all. And it was pretty good, in Will's porridge-savvy opinion.



It was the best breakfast I had in a long time - a bit extravagant because we had ordered so much nice food, yet really affordable and nothing to feel financially guilty about. The weather was breezy and just perfect for sitting back and chatting and joking about everything. And the good-humoured staff were really conversational and accommodating and notched up the perfect number of stopping-by-our-table visits: enough to check how we were going and add a few friendly comments here and there, but not too much that we felt like we were being kept overzealous tabs on.



I hadn't been to A Little On The Side for a while, so it was nice to re-remember why I liked it so much. Last year, I was freelancing at a publisher nearby, and I have nice memories of all the decadent-seeming lunches I'd order (a lot of blue cheese pastas - which sounds INSANE, but actually was good; ditto the Pasta with Goat's Cheese, Chilli and Dill). A little more down-to-earth is the Haloumi Burger with Grilled Eggplant, Zucchini, Roast Tomato and Garlic Aioli, which is a dish worth repeated visits.



A Little On The Side was pegged as Best Cafe in Sydney's Good Food Guide a few years ago. It used to be a lot more packed then. Now I don't know if it was because we missed the morning rush, but it wasn't overly busy when we went, which was nice. (Back in the day when it had just been anointed by Good Food Guide, it was more of a struggle to get a table.) There's always the catch-22 of wanting a cafe you like to succeed but not wanting it to be so popular that you have to wait ages for a seat. On our visit today though, everything was perfect.

A Little On The Side, Corner of Boundary and Ivy Lane, Darlington, (02) 9698 2342. www.ontheside.com.au

Never Order Chicken On A Monday

Tonight I skipped French class to go to the launch of Matthew Evans' book, Never Order Chicken On A Monday. When talking about the book, the former Sydney Morning Herald critic pointed out he was slightly weirded out by the sticker on the book that says it's "Australia's answer to Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain. To him, Bourdain is this cranky bad boy with this rock 'n' roll reputation, whereas Matthew says he's "a dag from Canberra", who liked to make tadpoles turn into frogs.

Not that I care about how supposedly "coolsy" he is or isn't: I'll always have a soft spot for his food-centric words, not only 'cos they're down-to-earth and witty, but also because his "Nice guacamole" recipe is one of the first things I ever cooked, and even wrangled me some compliments from my tough-critic mum.

The book was launched with a l'il spiel by Simon Thomsen the current senior Herald critic (whose down-to-earth and witty words I also enjoy). He talked about passion and honesty and how honesty was kinda "illegal" in Australia these days (it seems to frighten politicians), and Matthew was someone who encompassed both. Extending his honesty-phobic politician comparison a little (Phillip Ruddock was the politician he had in mind), he joked that Matthew was like David Hicks with a fork and a pen.

He talked about the importance of breaking bread to solve the messes of today, and while I thought that was a tad idealistic, it's true that sugar does make some throat-gagging medicine go down a tad better.

The launch was at Bondi Icebergs Dining Room and Bar with finger food by Richard Marchetti, which was a bit of a clincher. Being a vegetarian, I scoffed four arancini balls (classic vego finger food fallback option) and one spinach tart, and watched many a non-vego platter pass us by. My newly-vegan friend Tabitha, unfortunately, was unable to eat anything. (Vegans really have it tough!) Not even the mini lemon meringue tarts that capped off the night, which is a bit of a shame, because they were lemony crisp greatness.

One of the upsides of being a vegetarian is that you don't have to worry about ordering chicken on any calendar day. Still, I'm looking forward to leafing through the book's other lessons.

Sugar sugar

This will put you off your fizzy cola.

A recent toxicology study into aspartame (which is used to artificially sweeten diet colas) linked the sugar substitute to an increase in tumours in rats.

The Ramazzini Foundation found a "significant increase in lymphomas and leukemia, and that the increase comes not from consuming 800 cans of soda a day, but from consuming fairly moderate amounts of aspartame in these animals' lifetimes.

"They had 1,800 animals, and some of them were just consuming the equivalent of two cans of soda a day, two yogurts, 10 pieces of chewing gum. And at that level of consumption, there was a significant increase in cancer, and it only showed up in older rats.”

So says epidemiologist Devra Davis, who runs the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. She was being interviewed in Salon about her book, The Secret History of the War on Cancer.

She made another interesting point about how some of "the companies jumping on the breast cancer awareness bandwagon actually make products that may contribute to the disease". I've always been curious about this point because, from the times I've had to sub-edit stories on toxic chemicals, it's made me wonder about all that weird-sounding multi-syllabic stuff that's on the ingredients list of your personal care and cleaning products (what IS some of that stuff??), and the debate about parabens - which is in everything from shampoo to toothpaste - is an interesting and kinda scary one. Now, I find it really intriguing that everyone is so literate about what is in their food (whether it's got Omega-3 or saturated fat in it, if it covers your RDI for iron etc) but when you look at what's in your deodorant or make-up, there are words that are so incomprehensible and lengthy you wouldn't know what they were, or what they do (though they do come in handy for killer Scrabble moves). Mmm, just the kinda stuff I want my body to be absorbing in cumulative amounts through my lifetime, yay!

Back on the soft drink front though, I emailed the aspartame info to Will, who likes to guzzle a certain brand of artificially sweetened cola.

I pointed out in comparison, having tons of sugar seems real tame in comparison to what replaces them in fake-sweet colas.

He wrote back: "Sugar is lightweight. Especially fructose, that's the most pissweak sugar around. The other sweeteners surround it in the school yard and take its lunch money."

Elysium, Randwick

Sometimes you can read all these good write-ups about a place, but sometimes just learning that Passionfruit Creme Brulee with Rockmelon Sorbet and Assorted Ice Cream is on the dessert menu is enough to make you sprint there.


So that's how we ended up at Elysium in Randwick recently.

It's a casual European restaurant with a touch of fancypants about it - it's run by an ex-Otto sous chef with London Michelin star cred. But it's the casualness that makes it nice - somewhere you can have a midweek dinner that feels a touch special yet won't bring on bank statement dread next month.

It has a bistro feel, with the cute little banquettes and old school Art Nouveau prints on the wall. It reminded me a bit of Tabou in Surry Hills, except I like Elysium a hell of a lot more. (I've only been to Tabou once but found it a mite over-rated.)

We were very hungry, so I ploughed into the bread and then a Roast Pumpkin Tarte Fine with Rocket Lettuce, Fourme D'Ambert Blue Cheese, Pine nuts and Vincotto. Blue cheese is always a bit of a wild card: particularly when it strong-arms your palate into can't-taste-anything-else submission. No wonder people run from the mere sighting of le fromage bleu. But the Fourme D'Ambert was a lovely mild one, with the right hint of sweetness and richness. With that winning ingredient, the tarte fine was exactly that.

Will had Half A Roast Duck With Blood Orange, Parsnip Puree and Green Beans and said the blood orange was a wonderfully light counterbalance to the fatty duck hit (we can't figure out why ducks become such tubby grease-factories given they just spend all their time swimming, or maybe we have a very picturebook-centric misconception of a duck's regimen, which is highly likely).

Sadly, there wasn't any Passionfruit Brulee on the dessert menu that night, but the Almond Tuile with Scoops of Lemon, Cinnamon and Hazelnut Ice Cream was a good consolation prize.

I'll still be hanging out for the brulee - it's one of several good reasons to return.

Elysium, 133 Avoca Street, Randwick NSW (02) 9398 7766

A very expensive way to toast

Back in 1985, a bottle of wine was sold at auction for 150,000 pounds. It was the priciest bottle ever put to the gavel because it was an 18th century vintage Thomas Jefferson once owned. Christopher Forbes, the successful bidder, said scoring the bottle was, "more fun than the opera glasses Lincoln was holding when he was shot. And we have those too."

But only so much fun, because then some experts concluded that the bottles didn't belong to Thomas Jefferson.

Of course.

This story was one of my favourites from the recent New Yorker Food Issue. The rest of the article is about Forbes trying to find out who stiffed him into buying these Jefferson knock-offs, so he can take them down. Some wine buffs take their plonk very very seriously.

The Last Days of Rockpool

Going to Rockpool is a bit of an Event. It always gets swoony reviews in the Australian foodie press and apparently is one of the Best 40 restaurants in the world (sitting at #33). A recent night there caused enough tastebud-stunning for my friend Tabitha to declare it "the most fun I've ever had".

So leading up to the actual night, I had pre-Rockpool jitters aplenty. I even had a Rockpool calendar countdown happening - not even Christmas gets me that keyed up.

What made it more exciting was learning, just a few days before, that Rockpool was ending its fine dining days: it was to become a casual seafood restaurant in late October. So we'd be one of the last people to enjoy Rockpool in all its fancypants, degustation-serving glory.

Part of the reason for Rockpool dressing itself down, was Neil Perry's tiredness of fine dining stress: he told the Sydney Morning Herald, '"If we take $17,000 a night we break even at Rockpool. If we take $20,000 to $22,000 we make some money. That's how crazy it is."

No wonder he wants to settle down and just serve fish burgers instead.

Still, I'm glad he put up with that "craziness", because I had an awesome night at Rockpool. (It was the fourth foodie excursion for our "Appetite for Degustation" dinner-outing group, but - despite our name - the very first degustation we'd been to).



Shiitake & Enoki Wonton with Konbu and Vegetable Consomme
This was the starting gun of the Vegetarian Tasting Menu and a seductive beginning, that's for sure. This dish had all these unexpected flavours and layers as you spooned your way through it – from the delicate wonton skin to the heavy hit of mushrooms to the gingery broth underneath. It was like deep-sea diving for your tastebuds. I remember us all murmurring in a dazed way when we first ate it. And the deep-fried lotus root on the side tasted like crispy posh chips. Perfect.


Beetroot Various Ways
This looks a tiny bit bloodbathy in this photo but when served in front of you it is actually BEAUTIFUL to look at - intensely bright like some Fauvist painting. I love how there's a beetroot "canvas" of bright red colour with all these vivid little flourishes of vegetables on top. And with all its miniature textures and tastes, it was gorgeous to eat too.


Lotus Root 'Tapioca Sushi' with Ginger Rice Wine Vinegar and Organic Soy Dressing
The sweet tapioca balls popped like silky sweet bubbles in your mouth. It was exquisite and made rice-filled sushi seem dull, tasteless and old-hat in comparison.


Salt & Pepper Silken Tofu with Green Papaya and Cashew Nut Salad
One of the white squares was a lightly battered tofu piece, the other was this foamy space-age rendition of the same ingredient. It was airy and light and tasted like something The Jetsons probably ate. It made my robotic diodes all gooey.

Chestnut Agnalotti with Apples and Cinnamon
This was my friend Chris' favourite dish. With such a sweet ingredient list, the agnolotti tasted like a cross between a home-baked apple pie and savoury parcels of pasta. It was exquisite and homey and a l'il unexpected, like something your Grandma could make, if she had a bit of Iron Chef chutzpah in her.

Best Ever Mushroom & Egg Sandwich: Organic Hen's Egg 60 versus 65 Theory & Sauteed Mushrooms
The one dish that sounds like it's an electronica remix. We asked about the "theory" and it turns out the egg white and the yolks are cooked at totally different temperatures (one at 60, the other at 65) for hours. To be honest, I couldn't taste any tastebud-redefining difference, but the surrounding mushrooms were intensely rich and lingering and the best thing about the dish. (Like a band showing its musical influences, Peach tells me this dish takes a few riffs from El Bulli.)



Parsnip and Cauliflower 'Mac and Cheese' with Peas and Spring Onion
Tagine of Baby Veg, Cauliflower Couscous and Nut-stuffed Date
Now, even though I loved everything else on the menu, these two dishes really lowered the score. It seems disappointing to be fed "macaroni and cheese" (or couscous) at Rockpool, unless it's macaroni made out of truffles or couscous foam or something crazy and impossible to replicate in a plain old domestic kitchen. I wondered if these two rather ordinary dishes were meant to be dull - as a way to calm down your tastebuds - or as my friend Dave Regos said, "maybe it's a palate-resetter, it's resetting the palate". Funnily enough, when I talked to Tabitha, she had the same feelings (and identical conversation) at her Rockpool dinner too.

Parmesan and Apple Sandwich
Luckily though, the palate plateau ended, and this introduction to dessert was homey yet clever and unpredictable too. It reminded me a lot of the sweet-yet-savoury agnolotti we'd sampled earlier.

Rosewater Sorbet with Vanilla Pannacotta
This was Will's fave dish on the menu. The sorbet had a light tingle of sweetness – like lychee-flavoured ice. Sprinkled throughout were segments of strawberries and pistachios, and you dug through these lush and crunchy layers to get to the panna cotta. It was like mining for dessert.

”Mandarin”
All it said on the menu was “mandarin” - yes, in quotation marks. Which made me think they were going to serve us a banana but claim it was a mandarin. But I was wrong: we were treated to this lovely platter with mandarin sorbet on a tiny mandarin sponge with mandarin clouds (which became zingy little explosions in your mouth) and a “sugar tube” with a mandarin toffee.

Petit fours and coffees
By the end, we were not only stuffed, we were category-5 stuffed. But the passionfruit marshmallows served with tea and coffee were so dreamy that I had to keep sampling. (And I usually don't like marshmallows...! But these were such a tasty counter-argument to all my anti-marshmallow sentiment that I became a born-again marshmallow tragic just like that.)



The food wasn't the only great thing about the night - the staff were wonderful and entertaining - they freely joked with us and never were sniffy or snooty at all. Their service was so spot-on and helpful that it bordered on ESP (particularly two times when I got lost for less than a microsecond during the restaurant: less than a microsecond because that's how long - or little - it took the wait staff to point me in the right direction, without me even asking.)

When friends learn about my Rockpool excursion, they immediately ask, "ooh, how was it?", fired with the excited curiosity reserved for quizzing someone just returned from an overseas holiday. And a trip to Rockpool does feel kinda monumental in that way - it definitely isn't an average dinner.

Which leads to the second most popular question, which is "how much was it?" And it definitely isn't a budget dinner option. I'm a pretty "cheap date", being a vegetarian who isn't a heavy drinker, so my dinner was $150 for veg deg and $10 for drinks and a bit more wallet-emptying for a tip. Still, it's pretty steep if you're not an investment banker - which I ain't, so I survived on No Frills breadcrumbs for quite a while to pay it off. (The night before, my dinner cost $5.20 - for three sad end-of-the-day discounted sushi rolls and a biscuit and tea at French class.) Still, you're paying for quite a palate-blitzing experience, and as a once-in-a-blue-moon event, it's worth it.

For the carnivores who like to get tipsy, a degustation dinner does blink towards the $200 mark (and beyond, depending on how much you like to glug fine wines.)

Rockpool re-opens in its new 'fishy' incarnation in a few weeks. I hope they remember to put something vegemetarian on the menu. And I hope it's just as good as it was before.

Rockpool, 107 George Street, Sydney www.rockpool.com.au