With 2020 changing the way we work, live and play, it of course had an impact on the way we eat. The depression era bread queue made a resurgence at popular sourdough bakeries, like my local, Penny Fours, as well as at restaurants like Café Paci, who made an agile pivot to selling their wonderful potato and molasses bread by the loaf to the socially distanced faithful. New restaurants seemed less vital to visit than old favourites (who you wanted to support to stay around); and hygiene and location became much stronger considerations. As a writer, long form blogging started to seem unjust ..read more

With the restaurant and café restrictions, my dining adventures have been seriously curtailed. Attempting to find a non-crowded beach for er… exercise… gave me the opportunity to swing by Son of a Baker for a post-swim snack. This attractive beach-front bakery café is owned by Roman Urosevski. Despite the location in a suburban grouping of shops that has a corner store vibe, it’s tarted up with some monumental grandeur via a marble and glass front counter, home to a stylish matte white coffee machine. Normally full of pale timber tables and seating, everything is currently neatly stacked ..read more

If you’re into food, you’re probably well aware that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken away many of Sydney’s great dining pleasures. At the same time, it has also shown just how innovative and adaptive our restaurants, bars, cafes, pubs, food trucks and food and drink businesses can be. For many businesses it has been a rapid shift in focus, from dine-in to delivery, and from making entrees and mains, to creating video content that allows us to cook dishes at home alongside the likes of Colin Fassnidge and his darling daughters. Event caterers, Chao Catering, have made the jump from boardroom ..read more

Apologies for the long time between reviews. With COVID-19 hitting Sydney restaurants hard, it seemed pertinent to suspend food reviewing for the duration, though of course that hasn’t meant ignore our struggling hospitality mates completely! On Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Does My Bomb Look Big In This? has been showcasing home delivery items, home cooking experiments and given over space to our favourite restaurants, showcasing how they have adapted their offerings adjust to the new dining paradigm. In terms of ethics, when restaurants don’t usually provide their food takeaway or home ..read more

Aperitivo has been my local pizza joint for more than a decade. It’s a large restaurant with two levels of indoor dining plus outdoor dining street-side and in a rear courtyard, so they were particularly well equipped to implement NSW Health’s current social distancing instructions and keep plenty of space between diners earlier in the week. Aperitivo also send out pizza delivering via platforms like UberEats, though you can ensure all your money goes into supporting your local guy (rather than a corporate giant) by talking a walk to pick up your pizza yourself (while we still can). If ..read more

It’s hard to know where to draw the dining out line with the challenges posed by Covid-19, especially in the absence of strong leadership mapping out clear measures that will be implemented in the weeks ahead. With infections still low in NSW, I popped into a nearly empty Osteria di Russo & Russo earlier this week; chasing the good lookin’ cooking of head chef Alex Wong (ex-Allegra Dining). Wong dished up a smashing plate of toothsome, handmade wattleseed pappardelle with David Blackmore wagyu ragu and sweet bursts of native currants. If you’ve already made the decision to curtail ..read more

Booths are good social distancing, right? Well that’s the way I’ve always used them. Throw in an online ordering system, and you barely have to speak to anyone if you decide to visit Kobe Wagyu BBQ Restaurant... while you still can. You’ll find this four-year-old, Chinese-owned, Japanese BBQ joint by climbing up a curved copper arc of stairs. Reaching the summit, the first thing you are confronted with are the well-stocked wagyu and sake fridges, getting things off to a very good beginning! Evenings are all about their BBQ Buffet Menu ($84/person) that gives you access to all the wagyu ..read more

While social distancing measures are slowly being implemented, it’s worth remembering that restaurants are already experts in hygiene, having long been subject to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, with breaches revealed on the NSW Food Authority’s Name & Shame list. Your custom now will no doubt be appreciated by your favourite restaurant in the difficult weeks yet to come. I chose to drop my coin at Saint Peter, who lured me in with a new Friday night only degustation offering that kicked off at the beginning of February. The tiny Paddington restaurant feels a bit more s ..read more

With Australia rapidly moving toward the instruction to stay in your homes, you might be planning how to keep you and yours amused through our long internment. TokyoTreat have eats and entertainment rolled up into one monthly subscription box that is brimming with Japanese treats. I road-tested their March Premium Box (US$35 including shipping) ahead of the Covid-19 health crisis and can confirm you’ve got a full two weeks of entertainment, if you’re able to ration out the treats to one (or two) each day. The bright orange box arrived at my workplace about a week after ordering. It was to ..read more

With overseas holidays off the agenda for the foreseeable future, take a trip back in time at Sing Hing Restaurant in Sylvania. Walking in from the late afternoon’s intense golden light is a bit like entering Aladdin’s cave. As your eyes slowly adjust to the darkened space, the elaborate jade green interior comes into view. Dating back to 1966, the décor still looks quite spiffy for a restaurant that has had fifty-four years of operation. Under dangling bird cages, the padded green bar is lined with swivel stools. Taking a cue from carousels, mirrors are put to good effect on the ..read more