Category: FOOD & DRINK

T2 has a new wintry range of tea to add to your collection

T2 tea

Winter is the perfect time to ramp up your hot tea intake and to switch things up in the loose leaf department to help get you through those cold, dull days. Luckily, T2 has just released three new teas to pimp up your pantry – Cherry Cha Cha, Supercharger Matchaberry and Myrtle’s Mate loose leaf tea. Cherry Cha Cha is beautiful blend of black tea, cacao powder, cinnamon, sour cherries and rose petals. The best part is when the hot water hits the loose leaf and you catch the first scent of that gorgeous combination of cacao, sour cherries and rose petals. It’s the perfect brew for those moments you feel like a little chocolate hit, but you’re still trying to behave. With honeybush as a base, Supercharger Matchaberry is a flavour explosion with the addition of sweet pineapple, apple, cocoa husk, sweet blackberry leaves and powdered green tea. And the aroma this tea emits while it brews is next level, transporting you to a tropical paradise for a brief moment. A word of warning if brewing at work – if left unattended, it may not be there when you return as the fragrance from this tea is seriously hard to resist. Then there’s Myrtle’s Mate, a refreshing, earthy loose leaf tea made with cocoa husks, lemon myrtle and South American yerba mate powder. Full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, yerba mate is most definitely your friend. Wellness in a cup! The good people at T2 are always looking to develop flavoursome brews with wellness… Read More

Three Williams cafe in Redfern is bringing back truffles this winter in a big way

Three Williams Mandarin & Honey crumpet (2)_preview

Three Williams has been around for a while since it burst onto the scene back in around 2013, and this winter, they’ve found a way to keep the lust alive with a bit of a an addition to their already wildly popular menu. Following on from last year’s successful ‘Celebrating Truffle’ menu, Three Williams cafe has now launched a new, extended truffle menu for the 2018 season, which features truffled waffle fries and two new truffled desserts. Head chef Jacquie Ektoros (formerly of Devon Cafe?, Guillaume at Bennelong) has created a menu of seven truffle dishes which includes five new dishes as well as tweaked versions of two of last year’s best sellers – roasted peking duck angel hair pasta and crispy truffle skin chicken breast. An avid truffle fan, Ektoros has been planning this truffle menu since last year, aiming to incorporate classic truffle flavour combinations as well as some inspired creative concoctions. He wanted this year’s menu to surpass last year’s way of being bigger, better and more innovative than the previous attempts, covering-off  breakfast, lunch and in-between with a breeze. Three Williams 613a Elizabeth Street, Redfern threewilliamscafe.com

Surry Hills Sydney is getting a new Basque restaurant: Ortzi

Ortzi food

From the people behind Sagra in Darlinghurst, Ortzi has opened in Surry Hills this month, serving-up the best of Basque in a flash new venue. On Hunt Street in Surry Hills, chef and co-owner Michael Otto is behind the menu with the support of fellow co-owner and chef, Edward Saxton, together bringing a wonderful blend of traditional and Basque-inspired pintxos lead a shared-concept dinner menu that reflects the flavours of the Basque region. They’re all about dishes that adapt, changing the menu throughout the week to cater to every element of the whole beasts butchered on site so no part is wasted. “My aim is to let the ingredients shine and ensure that each dish is more than just a sum of its parts. For us to adapt the menu on almost a daily basis, we must be intuitive cooks. We’re fostering a creative environment for the chefs to take what is available in front of them in terms of a beast, seafood and vegetables, and create something that not only does the produce justice but is also is reflective of the Basque region”, says Otto. Find them at: Ortzi 6 Hunt Street, Surry Hills ortzi.com.au Monday to Saturday: 12pm – 3pm Monday to Wednesday: 6pm – 10pm Thursday to Saturday: 6pm – 12pm

Where to get bottomless rose this Queen’s Birthday long weekend in Sydney

Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel Sydney view 2

God save the Queen. As long as our supreme regal overlord keeps churning out birthdays, we’ll keep churning out annual long weekends and nobody’s mad about it. Especially when you consider things like this Queen’s Birthday long weekend bottomless rose at the Watson’s Bay Boutique Hotel in Sydney’s east, turning it out on 9 and 10 June for the whole day. After a sell out for October Long Weekend’s brunch, they are back with more Rosé, a delicious menu, DJ’s all afternoon and the Watsons famous frosé and Rosé sangria is also included. As you sit in Watsons Bay’s Hamptons style Sunset Room with tables made to fit up to fourteen, this is the perfect change to get your favourite group of girls and boys together to wine, dine and get boozy. Details here… What: WBBH Bottomless Rose Brunch When: June 9th and 10th Ticket: $89.00 Sort it out: watsonsbayhotel.com.au/love-rose-brunch

Get cheap drinks at Gin Lane for World Gin Day this Saturday

Gin Lane light bulb moment cocktail

If there was ever a bar any drinker – let alone a gin drinker – needs to go to, it’s Gin Lane on Kensington Street in Chippendale. Not only is it the ideal destination for any flatteringly mood-lit date night, but in honour of World Gin Day this week, it’s serving-up some cheap bevs for everything for a specially extended 7-hour ‘happy hour’ from 12-7pm this Saturday. Gin Lane Classic G&T’s – The Cucumber G&T and Spiced G&T will be on offer for half the going rate (at $7 each) to celebrate. Additionally, they will be launching a brand new show-stopping drink, The Lightbulb Moment (pic above) served in a light bulb and charged with prosecco and liquid nitrogen, a secret they’ve been working on especially. Check out more over here.

Hoyts takes LUX to new heights with a menu by Manu

Hoyts Lux Manu Feildel sliders

It’s one thing to watch favourite Frenchman Manu Feildel’s innovative cooking skills and judging on television, and it’s another to experience his creations yourself. So what happens when you combine his culinary style with the most comfortable and cutting edge sound and visual cinematic experience? HOYTS LUX has crafted the perfect collaboration to take your cinematic experience to the next premium level with colourful, flavoursome dishes inspired by Manu’s French heritage. As the latest 2018 Brand Ambassador, Manu shares, “My current passion is to bring restaurant quality food to a casual dining experience and what better way to do this than as part of the HOYTS LUX cinema experience”. We couldn’t agree more, because once you’ve sat in LUX and tasted the new gourmet food and wine menu, you’ll never want to watch a movie without the French twist! A mutual favourite is duck bao: a trio of steamed buns filled with crispy confit duck, house made shiitake, cucumber pickle, ginger mayo and a smoky hoisin sauce. Other starter options include Southern Style Fried Chicken (best we’ve ever tasted!) and classic Mac ‘n’ Cheese Balls. Menu options also include slider trios, nam duck and grilled chicken salads for the health conscious, and for the hungry, beef bourguigon pies, encased in short crust pastry and topped with creamy potato purée and rosemary leaves. We highly recommend you don’t leave out satisfying your sweet tooth; the delectable trio of éclairs, French lemon cheesecake smash and chocolate & hazelnut Malteser sundaes with a French wine will complete the… Read More

What to eat in Barangaroo this VIVID Sydney

VIVID Sydney is the city’s celebration of light, life and love for it all, working with some of the most creative minds when it comes to creativity. But that creativity extends well past light projections and timers, knocking right on to the city’s great culinary minds and venues, serving-up some light festival-inspired delicacies befitting a city-wide celebration that only Sydney can do. Barangaroo and its best venues are working with a unique offering of things like glow-in-the-dark fairy floss, colourful sliders and flaming cocktails and more. Here’s what’s on at the Barangaroo venues… Sparks fly at love.fish with a flaming orange winter spice cocktail of Ord River rum and cinnamon. Banksii spins glow-in-the-dark fairy floss (weekends only) and mixes illuminated cocktails at its Vivid Sydney spritz cart. Untied serves up vibrant rainbow sliders stacked with fried chicken, beef and cheese, barramundi or portobello mushroom. Wash it down with a ‘Dame Edna’ Ink Gin and lychee martini; or a ‘Wizz Fizz’ Ink Gin fizz with a rhubarb and grenadine foam. 12-Micron constructs a colourful Garden of Sweet Delights dessert with strawberry quandong jam and dried pistachio cake, dark chocolate and eucalyptus mousse, a milo lollipop, a chocolate cone filled with strawberry ice cream, mandarin jellies, forest fruit fizzy sours and coloured sugar shards. Accompany your dessert with a Lemon There Be Lights cocktail of Ricard, pomme verte, lemon and orgeat. Devon Café debuts ice cream sandwiches from its Vivid Sydney ice cream cart. The bright coloured sandwiches are made with a matcha shortbread cookie, strawberry and white chocolate parfait filled with popping candy, and balsamic and strawberry… Read More

Why Sydney’s Spice Alley in Chippendale makes a date night

Spice Alley lanterns

Know what makes a good date night? Cold weather, coats, cosy bars and quality food and drinks, which is exactly what you get one a date night at Spice Alley, just off Kensington Street in Chippendale Sydney. It’s the city’s go-to for quality, affordable, cheap Asian eats tucked nicely behind a range of quality bars and other restaurants offering a a range of other menus like these. With the vibe befitting of a paved urban alleyway beneath a canopy of yellow lanterns, Spice Alley is a bustling lane that takes hawker-style dining and makes it inner-urban, right from the side streets of the largest Asian cities within the confines of Sydney. Some of its most top-notch eateries include Bang Luck Thai eatery, Alex Lee Kitchen Singaporean Eatery, Spice House function space, Hong Kong Diner Cantonese Eatery, Kyo-to Japanese eatery and restaurant, Hokie Poké and Old Jim Kee Malaysian eatery, really staging the best of what the region’s cuisine has to offer. Ideal for drinks, right from dinner, the offering of Spice Alley makes date nights a breeze, the need for thinking obsolete and the end result… well, up to you, but it’ll be good, regardless of the result. Check out more about Spice Alley here.

There’s a naughty dessert festival coming to Sydney: The Milk ‘n’ Sugar

Milk Sugar glow stick fairy floss

Feel that dull ache in your back teeth? Yeah, that’s your them screaming out for mercy in advance of this year’s naughtiest dessert festival coming to Sydney, Milk ‘n’ Sugar. It is set to return this year alongside VIVID Sydney at the Overseas Passenger Terminal Circular Quay next weekend, bringing together Sydney’s finest dessert enthusiasts to offer revellers a colourful array of diverse, distinctive and delicious flavours. With items on the menu like Fluffy Crunch’s Flurrito, scoops of ice-cream topped with Froot Loops and rainbow dust that is rolled up in fairy floss; a tonka bean mandarin mousse with a brownie base from Koi Dessert Bar; hand chocolate dipped cheesecake on a stick from Bianco Kitchen; a crunchy golden churro burger from Bar Coco; light-up doughnut ice-cream cones from Hungary Bites and dessert arancini balls from Arancini Guy, you should skip dinner. It all goes down at the Overseas Passenger Terminal from 8-10 June from 6-11pm, with a $2 entry fee.

Gin Lane cocktail bar does dark and broody well with 3 words: gin on tap

Gin Lane cocktail front

There are few places in Sydney you can walk into and immediately add to your ‘must return’ list. Gin Lane on Kensington Street is one of them. It’s dark, it’s broody, it’s cosy, it’s creative and comes complete with gin and tonic on tap to make their signature raison d’être as easy to pump out as they are to drink. Gin Lane is the baby of Grant Collins, the charistmatic Englishman whose penchant for not only drinking, but doing it well gave rise to his latest project, giving first dates and casual friendly catch-ups a new home in Sydney’s inner south. As the name suggests, they do gin. But added into some of the most elaborate cocktails you’d never have thought of. Want something classic, yeah, they do that; want something with a bit of a coastal flavour, yeah they’ve got that covered with the ‘Mediterranean’ cocktail of gin mare, rosemary and thyme, or if you want something served out of a light bulb, that, too, is a thing. In fact, the light bulb cocktail – their secret entrant into a competition later this year for World Gin Day in 9 June – isn’t even on the menu yet, so now’s the time to try and offer-up your praise… or condolences, depending on your palette. The staff are knowledgable, the vibe is pleasant the the storeys are two, meaning if the thoroughfare of the first floor aren’t for you, a cosy nook upstairs, complete with velvet chairs and mood lighting are super to keep you happy…. Read More