Green Dream

In the early 2000s Barry McDonald, founder of Fratelli Fresh, changed the way we think about ingredients, and almost single-handedly made focusing on suppliers and producers an integral part running a restaurant. Green Dream is true to his original vision. It’s a bright and buzzy make-your-own salad bar on a prominent corner in Bondi’s landmark Pacific building.

Each week there are four Dream Salads, which draw on more than 50 ingredients and 13 dressings. There are also four juices available, which are cold-pressed on-site. You can also opt to build your own salad by choosing a base of greens, kale, quinoa or organic wild rice, then top it with five ingredients including charred corn, tomato, salted edamame, shredded apple or spiced chickpeas.

Then throw in hot-smoked salmon, herb falafel, curried cauliflower or turmeric sweet potato, and finish with a dressing, either a splash of olive oil; or miso, sesame and ginger; cucumber tahini yoghurt; or Green Dream hot sauce.

McDonald has always been about the produce. He began selling it to the city’s top restaurants in the mid 1980s before launching smallgoods and dairy wholesaler McDonald & Johnson (with fellow celeb providore Simon Johnson) in 1988.

The whole menu is gluten free, and all but two of the dressings are vegan.

For the design, McDonald partnered with Dan Single, co-founder of streetwear brand Ksubi. The shop has custom woodwork pieces, including a curved floating bench.