Bartiga Is Healing My Relationship With Double Bay

When I turned 21, I vowed I would never spend another Wednesday night in Double Bay. I’d done my time. I was moving on, growing up and kissing the Sheaf goodbye.

So, imagine my surprise when I found myself one Wednesday night, at the age of 27, trailing a cautious distance behind the crowds of 18-year-olds (their IDs insultingly emblazoned with the digits 2006) on my way to a booking on Bay Street.

The restaurant that inspired me to break my self-imposed exile from the Bay? Bartiga.

As I looked at the menu (prawn toast sandos, roasted market fish with tallow curry beurre blanc, calamansi tarts) and the neighbouring venues (Margaret, Baker Bleu, Matteo) I was surprised to learn that not only had I grown up in the last six years – so had Double Bay.

Co-owned by Charlie Kelly and Faheem Noor, Bartiga sits in the previous home of Cafe Perons, a health food stop that was owned and operated by Kelly’s mother, Vicky, for four decades. Noor’s resume includes stints at Gordon Ramsay’s now-closed Maze in London, Sydney’s Empire Lounge and Tetsuya’s. He and Kelly met almost 10 years ago and although they kept in touch over the years, Bartiga marks their first joint business venture.

For Kelly, the choice to transform Cafe Perons into a night-time venue was directly inspired by the suburb’s evolution. “Double Bay has always been a scene [but] there’s been a lot of change in the type of scene,” she tells Broadsheet. “Now, it’s a more food-focused and sophisticated precinct for fine dining. We positioned Bartiga as somewhere high-quality, but with a really accessible price tag.”

The menu marries Australian produce with Noor’s Malaysian heritage, producing a concise menu of small bites, starters and shared mains. According to Noor, the dish that best represents this melange is the beef rendang sausage roll. Noor makes both the rendang paste and the pastry in-house.

Kelly’s favourite dishes include the duck tacos, the Wagyu sliders and the tom yum spaghettini with scampi. Speaking to Broadsheet, Noor echoes Kelly’s love for the duck taco. “I came up with this hours before our soft launch,” he says. “Charlie kept bugging me wanting to have a bug roll and betel leaf on the menu. [But] I wasn’t going to have it as it’s been done over and over before.” What he did do was the duck taco: a betel leaf with French-style confit duck legs, tamarind sauce, crispy fried onions and local mango. “It’s been a hit. Our signature dish I’d say – and my personal favourite.”

The Andretti Fung-designed fit-out is sophisticated, with banquette seating and warm lighting. Dark wooden tables spill out onto the street, giving the venue a slight Mediterranean feel.

As I walked home, I could hear the hubbub from the queueing young people outside the Sheaf. I’m so glad I’ve moved firmly into the glass-of-wine-and-dinner demographic.

Bartiga
Cosmopolitan Shopping Centre, Short Street & Bay Street, Double Bay
(02) 9058 2878

Hours:
Mon to Fri 5pm–10pm
Sat & Sun 5pm–midnight

bartiga.com.au
@bartiga.syd