First Look: Lox in a Box Opens a Beachy Bistro, and an Ex-Ester Chef Is Leading the Kitchen

European bistros are having a moment. South End just hit Newtown, Epula opened in Martin Place, Palm Beach welcomed The Corner. If you can’t get steak frites in your neighbourhood, maybe start petitioning? Our most iconic beachy locale is the latest to get involved, welcoming Bistro Bondi this week. The Lox in a Box team is behind it – and they’ve tapped a chef from a couple of hot Sydney venues.

Isabelle Caulfield spent five years at Mat Lindsay’s Chippendale restaurant Ester, and two and a half working up to head chef at his nearby wine bar Poly. Now she’s leading the charge at the bagel pros’ first restaurant.

“We’re feeling good,” Caulfield says, a few days ahead of Bistro Bondi’s launch. “It’s going to be a cosy neighbourhood bistro, influenced mainly by French and Spanish cuisine, but with a nod here and there to the Jewish Europe background of the owners – Polish and German.”

The dining room lives next door to Lox’s recently rejigged Greenbergs space, on a slightly quieter street away from the hectic beachfront. Slip inside, past the glassy facade, to dine on clothed tables or at a terrazzo bar, in a space hedged by half-height white curtains. Or, claim a table on the pavement, overlooking palm trees and paper barks. The fun quirks we know Lox for are here too: leaping dolphins on glasses, plates and coasters; bright bistro cutlery; hand-painted lettering on the doors and mirrors.

Once seated, it’s snacky and approachable, with a few “hearty mains”.

Start with chicken liver pâté topped with apricots macerated with mustard, alongside a handful of Lox bagel crisps; or the steak tartare crowned with guindilla-spiked hollandaise and chips on the side. Charred octopus is skewered, with tonnato underneath and the crunchy hit of celery salsa on top; and Lox latkes are topped with anchovy and comté. Plus, Gildas, pomegranate-dressed oysters and a rainbow of crudités ready for a swipe through Green Goddess.

“I like things with char, and I like adding quite a bit of acidity and freshness to the dish,” Caulfield says, a combo perfected (and done beautifully) at both Ester and Poly. “I don’t like to leave a meal and then be like, ‘I can’t walk’. Going into summer, we definitely don’t want it to be a rich, heavy meal. You want to feel good afterwards.”

The mains will leave you with your legs fully functioning. Giant Clarence River prawns bathe in cafe de Paris butter, with a charred dome of lemon. Snapper comes in a full-bodied romesco sauce, but in the light company of braised leeks. It’s only the juicy 300-gram steak frites, or chocolate mousse, that might put the brakes on a post-lunch swim.

The wine list arrives from Jaymie Wallace, who’s clocked hours at Embla and Love, Tilly Divine. The 70-bottle number features local picks, but goes big on the Euro drops. Before getting into them, though, kick off with a Bondi Blue, a coconutty, sea-coloured cocktail layered with watermelon granita and topped with an umbrella.

It’s all very Euro – with a bit of Bondi cool, from Thursday November 6.

Bistro Bondi
4/17 Warners Avenue, Bondi Beach

Hours:
Wed & Thu 5pm–9pm
Fri & Sat midday–10pm
Sun midday–9pm

bistrobondi.com.au
@bistrobondi