When Travin De Hoedt explains how the dishes at his new cafe, The Fold, are eaten in Sri Lanka, it sounds so simple. “We just use our hands,” he tells Broadsheet.

The pol roti (coconut roti) has a warm aroma that hits your nostrils as you tear into the dense bread and is easy enough to eat by hand. Tear the bread, scoop up a few chunks of fragrant beef and potato curry, add some salty, tangy katta sambol (chilli paste) and pop it in your mouth.

The same goes for the hoppers, those crepe-thin bowls made from a batter of fermented rice flour and coconut milk. They’re made to be torn and used as a vehicle for everything from chicken curry to egg, as well as The Fold’s take on shakshuka.

Redeem a double pass to the MCA Artbar. Starting at $12 a month, join Broadsheet Access.

SIGN UP

But eating the rathu kiri bath (red milk rice) with your hands takes skill. The twin domes of red coconut rice are hot; the rice looks like it won’t stick together; and, even if you manage to pick some up, how to pile on the lentil curry and lunu miris (spicy sambal paste) before everything falls apart?

The key is to be bold. But even if you fail, it doesn’t matter. By hand or by spoon, the food is incredible.

The Fold opened in July, taking over a high-street space that was once a cafe. The whole De Hoedt family is involved. Travin De Hoedt (who’s also head pastry chef at Franca Brasserie), his fianceé Saaya Takahashi (currently pastry chef de partie at Sixpenny) and his brother Jason De Hoedt (pastry chef at Franca Brasserie) oversee the cakes and sweets, mum Dilki De Hoedt manages front of house, and dad Augi De Hoedt is the head chef.

When planning the opening menu Augi took a cautious approach, strategically placing hoppers and pan-fried milk rice alongside more familiar cafe classics such as avocado toast and bacon-and-egg rolls.
“For the first two months we thought, let’s put a mixed menu out and see what the feedback is,” says Travin.

The feedback was good. They’ve since launched a full Sri Lankan menu featuring four types of sambols, roti, hoppers and plenty of curries. A dinner menu is also in the works.

“We want to give the community authentic, home-style Sri Lankan cooking,” says Augi. “Nothing over-the-top. It’s what you would get if you went to someone’s home.”

If delectable Sri Lankan food in the middle of Dulwich Hill is The Fold’s first pleasant surprise, the pastry cabinet is its second. There’s carrot cake with sultanas soaked in Sri Lankan tea from Tea Craft; cardamom, nutmeg and clove-spiced love cake; and Takahashi’s speciality: the notoriously difficult-to-bake, light-as-air cotton cheesecake.

“It takes an hour to bake and she sits by the oven, not even moving, watching through the window until it’s ready,” Augi says, laughing.

The pared-back space is decorated with woven baskets and bucolic scenes of the Sri Lankan countryside. At the entrance, floating shelves hold a collection of house-made chutneys and pickles for sale.

It’s different from anything else in Dulwich Hill, but one thing hasn’t changed: you can still get the Portuguese tart that was served here back when the site was home to Fernandes Patisserie (it closed a few years ago). Each time the venue changes hands, the recipe for the scorched golden-brown tart is passed down.

“The old owner even came out of retirement to teach us how to make it,” Travin says.

The Fold
402 New Canterbury Road, Dulwich Hill

Hours
Mon to Fri 7am–3.30pm
Sat & Sun 8am–3.30pm

instagram.com/thefold.srilankan