Snack Bar: “Big” Sam Young’s Limited-Edition Kung Pao Sanga and More Sydney Food News

What’s On Around Town

• L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, which has been operating in Naples since 1870 and opened on Pitt Street last year, is launching Neapolitan pizza cooking classes. The first is $150 and runs from 3pm to 5pm on July 12. You’ll make two classic Neapolitan pizzas, then enjoy them with three included drinks and tiramisu for dessert. Book here.

• Winter calls for dark beer. Or maybe an entire festival of it. Fifteen brewers across the inner west have signed on for the inaugural Dark Side of the Beer festival from July 23 to 26. Amble between the likes of Philter, Heaps Normal, Grifter, Sauce, Kicks and more for tap takeovers, surprise collabs, toasty braziers, fireside choirs and all the stouts, porters, dark lagers and doppelbocks you can drink. Plus, selected breweries will be practicing Bierstacheln (“beer poking”), a theatrical, centuries-old tradition of submerging a red-hot steel rod into a cold beer to caramelise the residual sugars and create a surging, cloud-like head on the spot.

• Fabbrica Newtown’s head chef Keir Ballantyne is headed to Darlinghurst’s Avia on July 19 for the restaurant’s Re:Purpose series. Each event challenges a visiting chef to turn overlooked or unloved ingredients into something memorable. And you can bet Ballantyne is up to the task – he’s clocked time at prestigious global eateries including Heston Blumenthal’s three-Michelin-starred The Fat Duck. His six dishes for the evening include bluefin tuna head polpette with preserved chilli and tomato, stuffed Sommerlad chicken wing and barbequed quail with pickled zucchini stems. Avia’s Stefano Marano is matching him with six dishes of his own, like tubbetti with snapper head ragu and lovage, and kangaroo tartare with gribiche sauce and nasturtium. You can order à la carte, or let the chefs decide for you. Bookings are essential.

• Shaun Christie-David’s social enterprise Plate it Forward has partnered with Dilmah Tea and the company’s MJF Charitable Foundation to launch Harvest2, a “long-term food security, education and sustainable agriculture program supporting rural communities across Sri Lanka’s east coast”. From July 11, book in for the new high tea experience at Plate it Forward restaurant Colombo Social in Enmore to contribute directly. Every booking will provide 10 meals for some 2700 children in 23 rural schools. Harvest2 will see independent farms sending produce directly to school kitchens. Each school will become a hub for environmental and agricultural knowledge, with organic gardens, orchards, beehives and biogas-powered kitchens set up to foster long-term prosperity.

• Who better than “Big” Sam Young to create a special for South Dowling, the 27-year-old shop known for its enormous two-hand schnitzel sangas? Available on Doordash until July 26, the Young Pow packs Kung Pao sauce, chilli chicken, leek, roasted capsicum, caramelised carrots, cucumber, grilled zucchini, pickled onion and Lao Gan Ma chilli crisp.

• Japan has celebrated National Ramen Day on July 11 since 2017. Now Motto Motto’s six Sydney stores are marking the occasion with a wildly good value deal: a bowl of pork chashu ramen and a 390-millilitre drink for $7.11. Just 1771 promotional bowls are available across all stores nationally, so arrive early to get yours. The minor catch? To access the deal you need to be a member of My Motto, the chain’s loyalty program.

• Fine-dining institution Aria has partnered with Opera Australia on a limited-edition dessert to celebrate the 2026 season of Viennese operetta The Merry Widow. The mandarin, champagne and honey choux pastry is available on the pre-theatre menu until August 18. It’s also available in the bar before and after performances.

• Post-work drinks (and dinner) just got more affordable. 25 Martin Place has launched Clock Off at 5, a new initiative offering either $25 or 25 per cent off across the five venues in the building until July 31. Cabana Bar is taking 25 per cent off its three types of Margaritas – Tommy’s, spicy and coconut – so they start at $19, not $24. From Monday to Thursday at Italian newcomer Rovollo, take 25 per cent off all bottles of wine from the sprawling list of 250. Also Monday to Thursday at Aalia, groups of seven or more can get the classic share menu for $104 per person (usually $129) and the signature share menu for $154 per person (usually $179). At the International, get 25 per cent off your food bill when dining with a group of eight or more. Lastly, Kazan is offering $25 off the dinner bill when you spend $80 per person or more, again Monday to Thursday.

What We Covered This Week

• Inside the 12-dish menu Apollo Group development chef Oscar Solomon is cooking over coals at Firepop on July 29.

• Four dishes to look forward to at our preview dinner at the new-look Arthur in Surry Hills.

• First look: Sydney’s most coveted fried chicken is back.

• Fiji Pantry brings small-batch Pacific Islands staples to Darlinghurst.

• Sydney’s best special-occasion restaurants, according to 32 top chefs.

• Mister Grotto’s head chef says these are Sydney’s best mango pancakes.

• Matcha is whisked to order until 7pm every night at new Haymarket cafe Ouji.