Snack Bar: Gelato Brioche, Ard’s Opening Date, a $650 Glass of Fizz and More Food News This Week

What’s on around town

• P&V Paddington sold its final bottle and poured its final courtyard wine in December, but it’s not all sad news. L’Avant Cave, which revamped the bottle-o’s dine-in menu last June, is sticking around – with heaps more space. It’s currently closed for renovations, more details soon.

• Ard is nearly here: Christiana Daaboul’s Lebanese-leaning bakery, in an old battery shop in Stanmore, opens on Wednesday January 28 at 6am. 

• Beat the heat at Barbetta. The Paddington spot’s added gelato-stuffed brioche to the menu. Enjoy in-store or takeaway for $10 each.

• A’Mare’s house-made spaghetti, swirled with garlicky lobster bisque then topped with a whole eastern rock lobster, is an ideal summer dish. Find it for half the price ($185) until the end of summer. Bookings recommended.

• It’s frites, frites, frites at Armorica this summer. The Crown Street brasserie’s Monday-night-only bottomless steak frites is available all weekdays till January 16. It’s $65 per person, bookings encouraged. 

• All January, nab 20 per cent off your entire bill at The Charles, Osteria Luna and Loulou in the CBD, plus Poetica, Sol Bread & Wine, Genzo, Soluna and Loulou in Milsons Point. Bookings encouraged. 

• Find Tokyo Lamington gelato at Gelatissimo stores for just three summery weeks. Swirls of chocolate, coconut and raspberry gelato is dotted with hunks of Tokyo Lamington. Or, hit Tokyo Lamington in Newtown and Marrickville for a salted macadamia and dulce de leche number (one of Gelatissimo’s top flavours). 

• Mucho’s happy hours are new for the new year. All month, find $13 Margs at Cantina OK!, $13 Martinis at Bar Planet and Bar Herbs, $7 spritzes at The Cliff Dive and more. Times and days vary between each venue. 

• It’s mud crab season at Spice Temple. Until the end of January, premium Queensland mud crabs will be cooked to order. The sweet meat arrives ready to be doused in four chilli, XO, salted olive and black bean, black bean and salted chilli, or ginger and shallot sauce. Bookings recommended. 

• Manly Fish & Chips adds a more casual offering from Felons Seafood to the wharf. Grab prawn rolls, tallow-fried chippies, whopping burgers, poke bowls, just-shucked oysters, classic fish and chips, and more, then eat it on the sand. 

• One of the world’s most exceptional champagnes is now exclusively being poured beneath the sails at Bennelong. Krug Clos Du Mesnil 2008 has been described as the “greatest champagne of the modern era” by Bennelong’s wine director Amanda Yallop. Enjoy the $650 glass in the dining room or bar. 

• Sip spritzes powered by local spirits (from the likes of Brookie’s, Tanica and Unico Zelo) at Opera Bar, Forrester’s, The Butler, Rafi and Socal till the end of January. 

What we covered this week

• Coming soon: The Grounds of Alexandria to revamp a heritage space in The Domain. 

• Where Chefs Eat: Lottie’s Joe Valero knows an outstanding chicken katsu curry on Ashfield Road. Plus, the best coffee in Summer Hill and a no-brainer special occasion spot.

• The 39 best pubs in Sydney right now – including a Surry Hills corner joint (with a French bistro upstairs), rooftops aplenty and two with ferry stops nearby. 

• 12 to try: the best regional bakeries in NSW. Find everything from a charming bakehouse with plump doughnuts, a Central Coast spot with perfect pastries and a no-frills Blue Mountains patisserie with very good laksa. 

• Korean doughnut chain Knotted debuts in Australia with flavours like matcha, Earl Grey, milk cream and roasted sweet corn. And there’s a CBD outpost coming soon. 

You might’ve missed

• Happy Shop might just be Sydney’s happiest opening of 2025. Definitely of December. The bright, charming space is fighting those corner-bending Happyfield queues with sugar-dusted beignets, chopped cheese sangas and new brekkie muffins. 

• Northern beaches favourite Winona Wine has crossed the bridge, setting up shop in Rozelle. Head in for lo-fi wines, craft beers and boutique spirits, plus snacks, glassware and more nice things for your home, and weekly tastings on the house. 

• Stanley Street’s new wine bar Claret Club opens with $15 pours, pig’s head  croquettes, a dish that nods to an old Bar Vinny fave – and big Bordeaux energy. 

• Huh, there’s a secret soft-serve joint behind Tokyo Lamington?