Skip the Supermarket Stress – Get Grocery and Produce Boxes From These Sydney Cafes and Restaurants Instead

Measures to slow the spread of coronavirus have completely changed Sydney’s dining landscape, but our restaurants, bars and cafes are quickly adapting. Many are supporting their regular produce suppliers by selling boxes of fresh, local and seasonal fruits and vegetables. Some are pre-packing crates full of pantry staples such as pasta and rice, and some give you the option to add wine, meats, seafood, ready-made meals and more.

These boxes make life in isolation easier, and, at the same time, give us the chance to support local businesses that need us more than ever.

Nour, Surry Hills

This diner serves the city’s most creative take on Levantine food (a region that takes in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, Israel, Greece, Egypt, Iraq and the Palestinian territories), but is now selling Nourish Market Boxes filled with pantry essentials. Order online by noon on Friday, and on Monday you’ll receive a pack including hummus, smoked labneh and pasta sauce (all made in-house), plus fresh pasta, sourdough, eggs, milk, rice, various fruit and veggies, and two rolls of toilet paper. It’s also selling reasonably priced ready-made meals to eat now or refrigerate or freeze for later, all which can be made vegan or vegetarian. (purchase seven and receive a meal on the house.) Delivery is free if you spend $100. The Market Boxes are $79 and meals start at $15.

Three Blue Ducks, Bronte
The usually bustling beachside cafe has temporarily transformed into a takeaway and produce store, offering boxes filled with seasonal and locally sourced produce to pick up, or have delivered if you live close enough. A bunch of Three Blue Ducks products are available to add including organic oils, butter, preserves and conserves, hemp granola, curry kits, meats and broths, plus single-origin coffee and tea. At the store you’ll find take-home meals (such as chicken and leek pie), freshly made bread and other baked goods, plus beer, wine and spirits. Order here.

Dear Sainte Eloise, Potts Point

In addition to offering food and booze to take away, as well as DIY pasta packs by CBD Italian eatery Ragazzi, this Potts Point wine bar is now doing bountiful hampers filled with local veggies, cheese, butter, handmade pasta and tonnes of other goodies. They’re $100 each, but you won’t have to buy much else during the week (especially if you order the takeaway charcuterie selection, eggplant parmigiana and peach pavlova to arrive with it). Email hello@dearsainteeloise.com or call (02) 9326 9745 between 3pm and 8pm to place your order.

Moonacres Farm, Southern Highlands
This 140-acre family-owned farm in Richmond supplies produce to some of the best restaurants in Sydney and New South Wales including Don Peppino’s, Lankan Filling Station, Firedoor and Babyface Kitchen in Wollongong. Now, you can get your hands on its restaurant-quality fruit and veg with its delivery service. Sydney customers can place orders via The Vege Box and Ooooby.

Something for Jess, Chippendale

This delightful Chippendale cafe is working with local farmers to bring veggie and fruit boxes directly to you. Different sizes are available to suit your household, and prices start from $35 for a generous weeks’ supply. It’s also delivering breakfast, lunch and dinner (we recommend the Thai coconut curry, eggplant pomodoro pasta or the haloumi burger), as well as coffee if your home brew just isn’t cutting it. Plus, if you live in the area, you can pop in to buy groceries such as bread, oats, noodles, house-made peanut butter, milks and more. Place your order here.

Sixpenny, Stanmore
Lockdown restrictions haven’t stopped this petite Stanmore space from working with small suppliers to pump out dishes that showcase the best of what’s available. It’s now offering at-home dining sets for two people ($90), which include a main (think Yiayia’s moussaka), two sides and a dessert. Plus, on weekend mornings it’s channelling its inner bakery with a selection of cakes, tarts, pies and muffins that have locals lining up around the block. It’s also assembling weekly produce boxes for $140, with seasonal fruit and veg, cheese, eggs and other kitchen staples such as salt flakes, rice and granola. Order here for Saturday pick-up. The diner has also just added hot sauce to its take-home repertoire, and does a mean cook-at-home pancake mix, too.

Merivale at Home
Sydney hospitality giant Merivale has just launched Merivale at Home, a delivery service that includes chef-curated meals, booze and restaurant-quality grocery boxes filled with produce from its long-standing food suppliers. You can now order packed fruit and vegetable boxes with colourful produce from Parisi; meat boxes from Haverick Meats, one of the top butcheries in Australia (premium T-bone steaks, angus beef mince and French-trim lamb cutlets); and locally caught seafood, such as scallops, snapper fillets, cooked prawns and oysters, selected by Poulos Bros, which has been selling Sydney seafood since 1967. All boxes come with tips and recipe suggestions from Danielle Alvarez, the head chef at produce-driven Paddington diner Fred’s. Place your orders online by midnight on Monday to receive your delivery by Friday, ready for a weekend of fun in the kitchen.

You can also support local businesses by buying groceries and pantry goods from these Sydney restaurants and cafes.

We’re also constantly updating our live list of Sydney restaurants, cafes and bars pivoting to takeaway.