What’s on around town

• Chef Joel Valvasori-Pereza, of Perth’s Lulu La Delizia, is taking over the Paski kitchen next Monday. The four-course dinner celebrates the regional flavours of Fruili, and is $95 a head – bookings recommended.

• Annual dining event Bulaguy Bagaraygan (“saltbush gathering”) is taking over The Zin House in Mudgee on May 25. The meal’s cooked on an open fire among Mudgee’s native saltbush, and there’ll be a wine pairing by Lowe’s. Tickets are $250 per person, and $225 for non-drinkers.

• Enmore Road boozer The Duke has revamped its menu, blending classic English pub fare with Aussie backyard favourites. Head in for fish finger sangas, chicken parmies and a garlic and bitter greens cob loaf. The team is also rolling out daily deals, like $24 steak with garlic butter and chips on Tuesdays, and $15 Bloody Marys on Sundays.

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• Waterfront darling Catalina’s autumn menu is here, delivering king prawns with tahini yoghurt and flatbread, and a maple butternut pumpkin brulée for dessert. The enduring restaurant’s seven-course tasting menu has also had a seasonal refresh, with additions like marron risotto and miso-glazed Glacier 51 toothfish.

• Dance of Dreams: as part of Vivid’s 2025 food program, Danielle Alvarez is cooking a special three-course meal at the Opera House on June 13 and 14. The dinner includes matched wines, and there will be bursts of dance throughout by leading company Non. Tickets are $329 per person.

• The next Tuesday Takeover at PS40 welcomes a duo from Apollonia, Jair Torres and Swapnadeep “Swappy” Das, to the kitchen. The pair will cook bold Peruvian Italian dishes on April 29 and May 6. Book via bookings@ps40bar.com

What we covered this week:

• First look: Freda’s 3.0 opens tonight, with big house-party energy, more than one dance floor and an all-out roster of local and international DJs.

• Toot toot: exceptional CBD cocktail bar PS40 is hitting the road in a converted 1977 Bedford RV that owner Michael Chiem towed up from a Victorian paddock.

• Chocolate capybara-shaped panna cottas are jiggling in Stanmore for one more (adorable) week. Don’t miss them.

• A Palestinian baker who arrived in Australia from Gaza in 2024 is selling exquisite baked treats like maamoul, kaak and baklava on Instagram. The sweets are only a DM away.

• The Malaya put Malaysian food on Sydney’s map 62 years ago. It’s just reopened in the CBD.

• First look: with just four dishes on the menu, Kombu Lab is here to give tonkotsu a run for best ramen in Sydney.

• Odd Culture Group sells Spon, its drink-in bottle-o in Newtown. Find out what the new custodians have planned.

• A chance encounter on a Sydney train has turned a local patisserie’s Japonaise cake into a viral sensation, attracting cake lovers to Sydney from China.

You might’ve missed:

• It’s ice-cream for dinner at Erin, the new wine bar and restaurant from Gelato Messina.

• Sydney’s Greek revival has hit its stride. An inner west joint just upsized, six months after opening. The Apollo’s follow-up opened last year and seats are still hot property. And one charcoal-powered eatery has people arriving 45 minutes before opening, just to get their names on the list.

• Coming soon: the Cantina OK team is going again with Herbs Taverne, a psychedelic basement Negroni bar in the CBD.