Snack Bar: Sydney’s Latest in Food, March 15, 2024

What’s on around town

• Together with Two Good, the Ace Hotel’s lobby restaurant, Loam, is hosting the second iteration of its chef series on Wednesday March 20. This time, it welcomes celebrated chef and author Christine Manfield to the kitchen. The three-course meal will feature warrigal leaf tempura, stuffed roti and spiced sea mullet. Balmy Nights wines are on pour and all profits will be donated to Two Good, contributing to its work supporting vulnerable women who’ve experienced homelessness and domestic violence.

• Grab a free bacon-and-egg bao in Bondi this Saturday. From 7am, Masterchef finalist Declan Cleary will be manning the pans outside North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club. A scallion-laden egg, bacon or a hashbrown, and spring onions will ride in a steamed bao with char siu sauce.

• After quietly calling last drinks on his pioneering bar Re last month, Matt Whiley has found new digs.

• Nine Easter treats around Sydney for when you’ve had enough hot crossies.

• Makaveli , the small-but-mighty day-to-night Bondi joint, has added a run club to the mix. Meet out the front at 6.15am on Tuesdays, then nab a half-price coffee post-sweat.

• New hire: Isobel Whelan-Little now captains kitchens at The Caterpillar Club and Alberto’s Lounge. The Swillhousian (and LP’s alum) chats her new gig and the best thing she ate this week.

• Callejero Tuesdays: Glebe’s Oaxacan restaurant Nu’u now has $5 tacos on Tuesdays. From 5pm till 7pm, nab bargain beef birria, pork belly carnitas and chorizo tacos alongside the standard happy hour.

• At taqueria Nativo , the Pyrmont sister restaurant to Nu’u, the tasty steal arrives on Wednesdays. From 5pm till 8.30pm (or until sold out), all tacos on the menu – including cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork), smoky shiitake and a chimichurri-topped octopus number – are five bucks.

• Intimate Paddington trattoria Zafferano has added loaded Sicilian focaccias to its lunchtime offering. There’s a hefty porchetta option, an eggplant parmie and one where mortadella meets burrata. Available from Wednesday to Sunday, between 10.30am and 3pm.

• Gluten-free maestro Wholegreen ’s latest creation is a tongue-in-cheek nod to a classic misconception: that gluten-free food tastes like cardboard. While the new cake looks like cardboard, its taste – coffee, butterscotch and chocolate – is far from it. Available in-store (Waverley, CBD, Alexandria) until Sunday March 17.

• Corey Costelloe, former executive chef at Rockpool Bar & Grill, is joining the team at Zaffi for an exclusive one-off dinner on March 27. He’ll put his spin on executive chef Graeme Hunt’s Middle Eastern plates. $120 per person, bookings essential.

What we covered this week

• Now open: It’s “bite for sip” at Henry G’s , Manly’s new wine parlour. The intimate venue nods to days gone by with an expansive list of drops, Basque-inspired pintxos and live pianists on Saturdays.

• In the first instalment of How To Dine Out To Dine In Better , a new Sydney column by “dinner party tragic” Gemma Plunkett, we find the local venues that have perfected the art of simplicity. Then Plunkett teaches us how to lasso the vibe and recreate it at home.

• First look: Martina is the breezy new opening from Marta’s Flavio Carnevale. The all-day Rose Bay joint is the spot for espresso and plump house-made sfogliatelle in the morning, and bright Roman pinsa in the evening.

• Ramadan Nights , Lakemba’s month-long street food festival, is back for 2024. We sent photographer and writer Lipei Teoh to capture the crowds drawn by the holy month. There’s golden murtabak, sweet slices of knafeh and fresh-filled pani puri.

• Now open: Firepop is one Broadsheet editor’s favourite opening of the year – and it’s only March.

You might’ve missed

• Coming soon: The Pellegrino 2000 team is going for round four with Neptune’s Grotto , a northern Italian joint in the space underneath the CBD steak joint. Expect “more butter”.

• We found a trio of dishes in Surry Hills – including a Sri Lankan-spiced pie and a loaded wrap – that will get you change from $20.

• The Magpie , the micro-sports-bar companion to The Trocadero Room, swoops onto Enmore Road – with Guinness on tap and chablis by the glass.

• From winning noodle bowls and cactus tacos to underground cheeseburgers and beachside scoops, Broadsheet Sydney team members pick their favourite dishes of the summer.