Snack Bar: Yum Cha at Spice Temple, Raclette Party Packs and More Local Food News This Week

What’s on around town:

• The Four Seasons Hotel is baking a range of French travel cakes. Available in six flavours – including pistachio praline, lemon myrtle, and raspberry and rose petal – the full-sized cake is $55 (or get a mini set for $65).

• The Grill at The International is celebrating Sydney’s recent flush of new musical theatre productions by offering a $95 pre-show menu. For sittings between 5.30pm and 6pm.

• Newtown’s Marani Deli ’s the spot for all your raclette party needs. The ready-to-go packs include cheese straight from Europe, charcuterie meats and cornichons from Marseille. And you can add on black truffles, bread and French incense to set the mood.

• The Apollo’s gin and jazz nights are back from Sunday May 31. Expect live musicians and cocktails on the last Sunday of every month till September. Bookings recommended.

• Late-night cheesecake? You’ll find it at Nakano Darling till June 1. The limited-edition apple chu-hi Basque cheesecake comes from 15 Cenchi next door.

• Yum cha at Spice Temple means Andy Evans’s take: Moreton Bay bug shumai, spicy white pepper dumplings and house-made egg custard rolls. Available from midday on weekends from Saturday May 17. Bookings recommended.
• This May, slurp up Cho Cho San’s $25 yuzu shio ramen. Top the Tokyo-style broth with your choice of proteins, or level up to the $45 Cho Ramen Set to enjoy a pork katsu bun, tuna sashimi and a drink on arrival, too.

• It’s the final week for you to get your mitts on Good Ways’ porchetta special. The outstanding sanga is stacked with white onion, rocket, green sauce and mayo, all on a ciabatta roll.

• Get in on the Fashion Week buzz with afternoon tea at Aperture, Capella Sydney’s ground-floor all-day dining spot. From May 12 to 16, find lobster rolls dressed up with yuzu, dainty sweets and more – with a glass of Dom Perignon, too – for $150 per person. Bookings encouraged.

What we covered this week:

• Mixed Business answers an age-old question: where to get a drink after dinner at Emma’s Snack Bar?

• South Sydney sanga favourite Kosta’s opens in Martin Place – and this one thing is what to order.

• Worth the Trip: Loop de Loop is the country pit stop you need. Find a range of soups – like noodle numbers from around the world, Balkan-style chicken soups and silky French onion bowls – from an ex-Porteno chef.

• Queen Nigella’s in Sydney – here’s where she’s been eating.

• I Can’t Stop Thinking About: Sydney chefs adore this Newtown bar. This pasta is why.

• Red Mill Rum’s new cellar door is the spot for buttery, barrel-aged exclusives you can’t sip anywhere else.

• Doom Juice is Sydney’s slightly satanic wine label, known for its smashable natural drops. Now there are goon bags on the horizon.

• Rollers Bakehouse just dropped a limited-edition buttery banger: a golden wave that sees classic Sicilian cannoli flavours meet some of the best croissant dough in Sydney.

You might’ve missed:

• Find Caness in an old grocer on Oxford Street. It’s all about tapas – with Middle Eastern flair. And don’t miss the seriously good bread.

• Where Chefs Eat: from a classic pie shop to a “naughty, naughty” dessert spot, Toby Wilson reveals the places that keep him coming back again and again.

• Farewell, Bayswater Kitchenette. There’s just two more weeks to dine on comforting Italian classics like mushroom polenta and old-school desserts like banoffee pie.