Where Chefs Eat: Christine Manfield’s Into Sydney’s Afghan Street Food, Coffee and This One Wine Bar

Christine Manfield is a top Aussie chef, but she hasn’t captained a restaurant kitchen for quite a while.

In the ’90s, there was her celebrated Potts Point restaurant Paramount, then a stint in London. Her next Sydney play was Universal, which closed in 2013. She keeps busy though: publishing a celebrated clutch of cookbooks, fiercely advocating for Australia’s food scene, doing pop-ups (like Vivid’s Fire Kitchen) and travelling the globe hosting culinary adventures. But soon she’s returning to Paramount’s old address, where Cho Cho San now lives.

Manfield and her partner Margie Harris are hosting a Mardi Gras edition for their third takeover of Cho Cho. Known as the spice queen, Manfield will keep it spicy – there’ll be funky snacks, like togarashi cauliflower popcorn and snapper temaki rolls, as part of a longer set menu. Book in, stat – then make a date with Manfield’s other picks in our city.

Where’s your go-to if you want something quick?
I don’t go past the cheese toastie at Penny’s Cheese Shop. It’s wickedly indulgent, and it’s something you wouldn’t have all the time, but particularly when the weather’s a bit cooler, it just hits the spot.

What about lunch on the go?
I like to go to Kabul Social, for the Afghan street food, and get one of their Kabuli wraps. They do a great chicken one and also a roasted eggplant – I get them to mix it together: half chicken, half eggplant, it’s just great. The bee’s knees, and it’s also to support such a great social enterprise.

And my other one too, ’cos I’m always conflicted: I love banh mi, and going to Banh Xeo Bar in Rosebery.

What is your favourite spot for a snack?
You’ll be able to tell where I hang out from all these suggestions I’m giving you. I love the pork and prawn dumplings with crispy chilli oil at TBC by Grape Garden, on Bayswater Road in Kings Cross. The spicy dan dan noodles – a bowl of that is just perfect for dinner for me. If I’m just by myself, I’ll have a plate of dumplings, but it’s great if you can go with a few friends and share. The roast duck’s pretty good.

If it’s a really special occasion, where are you booking?
Well, if they’re my favourite spots I wouldn’t just keep them for special occasions. But if it’s somewhere special to celebrate, Cafe Paci or Ester. Paci’s a place that – I don’t know why it flies under the radar – punches above its weight. [Chef-owner Pasi Petanen], I mean his cooking is so elegant and so spot on. The really thin rye toast spread with ’nduja and topped with those slices of really lightly fermented carrot is just, ugh, heaven. It’s the best snack in the universe.

Once again, I like to go with two or four people, so then you really get to see a broader spread. But sometimes you want more than just a tiny spoonful, you know?

And Ester, anything that comes out of that woodfired oven is just me – but I always start with the bread.

Where is your favourite spot for coffee?
Barrel One on Roslyn Street and Primary, just around the corner. They’re very singular in their approach to coffee and have really excellent beans – usually a choice of a couple of different roasts. They just make the best coffee.

Do you have a go-to for a long lunch?
On the weekends, I love going to Cho Cho San.

How about a meal with a big group of family or friends?
Bart Jr. It’s quite casual, but it’s really upscale, clever bar food that’s very seasonal – changing all the time, week in week out. [Chef George Woodyard], she’s just got a handle on flavour – big on flavour, great produce. It’s very elegant comfort food in a casual bar setting, where the drinks are great. It’s a really great place to meet with friends and just hang out.

Do you have a bucket list restaurant?
Well, I could go anywhere in the world (and I do!) but I really like to keep it within Australia. It is a place I have been to once, sadly it was my first time only recently even though it’s been open almost a decade now. It’s Brae in Victoria. And it’s a place that will stay at the top of my bucket list – or something that I see as an annual pilgrimage to go down in the cooler months, when the garden’s really thriving. It’s just the most exemplary food experience you can have, and stay there overnight just to extend the pleasure.

It’s great to cast our net wider, but sometimes we’ve got to look in our own backyard and just see the wonderful stuff we have on hand.

If you’re after something sweet, where are you heading?
I’m a bit of a pastry slut, my nose is always to the ground when it comes to that. My favourites are probably at AP Bakery, the one I go to is on the top of Paramount. I like the Aleppo pepper and cheese scroll, and the danishes – whichever fruit that they happen to be using. Their chocolate buckwheat croissants are pretty mean, too.

I always head there – it’s one of my go-to places every time because I don’t live in Sydney. Every time I’m down it’s an essential pitstop.

Is there a hidden gem in Sydney?
Look, I don’t know how hidden it is, but one I always think of as a hidden gem just ’cos it’s got that bijou atmosphere, small and tucked away, is Bar Copains.

Definitely not hidden, but excellent.
It’s just got that feel of being in Paris or Melbourne. It’s just perfect in size, and the food is just sensational. To sit there and have a few snacks! I mean, I never go past the anchovy pastries. I just think they’re something that really defines the place. And the beef tongue that’s threaded and skewered and barbequed, with salsa verde – that’s pretty wild. And the fish sandwich. And just the choice of wines, it’s really responding to what the market’s looking for, keeps it interesting, punches above its weight. You can just sit in the bar for a quickie or have one of those tiny little tables and have a couple of hours just working your way through the menu. When it’s summer, you can sit outside and pretend you’re in Paris, people watching.

@christinemanfieldchef
@chochosansydney