Culina

Culina is an all-day cafe-restaurant-wine-bar from Naomi Lowry and Abhi Mahadevan (ex-Aki’s).

The menu as a mixture of what Lowry learnt from her grandma and what she picked up in the kitchens at Biota, Popolo and Pilu. What that means is a regularly changing menu with a few staples including a buttery cacio e pepe tagliatelle, grilled market fish, and a juicy roast spatchcock served with broad beans and brassicas and crowned by a caramelised half onion. Some dishes – such as the reimagined grandma’s scones (a clotted cream and mascarpone mix with biscuit-like crumbed scones and strawberries) – mix both Lowry’s technique and nostalgia.

In the mornings there's toast and pastries from The Cannery’s Grain Bakery; scones (traditional ones this time); eggs; granola; and a dish of roast pineapple, coconut yoghurt and poppy seeds.

Mahadevan’s wine list takes cues from both the New and Old World of wine techniques and regions.

Like all good neighbourhood joints, the fit-out (from Studio Messa) is far from the sterile industrial trend. The space is bright, intimate and open – somewhere between a modern espresso bar and an old-school Italian red sauce joint.