Foodies

Australians get into the festive spirit in a variety of ways, but there are some staples of an Aussie Christmas: a non-stop food fest, possibly an outdoor activity and a necessary kip in the afternoon. One senior historian says this style of Christmas has its roots in the mid-1800s, when early settlers longed for home…

Once upon a time in Sydney, burgers—at least as we’ve come to know them—were pretty hard to come by. We’re talking those hefty, layered, over-the-top, dripping, saucy, American-style stacks that currently grace your Insta feed. A few years back, these guys didn’t really exist. We’ve largely got Mary’s, Chur Burger, and Dan Hong to thank for kicking things…

We can all appreciate the atmospheric experience of dining by candlelight, but why not take it a step further and dine entirely in the dark? Do you think that you could distinguish between flavours without actually seeing the meal in front of you? Psychologists have studied the impact that eating in the dark has on…

That’s possibly because you never had brunch at 35 metres high in the sky, and never while going round and round on a Ferris Wheel while taking in 360-degree views. Good news, Darling Harbour’s resident giant wheel is hosting brunch in one of its cabins for two, three or four people. The food is supplied…

Maria Ann Smith arrived in Australia with her husband Thomas in 1830. She had already three children when they established their family home and orchard in North Road. Maria would go on to conceive another 13 children! When her fruiting trees were in season and bearing and there were sufficient vegetables and eggs from her…

Non-Indigenous Australia has a pretty brief culinary history. The First Fleet arrived here in 1788, when Chinese cuisine was already well over a millennium old. But while many of our chefs can’t draw on generations of tradition, they’re also not constrained by it. They can experiment as much as they like.  Despite this, Sydney’s superb…

Just what constitutes a small bar? In NSW, the small bar licence caters for up to 100 people; when we think about small bars, Melbourne bars more broadly — spring to mind. But what about Sydney? Set inside a garage down the end of an alleyway off Clarence Street in the CBD, Cantina OK! (that…

In 2010, it took 120 eggs to hold it together and four burly men to flip it, but a Sydney cafe set a record by making the world’s largest burger. The whopping beef burger cooked up at Ambrosia On The Spot, tipped the scales at 95.5kg, making it the largest ever created at the time…