the presentation. the flavours. the textures. oh my!

The minute you walk (or drive) past Smalltown, you're absolutely in awe and can't help but to go in and explore. Opening in March 2014, Smalltown take great pride in their entire offering as well as the promotion of their suppliers: Inside Out Almond Milk, Sonoma Baked Goods and Single Origin Coffee. The interiors are inviting with a fun, relaxed and industrial-chic feel. There's something to smile about every-which way you look - whether it's the cute bunting, the hand-written notes or the gorgeous chalk illustrations...

Just reading the menu is enough to tantalise the palate, with so many delicious options to choose from. After a lot of nail-biting back-and-forth, we decided on the Big boy's bacon and egg roll with rocket, swiss cheese, caramelised onion, relish, aioli on a toasted bun and the Green pea bruschetta with mint, preserved lemon, confit garlic, danish feta and a poached egg on sourdough. The presentation. The flavours. The textures. Oh my!

I don't live near the Northern Beaches but I would go out of my way just to eat here again. They even offer free doggie biscuits if you come with your furry friend!

Cafe: Smalltown
Total price (for 2ppl): Food: $28.50, Beverages: $6.50
Hours: 7.30am - 3pm
Must order: Green pea bruschetta with the addition of a poached egg
Coffee: Single Origin Coffee

i found heaven

Ever since Colin Fassnidge appeared on MasterChef, I've been wanting to try either of his restaurants: Four In Hand or 4fourteen. I finally got to 4fourteen in Surry Hills last week for my birthday dinner, and it was everything I was expecting and more.

Opening in May 2011 and receiving a coveted chefs hat only a couple of months in, Fassnidge draws upon nose-to-tail cookery with local and sustainable produce; making the undesirable, desirable. The restaurant itself has warehouse inspired-charm, with incredibly friendly and helpful staff. The atmosphere, relaxed precision.

The seating is quite spacious, and they even have enough room for prams and high chairs if needed (which we needed on this occasion). The 4fourteen concept is all about sharing, so we ordered some nibbles - ham hock and cheese croquettes (highly recommended by the staff), and grilled spicy chorizo; some salads and starches - mixed grain salad, and the charred salt crust sweet potato with smoked potato mayonnaise; as well as a selection of the large share plates - spiced spanish mackerel, grilled bavette, and braised whole lamb shoulder.

The sweet potato was a crowd favourite, but the the lamb shoulder... WOW. Upon first bite, the entire table fell silent. Seriously the tastiest lamb I, if not the entire table, may have ever had. Hot tip: make sure you poor the jus over the lamb before eating it. Perfection!

The croquettes were nice and would definitely order those, as well as chorizo and bavette again. Give the mackarel a miss. Hardly anyone touched it and it just wasn't up to the same standard as the other dishes...

Now onto my favourite meal - how can you choose from the dessert menu presented to us? We decided to get the white chocolate sandwich and deconstructed snickers to share. They were beyond this world. The white chocolate sandwich... heaven! I may have to come back just to order another one of those. As one of my Instagram followers @jemima.southgate put it, "it's totally life changing". And I completely agree.

Restaurant: 4fourteen

Total price: Approx $365 (for 6ppl including a bottle of wine and beers)

Hours: Tue - Sat lunch 12pm - 3pm, dinner from 6pm; Sunday lunch 12pm-4pm

Must order: Braised whole lamb shoulder with fennel, peas, feta and mint (and if you're a sweet tooth, you MUST get the white chocolate sandwich)

on trend

Tucked away in a side street of Surry Hills lies the highly anticipated Reuben Hills. Not only does the menu look incredible (you can have a look-see online before you go), but it's the talk of the town for both brekkie-lovers and foodies on Instagram. Not to mention they were awarded the 2013 best boutique roaster by SMH Good Cafe Guide...

Industrial design meets shabby chic with exposed brick, a garage roller-door and a sneak peek into their entire coffee-making process. They even offer coffee cupping/tasting sessions every Friday morning at 10am! With specific attention to accessibility (for the coffee and the food), owners Nathan Borg and Russell Beard draw inspiration from their various coffee buying trips through Central and South America.

The food looks incredibly inviting, and I immediately regretted that I didn't come with more people (now I only had a couple of meals to taste test!). We decided on the soft baked eggs with chorizo, spinach, ranchero and rye and the blueberry sago with tapioca pearls, banana, agave syrup, almond milk and cacao nibs. Thumbs up for having the most hipster and on-trend brekkie! The dishes were well crafted with texture, presentation, ingredients and taste.

Previously blogs have mentioned they had an issue with the wait-staff and the amount of time they waited, but I had absolutely no complaints. They provided their recommendations, and waited on us really quickly. On that note, I'm totes going back to try their french toast (it looks phenomenal!), dogs breakfast and the really fucking great fried chicken. And their sweets. And their shakes. OK, we all need to go there to try everything on the menu... who's with me?

Cafe: Reuben Hills
Total price: Approx $40 (for 2ppl)
Hours: Mon-Sat 7am-4pm; Sun 7.30am-4pm
Must order: Blueberry sago
Coffee: their own specialty blend

finally got there

I've heard great things about Jamie's Italian and tried to go here for dinner a couple of times without booking, only to be told to wait up to an one hour for a table for two. At which point, I turn around and don't look back. If you're patient enough you can have drinks at the bar with your table buzzer in hand, but generally I'm too hungry to wait that long.

It seems that an early dinner works in your favour... third time lucky, we arrived at 6.30pm to find absolutely no queue, and a table for two in the middle of the restaurant.

Jaime's Italian was conceived over four years ago, and has since launched 30 restaurants around the world; with Sydney CBD opening early 2012 and forming part of the The Keystone Group. From the exterior it looks quite small, but don't be fooled. It has two stories and can house up to 200 patrons! The interiors are very Jamie Oliver - rustic, natural, precise, minimalist. The seating area does seem quite tight, but this seems to be an issue more for the waiters.

The menu has a vast selection of Italian dishes: antipasti, ravioli, pasta and risotto; all of which focus on using sustainable, seasonal and regional ingredients. The wine menu is extensive with a large range of Italian wines, but the 'Espresso Martini' and 'Blueberry & Basil Smash' caught our eye (I'd miss the later next time around).

We went with the waitresses recommendations and ordered the prawn linguine, buffalo ricotta ravioli and the one of the specials - Jamie's signature porchetta. The meals were delicious, fresh and cooked to perfection; however I felt they were on the smaller side... especially for some of the prices we paid. My favourite was the ravioli - perhaps because it was light, extremely tasty and melted in the mouth.

The dessert menu wasn't huge and I think it lacked a bit of creativity. The only dish that caught our eye was the 'Epic Brownie': warm fudge brownie with salted caramel ice-cream & caramelised amaretti popcorn (it was actually suppose to come with ameretto ice-cream, but the waitress suggested we try the salted caramel). The various textures worked, but the flavours just didn't gel all that well for me. Maybe we should have kept the ameretto ice-cream...? I guess it was only $10 though, and in restaurant standards that's really cheap.

  

Would I recommend it? Yes, although it's definitely not the top (or even middle) of my list. Would I line up? Absolutely not.

Restaurant: Jamie's Italian, Sydney
Total price: Approx $120 (for 2ppl including cocktails)
Hours: 11.30am - 11.00pm
Must order: Buffalo ricotta ravioli