Talbot markets, Etica pizzas, Ut Si cafe, Coogee Pavilion: imagine these and more in one village
‘Wake up and smell the coffee!” Never mind that the estate agents’ shrill slogan belies the origins of the phrase. It’s now on so many billboards, on so many residential property developments, the real meaning seems passe. Fact is, food and drink help sell homes, and don’t they all know it.
Lifestyle. It used to be an option, a throwaway term in a million annoying ads. Now, increasingly, it’s a necessity.
How do you deal with the combined aggravation of longer working hours and big-city traffic jams? You live somewhere in proximity to dinner (and breakfast and lunch and coffee and drinks). How do you avoid spending half your waking hours driving or catching an overcrowded train across town to the fish shop?
You live in a village, albeit one with a butcher, baker and Third Wave cafe (since candlestick makers aren’t in huge demand any more).
The village is back, only with better food.
Demographer Bernard Salt says localism and authenticity are powerful movements driving middle-class urban lifestyles, and are never more apparent than in the realm of food and drink.
“Not so much in the suburbs but most certainly in the inner suburbs — inside the goat’s cheese curtain — there is a yearning for a village way of life,” Salt says.
“Perhaps it’s a rejection of modernism; perhaps it’s an embrace of localism. Know your butcher. Chat with your greengrocer. Develop connections with those who contribute to your everyday life.
“It’s not all about the food, though. It’s about connection and feeling that you are different from the blandness of the city.
“I think we will see much more localism within our biggest cities in future.”
In major retail developments, however, you could be excused for thinking it is all about the food. At self-styled “entertainment precincts” such as Crown Melbourne and the new Barangaroo in Sydney, developers scrabble after big-name restaurateurs in recognition of the lure of their brands to a lifestyle-hungry public. And food is equally a cornerstone strategy of the local shopping centre.
Greg Chubb, head of retail for Charter Hall property group, says a diverse, high-quality food and beverage offer is now considered a fundamental part of development infrastructure.
“Back in the late 90s, when I was involved in launching [Sydney restaurant precinct] Cockle Bay Wharf, no one else in Australia was backing the idea of aggregating food businesses in the one precinct,” he says. “Now everyone’s doing it.”
At Charter Hall’s 80 suburban shopping centres, “f&b” is the fastest growing category. “A few years back, you were lucky to have a Donut King in a new shopping centre,” says Chubb. “Now it’s expected we will provide good quality family eateries, good coffee, good liquor stores.”
Here at The Weekend Australian, we have very definite ideas about the sorts of food and wine businesses we consider essential to the modern village, as well as a few we would rate as merely desirable (seaside cafes are hard to come by in the inner city, and Hot 50 restaurants are not usually a short stroll from home).
So here, then, is our wish list, complete with some of our favourite names from around the country and compiled with a little help from our Hot 50 contributors. It’s where you’d want to live: Our Ideal Foodie Neighbourhood.
Bakery/patisserie
Abbots & Kinney, Adelaide
Baker D. Chirico, St Kilda, Vic
Bread In Common, Fremantle, WA
Mary Street Bakery, Highgate, WA
Alley Cats Patisserie, Darwin
Chez Dre, South Melbourne, Vic
Brickfields (bakery and cafe), Chippendale, NSW
Tivoli Road Bakery, South Yarra, Vic
Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills, NSW
Flour and Stone, Darlinghurst, NSW
Chouquette, New Farm, Qld
Sugardough, East Brunswick, Vic
Cafe
Wombat Hill House, Daylesford, Vic
Market Lane, Prahran, Vic
Single Origin, Surry Hills, NSW
La Veen, Perth, WA
Laneway Specialty Coffee, Darwin
Pixel, Leederville, WA
Ut Si, Perth, Tas
Dukes, Melbourne CBD
Boathouse, Daylesford, Vic
Excelsior Jones, Summer Hill, NSW
Bare Bones, Jindalee, Qld
Market
Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne
Adelaide Central Market
Sydney Fish Market
Fremantle Markets, WA
Butcher
Hudson Meats, Toorak, Vic
Meatsmith, Collingwood, Vic
Peter Bouchier, Hawksburn, Vic
Torre Butchers, East Perth, WA
Mondo, Inglewood, WA
Victor Churchill, Woollahra, NSW
Pino’s Dolce Vita, Kogarah, NSW
Grocer/deli
Sourced Grocer, Brisbane
Boatshed Market, Cottesloe, WA
Mediterranean Wholesalers, Brunswick, Vic
Clay, North Carlton, Vic
The Re Store, Leederville, WA
New Farm Deli, Qld
Rosalie Gourmet Market, Qld
Salt Meats Cheese, Alexandria, NSW
Boccaccio Supa IGA, Balwyn, Vic
Fourth Village Providore, Mosman, NSW
A bite with the kids
Baby, Richmond, Vic
Din Tai Fung, Sydney and Melbourne
Sorellina, Woolloongabba, Qld
Green Park, North Carlton, Vic
Coogee Pavilion, Sydney
Three Blue Ducks at The Farm, Byron Bay, NSW
Pompei’s, Bondi, NSW
Lau’s Family Kitchen, St Kilda, Vic
Nantucket, Indooroopilly, QLD
Lupino, Melbourne CBD
Brother Burger, South Yarra, Vic
Wine shop/wine bar/cave a manger
City Wine Shop, Melbourne
Young George, East Fremantle, WA
La Vigna, Menora, WA
121BC, Surry Hills, NSW
Harry & Frankie, Port Melbourne
Prince Wine Store/Bellota, South Melbourne
Gertrude St Enoteca, Fitzroy
Cork Wine Cafe, Adelaide
Asian grocer
Minh Phat, Richmond, Vic
Miracle Supermarket, Newtown,
NSW
Thuan Phat Supermarket, Croydon Park, SA
Alfresco beach cafe
The Beach Club, Cottesloe Beach, WA
Wye General Store, Wye River, Vic
Halcyon Hotel, Cabarita Beach, NSW
White Elephant Cafe, Gnarabup, WA
Fish and chips
Peter’s Fish Market, Main Beach, Qld
Bondi’s Best, NSW
Richmond Oysters, Richmond, Vic
Pizzeria
Etica, Adelaide
La Svolta, Hampton, Victoria
Da Mario, Rosebery, NSW
Tartufo, Fortitude Valley, Qld
Da Orazio, Bondi, NSW
Rosso Pomodoro, Balmain, NSW
Good-value Asian eatery
Tokyo Tina, Prahran, Vic
Izakaya Fujiyama, Surry Hills, NSW
Park Lok, Adelaide
Old Tanh Huong, Marrickville, NSW
BYO
Osteria di russo & russo, Enmore, NSW
Sean’s Panaroma, Bondi, NSW
France-Soir, South Yarra, Vic
FermentAsian, Tanunda, SA
Lady of Ro, Subiaco, WA
Ayame, Malvern, Vic
Fishmonger
Bay Seafood, Byron Bay, NSW
Kailis Bros, Leederville, WA
Claudio’s, Sydney Fish Market
Preston Fresh, Cairns, Qld
Whitsunday Seafood, Proserpine,
Qld
Omega 3, Lakes Entrance, Vic
Seafresh, Innaloo, WA
Aptus Seafood, South Melbourne Market
Samtass, Richmond, SA
Claringbold’s, Prahran Market, Vic
Craft brewery (open to public)
Young Henrys, Newtown, NSW
Craft distillery (cellar door)
Four Pillars, Healesville, Vic
Lark, Hobart
Farmers market
Angaston, SA
Woodend, Vic
Rapid Creek Sunday Market, Darwin
Talbot, Vic
Margaret River, WA
Carriageworks, Darlington, NSW
Mt Claremont Farmers Market, WA
Capital Regional Farmers Markets, Canberra
Slow Food, Abbotsford, Vic
Hot 50 restaurant: personal faves
Necia Wilden: Pilu at Freshwater, NSW; The Bridge Room, NSW; Cafe di Stasio, Vic
John Lethlean: Etica, Adelaide; Luxembourg, Melbourne; The Bridge Room, NSW
Anthony Huckstep: Ester, NSW; Africola, Adelaide; Monster, ACT
Max Allen: Lee Ho Fook, Melbourne; Billy Kwong, Sydney; Fino Seppeltsfield, SA
Additional reporting by Anthony Huckstep and Max Allen
Source: The Australian, Necia Wilden and John Lethlean, 22nd August 2015
Originally published as: Talbot markets, Etica pizzas, Ut Si cafe, Coogee Pavilion: imagine these and more in one village