BURGER ME! THERE’S A NEW NAME IN TOWN

A Bondi ‘burger experience’ is opening up in Surfers Paradise

JUST when you thought the burger boom had peaked, along comes a hip Sydney burger destination to give the local scene new life.

Milky Lane at Bondi Beach is not just one more burger restaurant. It’s built a reputation as a burger experience, combining tasty casual food and top-shelf liquor with edgy street art and hip hop beats.

A second outlet opened at Cronulla in February and now the owners are bringing their burger brand north to Surfers Paradise, opening in a soon-to-be revealed location by the end of the month — all going well.

Indeed, if the fit out of the Bondi store is anything to go by, it’s not just a matter of slapping new paint on the walls and buying some tables and chairs.

Milky Lane’s trademark is to dazzle the senses. Owner Christian Avant says it’s an essential part of the experience.

“Take our Bondi store — every single nook and cranny is meticulously designed to create a visual heaven to get people Instagramming from the moment they enter,” he says.

The purpose-built restaurant features an open-plan kitchen and bar, living plants draped over forest art, an LED framed walkway, booths built under an up-ended 3D boom box and a back wall featuring a white tiger swimming in turbulent water.

The piece de resistance is the cherished Last Supper art installation depicting past and present hip hop icons in classic da Vinci formation.

There are no clues as to what will feature in the Surfers Paradise store, only that a team has been working for three months on the design and installations for the Gold Coast flagship.

“From the beginning, we wanted to bring together all the elements for a great night out,” Christian says. “Instead of going to one place for burgers, another for amazing cocktails and somewhere else for dessert before heading out for great music, DJs and dancing, we wanted to do all of that in one sitting.”

But far from relying on gimmicks to get people in the door, Christian says Milky Lane is built on three core products: burgers, desserts and cocktails.

“We’re serious about the food,” he says. “They burgers are delicious. They’re perfectly chargrilled and we make our own special Milky Lane sauce.

“In Sydney, people drive a long way just for the burgers and that makes us happy.”

The bestsellers are the ChicKayne and Kevin Bacon burgers (no apologies for the names). The ChicKanye’s centrepiece is southern fried chicken with maple-smoked bacon, high-melt cheese, Carolina slaw, lettuce, sriracha and pineapple relish. Yes, it does all fit on a bun — more or less.

The desserts rate their own mention — the signature fresh churros served with gelato, dulce de leche and liquid Nutella have a following all their own, while videos of Milky Lane’s seriously stacked mega shakes have clocked more than one million views on social media.

On the eve of opening a new outlet, Christian firmly rejects the notion that burgers have had their day.

“It’s still a $7 billion dollar industry in Australia and we truly believe the move to gourmet burgers and places that offer more than just ‘a burger’ are the way forward,” he says.

“People have been eating burgers for more than 10 years and we’re still eating them today. We can’t really see it dying off any time soon as long as we don’t get complacent.”