Grandma’s at McEvoy

IF YOU HAD one of those grandmothers who baked you biscuits and had a penchant for fake flowers, you will be very familiar with the offering at this warehouse bakery in Alexandria. What’s in your pita pocket? It’s the most delicious riddle you’re going to field on your visit at the eat-in edition of this bakery chain. You might have grabbed a ricotta cake en route from Canberra in Collector, or be a regular at their Rosebery shop, but the Alexandria Grandma’s is the place to sit down and get cosy. Those pita pockets are only available from 11.30am on weekdays, and only as a takeaway option, so pop in for a soft bread pouch filled with chicken, beef or veggies, and then choose your accompaniments wisely. How about a fresh shredded carrot salad with sesame seeds and parsley, a little couscous, labne and fiery hot chilli paste? Or red cabbage with hummus, harissa and salad leaves? The same salads and sides go into the lunch station, but you also get two hot dishes in your medley bowl. There’s a mild, comforting beef goulash, tender potato slices cooked with juicy chicken segments, penne bolognaise, chicken casserole, and roasted veggies. Jumble it all together and you get the best of everything. Prefer breakfast for lunch? They do an all-day shakshuka so you can have baked free-range eggs in a classic red sauce day or night. And if you don’t have access to a babushka to make you chicken soup when you feel crummy, these guys are the next best thing. Their soup is a light, savoury broth filled with spring veggies and tender chicken pieces – when all the antibiotics are obsolete we’ll still have this soup to cure us. You can even restock your pantry while you’re here with jams, olive oil, date spread, biscuits and frozen ready-made meals. Even if your Grandma was a biker who smoked a pack a day, you can still appreciate the twee, comforting vibes they’re going for here. There are flowers on every table, a bird bath filled with cookie boxes and the whole place smells like brownies in the oven. Emily Lloyd-Tait