Lennox Hastie on Sydney.
Chef LENNOX HASTIE shares his top tips for eating and drinking in the Harbour City.
Diners flock to Firedoor in Surry Hills to watch Lennox Hastie play with fire. A former head chef at legendary Basque grill Asador Etxebarri, Hastie is obsessed with exploring the magic that happens when prime Australian ingredients meet wood, fire and smoke. When he’s not at the (literal) coalface of his Sydney restaurant, these are the places the one-time GT Best New Talent winner and newly minted Netflix star likes to eat and drink.
BOLD CARIBBEAN FLAVOURS
In spite of its location in The Star casino, I love Momofuku Seiōbo. It’s not so much about the space but the people that inhabit the space, which is led by chef Paul Carmichael and restaurant manager Kylie Javier Ashton. There’s a lot of samesame in Sydney, but Paul’s Caribbean food is so different to what anyone else is doing in terms of flavour and approach.
AN ITALIAN FAVOURITE
LuMi Dining in Pyrmont is a husband and wife-run restaurant I’ve been going to for a while. The restaurant serves a courageous chef’s menu that’s broadly Italian but features Japanese finesse. Chef Federico Zanellato is like me; a little bit crazy but in a good way.
He’ll do something repeatedly until it’s amazing, but then he wants to get it even more perfect. There’s almost an obsessive quality about that.
WHERE I TAKE VISITORS
When chefs are in town, I tend to take them to Sean’s Panaroma in Bondi for a long lunch. There’s something very Australian about going to the beach and sitting near the water and having Australian ingredients simply presented. The quality of the ingredients at Sean’s really speak for themselves. I also bring a couple of bottles of Australian wine because Sean’s do BYO, which is amazing. It’s somewhere I can happily go and instantly feel at home.
ASIAN COMFORT EATING
If I’m after comfort food, I go and see the guys at Boon Cafe. It’s five minutes away from Firedoor and is a one-stop Thai shop where you can pick up vegetables and groceries. I’ll get some crab rice and green juice to balance things out. There’s also Chaco Ramen which does amazing ramen, and Chaco Bar has the best yakitori in Sydney.
NOSE-TO-TAIL VIETNAMESE
Banh Xeo Bar at The Cannery in Rosebery is run by a couple of St John alumni: Tania Ho and Benjamin Sinfield. There’s nothing Ben likes more than getting a whole pig, breaking it down and celebrating each part of it on the menu. Things like pig’s head nuggets with roasted bone marrow, and incredible broths – it’s exactly what I want to eat most of the time. They’re such a lovely, humble young couple who are always pleased to see you.
THE BEST PUB IN TOWN
Being British, I like spending time in pubs. One of my favourites is the Lord Nelson in The Rocks, and is the oldest pub brewery in Sydney. It’s got an amazing beer offering. Over the last year we’ve collaborated with them to make beers for the restaurant and each one is different. The last one was made with Geraldton Wax and desert lime, and the next one will be Davidson’s plum and wattleseed red ale with rye malt.
LOCAL COFFEE SPOT
Great coffee is something people in Sydney take for granted until you travel and go to the airport or out of town. It’s great to have Single O in the neighbourhood. I love the culture the team has created around coffee – they’re super passionate. It’s not just a white coffee or black coffee, but cold-drip, long-pour or on-tap. It’s mind-blowing to think coffee has so many different styles and profiles.
STEP INTO MY OFFICE
Firedoor is a different kind of grill restaurant that blows away your preconceptions of what a grill restaurant is and what it can be. That was always my hope for it. We have no gas or electricity and we cook everything over a wood fire to order. We don’t even use charcoal. We light a fire every single day and time our preparations in harmony with the heat. It’s the craziest form of cooking, and is the hardest form to get a consistent result with, but what we consistently find is that everything we produce over fire is delicious.