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Colin Fassnidge- 4 Fourteen Restaurant- 414

Colin Fassnidge – chef, family man, motorbike rider and tweeter extraordinaire! – although of late, his tweets have somewhat turned towards the niceties of daily things in life and less of the hot Irish blood that runs through his veins.

Colin Fassnidge – Dublin born Irish chef arrived in this fair land in 1999, with stints at that very cool fine dining Est restaurant in Sydney CBD and at Banc. In 2004/5 he started at Four in Hand pub restaurant in Paddington and in a short time it became the very good ‘Four in Hand Restaurant’ with a very nice local pub next door. His philosophy on food being that classic ‘nose to tail’ thinking, which is that of many a great chef around the world – Colin Fassnidge has gone on to be embraced as one of Sydney’s, if not Australia’s, chefs to watch!

Colin Fassnidge - 4 Fourteen Restaurant - Four in Hand - Surry Hills - cool Sydney restaurant

Chef Colin Fassnidge

Colin Fassnidge and business partner Joe Saleh now have Four in Hand, Paddington Arms and the latest 4 Fourteen Restaurant in Surry Hills sydney, which in 18 months has become one of Sydney’s “IT” restaurants to be seen in!

Menu at 4Fourteen Restaurant - Colin Fassnidge - cool Surry Hills Sydney restaurant

The menu cover at 4Fourteen

But on a serious note the “IT” restaurant thing is a lot of bull shit! It’s because he’s a great chef with a dedicated and talented team around him, like Head Chef and business partner Carla Jones. But the key has to be great cooking in a well run kitchen in a well run restaurant and to date a well run business and all this has to be led by a chef that has what it takes and Colin Fassnidge has got that. Someone once said that Fassnidge was not media savvy – that really made me laugh out loud, as great chefs know just how to work the media and when. Anyway that has changed somewhat in recent times – with his prominence on ‘My Kitchen Rules’ on Channel 7 which airs 7 March – to name one in a handful of media appearances.

The Food at 414 Restaurant:

Ham hock croquettes - 4Fourteen - Colin Fassnidge - cool Sydney restaurant

Ham hock and cheese croquettes, mustard creme fraiche

Ham Hock and Cheese Croquette, Mustard Crème Fraîche – small bits of ham encassed with cheese in croquettes alongside a tear drop scoop of mustard creme fraiche.

Black pudding - 4Fourteen - Colin Fassnidge - cool Sydney restaurant

Black pudding, proscuitto, apple sauce

Black Pudding, Prosciutto, Apple Sauce – soft luscious black pudding – with hints of dark chocolate and chorizo coming through to balance the minerality of the black pudding – layered on the proscuitto and fine batons of apple.

Citrus cured cobia - 4Fourteen - Colin Fassnidge - cool Sydney restaurant

Citrus cured cobia, frozen fennel

Citrus Cured Cobia, Frozen Fennel and Celery – pieces of sashimi cobia ( known as well as black kingfish) with celery leaves, braised celery sticks and topped with shaved frozen fennel juice. This was such a delightful dish to look at and even better to taste. It showed a lighter more modern take on Fassnidge’s repetoire.

Ocean trout - 4Fourteen - Colin Fassnidge - cool Sydney restaurant

Ocean trout, white beans, fennel

Ocean Trout, Citrus Stock, White Beans, Fennel and kale. We chose the celeriac as accompaniment – cooked 3 Ways – the smoothest of puree, pure smokiness of the baked celeriac with a fluffy white inside and paper thin strips of fried celeriac.

Celeriac 3 ways

Interior 4Fourteen - Colin Fassnidge - cool Surry Hills Sydney restaurant

Interior at 4Fourteen

For dessert – Pain d’epices with fresh figs and ginger beer sorbet

Fresh figs and ginger beer sorbet

4Fourteen Restaurant delivers a warm welcome, sharp attentive service from knowledgeable staff, well cooked food and an interesting wine list – and they can really make a mean Bloody Mary.

Food: 7/10

Presentation: 7/10

Service: 9/10

Wine list: 8/10

4Fourteen Restaurant

414 Bourke St, Surry Hills 2010

4Fourteen Website

The Wild Rover bar- Sydney

in Cool Bars | 1 Comment

‘The Wild Rover’ – well, this was one hell of a long wait for one of Grandmas’ kids. It felt like a year in the making but The Wild Rover bar is most definitely open and it really is a cool Sydney bar. Grandmas Bar gave the cool Sydney bar scene a kick on how to harness what it takes to create not just a formula bar but to give it that cool factor. The team behind Grandmas is looking for The Wild Rover to do the same, and we will put some money on that!

The Wild Rover - Surry Hills - cool Sydney bars - Sydney cool

The infamous green door entrance

Day 1 and sydneycool went along to give this new Irish offshoot a test run. The Wild Rover is located in the part of old industrial Sydney where wholesale businesses did their trade. The front of the building has been left as is – out front there’s the sign that reflects its past – Gestetner’s Surry Hills Shirt Warehouse. And you never know what lies behind this very ordinary shop front until you open the heavy wooden door.

Wild Rover - Surry Hills - cool Sydney bars - sydneycool - son of Grandmas Bar

Wild Rover bar

But once inside the warm feel of a local Irish pub with its comfy chairs, tables and large banquettes beckon you to sit back and relax. Or be one of the lads or gals and sit at the bar and discuss the day’s woes. And upstairs has a lighter and brighter look with large windows letting natural light flood – making this a perfect spot to spend a Sunday afternoon on a rainy winters day.

The Wild Rover - cool Sydney bars - Surry Hills - sydneycool

Rail indicator boards give you the rundown on beers and whiskies

With a nod to heritage Sydney – the old State Rail train indicator boards displaying the list of beers and whiskies, nice!

Wild Rover - cool Sydney bars - Surry Hills - sydneycool - son of Grandmas Bar

The ground floor bar and entrance

We like the way the guys at The Wild Rover have set out what they believe when it comes to drinks. They tell us their credo is “focussing on the flavour of what your’e enjoying, not simply the ingredients” There’s a whole variety of draught and bottled beers – great to see some NSW brewed beers. We tried the 4 Pines Stout, brewed locally in Manly, a dry Irish style stout – or like a Guinness “light” – OUCH! that will hurt if you are Irish.

The Wild Rover Surry Hills - cool Sydney bars - sydneycool bars

Draught beers on tap

The Wild Rover re-discovers some long lost classic cocktails as well as introducing some of their own. A list of cellar reserve wines including French and local champagnes (sic). And of course, there’s whisky – some rare and hard to source whiskies and Irish whiskies like Connemara from the west coast of Ireland.

The Wild Rover | cool Sydney bars Surry Hills - sydneycool bars

The cocktail list

The bar food keeps the wolf from the door – like spicy lamb sausage rolls and freshly shucked oysters from Coffin Bay, and the word on the ground is in the near future “live music on Sundays” – here’s hoping.

Wild Rover Surry Hills Sydney - cool Sydney bars - sydneycool bars

Upstairs banquette seating

The Wild Rover is the newest cool Sydney bar and we really like the place, the service and the drinks. But above all it feels real and not like all the glossy theme park bars that have been popping up all over this fair land.

The Wild Rover

75 Campbell St Surry Hills Sydney

Best 8 Asian restaurants from Sydneycool

in Cool Restaurants | Leave a comment

Sydney has always been known for a high standard of Asian food and never more than at the moment - with some of the world’s larger Asian restaurants opening in Sydney. Here we will guide you to some that are very, very traditional, some very new pan Asian and some that, for us locals we hold dear to our hearts. But the common link in our chosen eight is (and this was not easy as across Sydney, there are a lot of very good Asian restaurants) – But our bench mark was quality and consistency. sydneycool introduces some Sydney Asian restaurants for you to try in 2013 – these are our favourites.

Golden Century in Chinatown is, without doubt, old China style restaurant – at times, you feel as you wait for your food that it could very well be 1960′s Hong Kong. The food is nothing short of brilliant and it is the traditional Cantonese restaurant you go to in Australia for some of the best seafood – fresh abalone, beautiful lobsters and one of their signature dishes – pippies with XO sauce. You’re likely to see top chefs eating at Golden Century like Tetsuya Wakuda of Tetsuya’s Restaurant and Momofuku‘s David Chang.

Golden Century Seafood Restaurant

Sussex St, Chinatown, Sydney NSW 2000

Golden Century Website

Billy Kwong in Crown St, Surry Hills has become a Sydney institution – the mastermind behind Billy Kwong’s, Kylie Kwong set out to re-create a Chinese eating house and she does. Kylie lets us experience her modern, lighter take on traditional Chinese food with a frequently changing menu and daily specials.

Billy Kwong Chinese Restaurant

Shop 3, 355 Crown Street, Surry Hills Sydney 2010

Billy Kwong Website

Thanh Binh – this is another Sydney institution and delivers some of the best authentic Vietnamese food. Classic banh xeo chey – rice-flour pancake with prawns, mung bean, bean sprouts and banh hoi chao tom – steamed rice noodle with sugar cane prawns that you make yourself, are our favourites. But it’s a big menu so you’ll find lots of other dishes to try. As well as Cabramatta, they’re also in King St Newton.

Thanh Binh Vietamese Restaurant

52A John St Cabramatta, Sydney

111 King St Newton, Sydney

Thanh Binh Website

Next – Din Tai Fung – in Westfield Sydney, World Square and The Star – the restaurant at World Square is still our favourite. Originally from Taipei, there are now restaurants in Japan, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, USA, Hong Kong and very soon in Thailand. Din Tai Fung is best known for its dumplings – try the shrimp and pork jiao zi, also the spicy noodles and wontons and green beans with pork are great.

Din Tai Fung Taiwanese Dumpling bar

Level 5 Westfield Pitt St Sydney

Din Tai Fung Website

Yoshii is a Japanese Restaurant that’s known for its wonderful sushi and sashimi – from the most simple of dishes to creations that are works of art. Everything here is a joy to the eyes and the pallet and after you eat sushi here – it is hard to look elsewhere in Sydney. The menu at Yoshii is degustation and set meals – so it can be quite pricey – pity they don’t offer a la carte but Yoshii is well worth the money. This is not your local sushi train. This food is very beautiful and prepared with care and creativity.

Yoshii Japanese Restaurant

115 Harrington St, The Rocks, Sydney

Yoshii Website

Chefs Gallery Restaurant is one of our favourites – a new Sydney Asian restaurant. The roast duck, deboned with fresh lychees and mint is a dish made in heaven – also the noodles are some of the best ever. We like to sit at the bar and watch the chefs craft the noodles – such art in what they do. This restaurant gets very busy so get your timing right.

Chefs Gallery Pan Asian

Shop 12, 501 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Chefs Gallery Website

Mamak is the authentic taste of Malaysia – this is the place for roti – try the roti bawang – filled with finely sliced cooked red onions. We always love nasi lemak and murtabak. This is food like you get in KL, efficient service and the true flavours of Malaysia.

Mamak Malaysian Restaurant

Goulburn St Chinatown Sydney

Mamak Website

Ippudo opened its doors in Sydney about 4 weeks ago – the queue at times is demanding, as it is in Tokyo, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and now Sydney. Ippudo has quite a loyal and young following, is part of a very big chain of restaurants and we have found the food is always consistently good. Must try – pork or the prawn bun also the ramen – this is what this place is really about, and they take their own slant on things. The music is very loud, staff very friendly and service sharp – but this is not a cheap street ramen bar.

Ippudo Japanese Ramen Bar

Level 5 Westfield Pitt St Sydney

Vasco Bar-Surry Hills-Sydney

in Cool Bars | 5 Comments

Vasco Bar in Cleveland St, Surry Hills is the latest cool Sydney bar – location wise, Cleveland St is not the place that immediately jumps to mind for a cool bar but maybe that’s changing?

But Vasco has a strong bar heritage – Max comes most recently from Eau De Vie and Luke from Roosevelt and it shows in their professionalism not in the style of this bar. Vasco is quite a different bar – the cocktail list, cool bar food like Italian hot dogs – this is young, loud with great service, a handshake and smile – very Italian.

Just when you think every bar theme has already been done to death in Sydney – along comes Vasco to prove you wrong. This place is young at heart and very local – sit at tables with high stools, at the bar or on couches. Music is the theme here, in particular rock. Vasco Bar is an homage to Vasco, the Italian rock star from the 80’s – this could easily be his image painted on the wall as you enter. There are old vinyl record covers all around the bar – and not just rock – e.g. Richard Clayderman, Max Bygraves. There’s a whole wall of Ross Halfin photos of famous musicians on stage.

The drinks – inventive cocktails as well as the classics, also beers and wine. One of the favourites of the house has got to be the Campari shots – a very Vasco Bar drink. Always like to try a house cocktail – and this time it’s a“Hendrix Experience” – we were hoping for a reference to Jimmy??? – Hendriks gin, lillet blanc, frangolino. Perfect for pre-dinner – perhaps a little too lingering sweetness at the end.

A cool as touch – the cocktail list printed on the inside of old 45 record covers.

Vasco Bar is the perfect mix of hip cool and very friendly – this is the Sydney bar to check out. It’s open 7 days till midnight, love it!

Vasco Bar

421 Cleveland St Surry Hills Sydney 2010

Kepos St Kitchen- new cool Surry Hills cafe

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Kepos St Kitchen – a cool new cafe/restaurant – has just opened at the corner of Kepos and Phillip Sts in very cool Surry Hills – for breakfast, lunch and soon to be dinner. Headed by Michael Rantissi, who’s been at Bathers Pavilion – Kepos St Kitchen delivers food with a Mediterranean accent and a Middle Eastern twist.

It was busy for an opening day and we must say the service was spot on – the space is an old corner shop that’s been given a cool modern makeover. There is a main dining area as you enter, with a service bar next to a long narrow hall that leads to a second dining area – which has a feel of a conservatory, As well as tables outside on the side walk, it’s put together with a modern eye – all white and bright, very cool and not at all like your usual Surry Hills rustic charm. Very refreshing!

The food – we went for the falafel, hummus, tablouleh and mint – normally served on bread – the chef graciously omitted the bread. The falafel – very herby, deep fried discs – crisp on the outside and moist inside with all the flavour of the Middle East – not at all like the solid ones you quite often get. The tabouleh wasn’t just parsley – small cubes of tomato, fine onion and the right balance of parsley. The hummus could have had a bit more garlic but that is a very personal taste.

The wood smoked salmon salad, olives, kipflers, soft boiled eggs and za’atar – the salmon was more pinker than what you normally get. It had a deep smokey flavour which of course balanced with the sharp crunch of the olives, creamiest of the eggs with the lift of the za’atar. These are simple meals, but the quality of the produce and expertise in the preparation make this a real cut above a lot of cafes.

The coffee – Single Origin Roasters – was worthy of the food of Kepos St Kitchen and is up there. But you have to try the house made lemonade – well balanced and tart and not to sweet – this is a winner!

The cakes and deserts here are straight from the oven – we liked the lemon slice. But we sneaked a peek at the churros with caramel – they look luscious for those fans of the Spanish favourite.

Kepos St Kitchen is a cool Sydney cafe/restaurant to watch out for – we think it’s going to be big so get in now. They’re open for dinner from now – Wednesday to Saturday.

Kepos St Kitchen

96 Kepos St (Cnr Phillip St) Surry Hills NSW 2010

DineSmart at cool Sydney restaurants

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From now until Christmas, cool Sydney restaurants are participating in DineSmart including Toko, The Apollo, Bloodwood, Four in Hand, Berta and Crown St Assembly.

DineSmart restaurants ask diners to make a small donation on their bill. Every table is asked to add $2 or more to their bill, not even the price of a coffee or mineral water. It’s a simple idea that adds up to a big impact on the lives of people who are homeless. It started in 2003 and with the support of 212 restaurants nationally, last year’s event generated $352,328 – this year the goal is $500,0000.

Support DineSmart at cool Sydney restaurants and add to your enjoyment of a night out or a long lunch by donating just $2 on top of your meal for homeless charities and refuges.

Cowbell 808 Cafe-in cool Surry Hills

in Cafes | 1 Comment

Cowbell 808 in Bourke St Surry Hills is a cool Sydney cafe – best coffee, very local, food that’s a step above. We like it when cafe owners take their passion and let everyone in on the secret.

In this case, 808 – it’s a drum machine (named after the Roland TR808 drum machine), vinyl records, retro music, coffee – and Surry Hills is better off for this passion. These guys take pride in the food they deliver – the food is all prepared on the premises. We love the buns for the burgers that are baked every day on site – more of a sweet type bun like the American style burger buns, and they are very good!

The place is near the end of Bourke St near Cleveland. On one wall, a piece of street art, vinyl records for sale and memorabilia around. The crowd feels very local and regular. The staff are friendly – they go out of their way in the menu to say no attitude.

The coffee – we tried our sydneycool coffee test and ordered a macchiato – now a macchiato can quite be inconsistent across Sydney cafes. Literally in Italian it means marked – an espresso with a mark of milk. Sometimes, they give you a piccolo – a small latte or sometimes just an expresso with much more than a mark of milk. Cowbell 808 delivered a marked expresso – fully rounded flavour with no burnt taste.

The food – we were there for lunch so we chose from their all day bites – ‘sambos’ and salads which looked fresh and well presented but the highlight some different choices like a grilled eggplant roll. Went for the Cowbell 808 burger – ground chuck pattie, lettuce, cheese, pickles on a Cowbell 808 sesame seed bun, mayonnaise and served with spiced onion rings – one of the best burgers we’ve had. Our other choice – the corn and potato tortilla – a frittata with avocado, coriander and a black bean salsa – this worked well. The black beans were a great contrast with the corn, another match made in heaven – maybe a little more seasoning. There’s also a range of drinks including our favourite – root beer – not something we see in Sydney very often.

Cowbell 808 is a great addition to Bourke St – inventive and real ’home cooked’ food as well as the friendly team. This is a cool Sydney cafe - so check it out now.

Go for great home cooked style food plus more, comfy chairs & tables, service!

Don’t go if u dont like fifties/sixties, young retro interior!

Cowbell 808

Bourke St Surry Hills Sydney 2011

Marque Restaurant- Best Sydney fine dining

in Cool Restaurants | 3 Comments

Marque Restaurant in Surry Hills, is global fine dining - consistently winning Australian and global awards. Our experience again really proved that it deserves these accolades – a cool Sydney restaurant with pedigree.

Mark Best’s Marque Restaurant named no. 1 in the Australian Gourmet Traveller Restaurant 2012 and 2011 awards – something to be proud of. It was also included in the World’s Best 100 Restaurant awards for 2012. That’s some reputation to maintain – Marque does this with ease.

It’s a unassuming place, looking out from Crown St, along from Billy Kwong. The curtains hide a very comfortable modern dining elegance – the food, service, wine and contemporary deco. Marque is a small intimate dining space with very professional wait staff and sommeliers. The word at Marque is discrete.

After being welcomed and shown to our table, our waiter explained that the Marque approach to dining was to offer an eight course degustation ($160). Appropriately, he also checked any allergies and food preferences. You can also choose to have matched wines with the courses. As each course was delivered, we got an explanation of the dish. And at the end of the meal, the menu is given to you, like at Momofuku, Sydney.

Food – Marque is fine dining, amazing flavours and complex combinations that really quite simple and tres beautiful. Some of sydneycool’s highlights – blue swimmer crab, almond gazpacho, almond jelly, sweet corn and avruga. Succulent pieces of crab immersed in an almond gazpacho finely balanced with the saltiness of the avruga – perfect introduction to a perfect meal!.

Tiger prawn smoked, avocado, buttermilk, hazelnut and cured egg yolk. The intense smokiness with the crunch of the prawn, also again the smokiness of the top of the charred but soft avocado, smoothness of the buttermilk, hazelnut was quite breathtaking, and the soft texture of the cured egg. A brilliant dish!

Roast veal sweetbreads with vadouvan, heirloom carrots and saltbush. These small melt in the mouth sensations balanced perfectly with the finest sweet puree of carrots and the deep fried saltbush leaves.

Radicchio vermicelli with grapefruit and mint was the refresher before the chocolate mousse ‘ecrase’ – simplicity and coolness on the palate.

Desert chocolate mousse – light and gentle with dark earthiness of the beetroot, blackcurrant and the final lift from the violet .

We could go on but that’s the teaser and the dishes change dependent on what’s in season. You can also sample Mark Best’s inspired and original food through their Friday prix fixe lunch – three courses for $45.

The wine our sommerlier recommended was a French chenin blanc – 2009 Nicolas Joly Les Vieux Clos Savennieres – perfectly dry.

Marque has earned its place in global fine dining – a cool Sydney fine dining restaurant.

PS – Some of the photos above are Marque’s – sydneycool was happy to use the above !

The food photos above does not correspond with the text.

Marque Restaurant

4/5 355 Crown St Surry Hills NSW 2010

sydneycool rating ♥♥♥♥

Marque Restaurant Website

St. Jude Cafe-Redfern cool

in Cafes | 1 Comment

St Jude Cafe, in cool as Redfern East, is in a strip of cool Sydney cafes and shops in Bourke St, towards Danks St, Waterloo.

St. Jude is a very local place – and part of a new breed of cool Sydney cafes that deliver good coffee and healthy food – that’s more than a panini. The space looks like it has been created from an old corner store/butcher – the kitchen looks very professional and efficient. The design of St Jude is fairly classic with some quirky retro objects on a shelf above the main room – there’s footpath seating as well.

This was a late lunch after a quick reviver coffee at Bourke Street Bakery and a look through Brett Whiteley’s Studio (a very cool Sydney hidden secret). The lunch menu has lots of fresh salads and sandwiches as well as more serious dishes. We went for a mediterranean vegetable and quinoa salad - fresh roasted vegetables, spinach, haloumi, roasted almonds and glorious grains of quinoa and spiciness of the harissa dressing. Perfect for a light lunch and a great combination of mediterranean flavours.

Our other choice was the crispy skinned fish of the day – barramundi – with white bean puree and panzanella salad. The barramundi skin was not as the menu said – crispy, but instead was a soft - waited a little too long to be brought to the table I think. Having said all of that, It was moist and full of flavour – the creamy sweetness of the bean puree worked well.

We had an espresso coffee which was rich and smooth, spot on!

The service was pretty much on the mark although at times almost a bit distant and cold, but hey this is SYDNEY !

St Jude is worth a visit – part of the cool Sydney cafe scene.

St Jude Cafe

Cnr Thurlow and Bourke Sts Redfern East 2016

Crave International Food Festival- cool Sydney food

in Cool Bars, Cool Restaurants | 2 Comments

One of the sydney cool food highlights of the year – Crave International Food Festival starts October 1. This year, there are hundreds of individual events.

We always enjoy that Sydney institution – the Night Noodle Markets – over 13 nights. Also World Chef Showcase is always worth a look – and this year, former local boys Jason Atherton from Pollen Street Social and David Thompson from Nahm both in London as well as the respected and world renowed Antonio Carluccio. The lineup continues with some local icons – Matt Moran from Aria and Chiswick, Mark Best from Marque and Alessandro Pavoni from Ormeggio at the Spit, Mosman in Sydney.

This year, we’re checking out the Talks and Thoughts – especially the session – Food writing and reading in a multi-platform world – where next? with David Chang from Momofuku.

And for the Showcase Dinners – Sydneycool has picked The Celtic Tiger Returns – for one night only – Sunday 7th October at 4Fourteen Restaurant. Four chefs collaborating to produce a six-course degustation with dishes and flavours that are reminiscent of their Celtic background. From Sydney Colin Fassnidge and Carla Jones from 4Fourteen and Four in Hand. with Andrew McConnell and John Paul Twomey from Cutler&Co and Cumulis Inc, from Melbourne, very exciting.