THE TWO WOLVES: COMMUNITY CANTINA - CHIPPENDALE, SYDNEY

The Two Wolves: Community Cantina
202 Broadway
(Cnr Broadway and City Rd down Grafton Lane)
Chippendale, Sydney

The Two Wolves is a volunteer-driven social enterprise eatery & bar. Everyone is welcome here and you certainly do feel this.

There is a great vibe about the place and also a "warmth". The décor is bright and quirky.

Take the time to look around as there are some really amazing pictures that show you a history of what the people at The Two Wolves contribute to. It is bright and feels as if the place has been there a while.

The food here really is fantastic and plentiful and they feature many different dishes in their rotating menu. It is also affordable, hearty and authentic.

The menu is simple street food that has been derived from their network of friends around the world.

We started with Pope Francis's spicy empanadas that lived up to their name and these stuffed pastries were packed full of flavour. They were accompanied with a tasty colourful salsa. Sir loves empanadas and had quite a few of these.

Next was Sister Hien's bun thit nuong which is a tasty pork and noodle salad dish.

Being great fans of all kinds of noodles - and these were rice vermicelli noodles -  Sir and Mlady thought that this was a good healthy, hearty and very tasty dish.

It was packed with flavour and extremely vibrant too. 

The Vietnamese Chicken, lemongrass and sweet potato curry was a really flavoursome meal. Everything about this dish was just so yummy.

The combination of the sweet potato - and being in a curry with the Vietnamese Chicken - yummo!

Mlady had quite  few servings of this.

The Korean Fried Chicken had an OMG and WOW factor. How many Korean Fried Chicken's are too many for a person to have? Mlady had 4. Sir had - well quite a few more than that. This was a very popular meal. A lovely carafe of sangria was also on the table. The Sevenhill Inigo Grenache 2013 and Sevenhill Inigo Riesling 2014 also went extremely well.

Then it was on to aloo gobi
masala. This is a spiced cauliflower and potatoes vegetarian dish.

We do love a great vegetarian dish - especially Mlady.

It had great flavours and spices which makes it fragrant and mouth-watering.



All these wonderfully flavoured and tasty dishes were accompanied with  a generous serving of Steamed Jasmine Rice. This went really well as we all know that Jasmine rice is great for soaking up delicious sauces.

For Dessert we had black sticky rice with mango and coconut.

What can we say about this? Seriously this would have to be one of best desserts EVER! Mlady has a passion for this and having the dessert teamed with mango - one of her favourite fruits - Mlady unabashedly finished the plate it was served on!

Eton Mess was our next delicious dessert. This dessert always conjures up a group of Eton scholars walking with a pavlova, dropping it and then frantically trying to put all the pieces back together again. How good does an Eton mess look and how good does it taste? Sir and Mlady thoroughly enjoyed this. Sir even had seconds!

The Two Wolves: Community Cantina is very much about community. Their dishes tell a story of the communities where their volunteers serve - places such as Thailand, Mexico, Micronesia, Cambodia, Ecuador, Nepal and Vietnam. It's the first commercial venture of The Cardoner Project which was founded by Fr David Braithwaite SJ - who we chatted with on the night. He's a pretty cool guy and clearly passionate about making a difference. Most of the staff here are volunteers. If you're interested in helping out by joining the Wolf Pack then Click Here for the volunteer form. 

The Two Wolves: Community Cantina is a relaxed, comfy place with great affordable food and a great feel to it.

They have a decent bar list too - so it needn't be a dry night. Come along, eat good food in a great place, help a great cause and leave satisfied!

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of The Two Wolves: Community Cantina but made a donation to this very worthwhile not-for-profit project when leaving.

Big thanks to The Cardoner Project as well as Carla Monforte of Wasamedia for the invitation - and they donated their expertise as did so many others to help this project.

 

BRICKFIELDS - CHIPPENDALE, SYDNEY

Brickfields
206 Cleveland St
Chippendale, Sydney

While at the delicious Sweetfest we dropped in to the Brickfields stall. Brickfields is a bakery, cafe and wholesaler in Chippendale that's become a part of the community there. It was great to see their goodies on display at Sweetfest - and once seen it was hard not to grab a few essentials there!

The biggest challenge was what to choose - they all looked so good!

The chocolate cake looked rich and indulgent - just as chocolate cake should look. It almost won.

In the end though there were two winners from a rich field of choices.

Firstly, the mango and coconut tart looked amazing. The rich orange/yellow colour showcased bright white coconut on top. It was spectacular.

Then there was the date and vanilla tart. The idea of blending dates with vanilla had our mouths watering straight away - hello old friend!

Brickfields - your goodies look and taste delicious.

 

THE DUCK INN PUB AND KITCHEN + CAKE WINES - CHIPPENDALE, SYDNEY

The Duck Inn Pub and Kitchen + Cake Wines
74 Rose St
Chippendale, Sydney

The Duck Inn has a warm homey feel to it - think country cottage blended with, well, your lounge room.

We were there for our second Cake Wines matched campaign where they match signature dishes of unsung-hero restaurants with selected drops from Cake Wines.

Cake Wines are a fresh young crew that are making a name for themselves in the wine market.

We hadn't been to The Duck Inn before and we discovered it has undergone a metamorphosis.

Co-owner Ben Kirkman explained it all to us. The place has been completely transformed - and the public seems to love it - it was packed.

The Duck Inn  has a front bar area that stretches around one side and into a casual library space (well it looks like a library until you realise the books are wallpaper).

Around the other side is the restaurant which is quite a decent size and finally there's a lovely beer garden out the back that seems to always be popular.

We started with a lovely serving of house smoked salmon plated appealingly on a slab of black slate.

As a huge fan of smoked salmon this was certainly very tasty with great flavours and it was a decent sized serving as well.

A side of slaw that was tangy but not overpowering, and plenty of sourdough, capped this tasty starter off perfectly.

Our tasty salmon starter was of matched with a tipple from Cake Wines.

The Cake Wines 2014 Pinot Gris was a lovely drink that was indeed well paired and had a great bouquet.

Cake Wines are based in the Adelaide Hills and are certainly not approaching making a name for themselves in the same old traditional way.

For example they donate 10% of their proceeds to independent radio stations around the country. They launch pop-up bars in weird and wonderful locations.

They sponsor Tropfest. They do things like we were experiencing - matching their wines with possibly unsung hero restaurants. They even have their own art competition - the Archi-Bottle Prize with the winner displayed on a wine release.

The scallops were not something we ordered but Ben thought we'd like them anyway so they appeared. He read us very well as they were great.

The scallops were plump and juicy and cooked lightly - as they should be.

The scallops came resting on a mixed bed of corn and were generously topped with plenty of greenery.

Our main was a magnificent serving each of the lovely "Binderee" New England grass fed eye fillet.

It came with spinach puree, roast cherry tomatoes, crushed rosemary new potatoes and herb butter.

This dish looked and tasted great - and the meat was cooked perfectly to order. Mlady had some wholegrain mustard with hers and I just had mine as is.

Our mains were matched with a lovely 2012 Cake Wines Shiraz that was full flavoured and again matched the dish it was paired with very well. A good red with a good eye fillet is a match made in heaven!

Time for dessert and we had two great treats here! The apple crumble came in its own ceramic bowl and it was a big serving.

It was Mlady's favourite.

For me, the bread and butter pudding, made with brioche, was the winner. We both agreed it was a close call though and thankfully they give you decent sized servings as well.

The Duck Inn is a quaint, homey, comfortable place that you just relax into and it's somewhere you want to stay. The food is great - and so were the matched Cake Wines that brought us here. 

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of The Duck Inn and Cake Wines. Special thanks to Ben Kirkman, David Thackray - the chef, Michaela and Gary for looking after us so well. A big thanks also to Glen Cassidy, co-founder of Cake Wines for inviting us and arranging our visit.

ZIGI'S ART WINE CHEESE BAR - CHIPPENDALE, SYDNEY

Zigi's Art Wine Cheese Bar
86 Abercrombie St
Chippendale, Sydney

The name says it all. This is a very diverse place! First of all you have Zigi Ozeri, the live wire host and owner. Not surprisingly he matches the place - quirky, lively and fun! Even though it's called an Art Wine Cheese Bar it has great food as well with an Ausraeli theme - but adding "Restaurant" may make the name just to long.


The people at the table next to us were there on on a cheese journey. They were having five different cheeses - each matched with a different wine - and they were loving it. Another group were in the front bar for drinks. Others were there for pre-dinner drinks and nibbles while some were there to dine for the night, like us. Later on even more people arrived for a night cap. Zigi's is diverse.

One of the specialties of the house is the handmade labne cheese sprinkled with za'ater, drizzled with olive oil and served with pita.

This was so smooth and so tasty.

We love labne and this was certainly one of the best we've had. The za'ater and olive oil added even more complexity and a bit of texture. Fortunately there was plenty of it too. Yum.

Next was something seafood - but with a twist.

The falafel prawns were served with an amba relish and a paprika emulsion. The falafel enveloped and went nicely with the prawns. The crisp outer and soft texture inside was a delight.

The amba relish - a mango based sauce that is often served with falafel - that the prawns rested on, was also delicious.

The seared scallops with chorizo soil was another tasty and unique dish.

The white chorizo soil was surprisingly subtle, going very well with the scallops without overpowering their delicate flavour.

The scallops were perfectly cooked too, with a light hand in the kitchen ensuring they were served "just right".

The wow dish of the night in terms of appearance would have undoubtedly been the beetroot mille feuille.

It looked simply spectacular with its splashes of different colours and joyously it all tasted just as good as well.

It came with feta mousse, basil chips and a dotted drizzle of citrus vinaigrette.

It would almost be a sin to visit Zigi's and not have some cheese! We had a selection chosen by the enigmatic Zigi himself and they were all amazing. The cheese list here is impressively long and diverse like the venue! The cheeses come from everywhere and in all textures and flavours. It's a cheese lovers heaven! The giant sheet of hand made lavosh that comes with the cheese looked spectacular and went so well.

The venue is quite large, but separated into many different areas. You enter into the bar area from the side street, but this leads through one way into the dining area while the other way takes you into the massive kitchen that is also used for regular cooking classes. Upstairs is a private dining room and also where the art is displayed. And of course you can't go to Ziggi's without noticing the man himself. He's everywhere and such a character!

Zigi

Zigi's Art Wine Cheese Bar has so much. You can drink there, eat there (they specialise in Ausraeli food), learn to cook, go on a cheese journey, look at local art upstairs (and buy it - Zigi is a strong supporter of the arts community), see films and attend food, wine and music events.

There's always something happening, and always something different to look forward to! The quality of the food and drinks were worth the visit alone!


The cooking school details are here: https://www.facebook.com/ZIGISCookingSchool

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Ziggi's Art Wine Cheese Bar. Special thanks to Zigi Ozeri for arranging our visit and for being such dynamic host.