Luxe Bakery, Newtown

I love coffee. I love breakfast. I love Luxe Bakery. / End Post

Okay fine, I know I need to elaborate a bit more but to be perfectly honest - I'm just about ready to run back to Luxe Bakery at Newtown as I write this post. Why you ask? I'm an absolute sucker for the smell of warm and freshly baked treats and a bang on cup of coffee.

Ham & Cheese Croissant $6

Come on, who can say no to a deliciously crunch toasted ham and cheese croissant? Not that I come to Luxe just to have this to start my day. And you know.. years of seriously researched studies show that the best start to any day is with a toasted ham&cheese croissants but coffee here is the main drawcard!

Picollo's ($3.50) are predictably ordered by us (I followed it up with a takeaway strong small latte too..) The Single Origin Roasters beans are roasted to absolute perfection, giving a creamy but strong dark lingering flavour that has you loved up with coffee all morning.

Luxe Bakery is a one stop shop. You can get your superb coffee fix, A sweet or savoury breakfast treat or a sandwich for lunch - and you can take some of their freshly baked bread loaves home too. Convinient!

Yes, nothing like sweet sweet carbs to start your day. Demos and I share a Blueberry Danish and an Almond Tart ($4.50 each) on top of the Toasted Croissant. The sweet pastry flakes away and are so light and sweet - a perfect companion to the strong flavoured coffees we ordered. Am I the only one getting excited about food and coffee pairings here?

The Fern, Redfern & a Dessert favorite.

"Poached eggs, smoked bacon, bacon gravy over english muffins" have I got your attention now? Because seeing that description on a breakfast menu certainly did, and boy did it get my heart in a flutter. But we'll get to that again later. Weekend Breakfasts are definitely our forte here at The Empty Fridge and boy do we love them. The more interesting, the better and everything about The Fern has grabbed my attention thats for sure. It is another eatery located in the up and coming fipster (foodie hipster) mecca of Redfern.

Gone are the days of Redfern being a rough and tumblesome neighborhood, dining precincts are popping up around the 'hood and what better way to spend a Saturday morning than getting to know a great new venue. Of course we start our mid-day (thank you weekend sleep-ins) with standard piccolo latte's. The freshly roasted Gravity Espresso blends from Melbourne add some cool coffee cred to The Fern, and of course a good caffeine fix is just what we coffee fiends need to get cracking.

 Things slow down once the coffee comes, and I do believe it's a tactic to get everyone calm down and enjoy the quirky surroundings. Taking advantage of some recent sunshine we prop ourselves in the courtyard and spot as many mini chairs and random objects we can find. The restaurant could just be mistaken for any small terrace in the area if it wasnt for the bustling customers dropping by. The "front yard" is quaint and leafy with added pops of colour from the mini chairs - super nostalgic for those childhood days when i'd actually fit into one of those kindy seats! Mis-matched furniture, vines and herbs growing and even a little chilli bush is quite a relaxing surrounding and fipster points for having issues of Vice and Acclaim magazines on hand.

 Now here's what we came here for.. the food. Grab on to your screens folks and behold The Fern Benedict. An English Muffin topped with two poached eggs, thick cut smoked bacon rashers and BACON GRAVY. Forget about your standard eggs boring-dict, this slaps it right in the face.

Oozy Egg. If this dish sounds a bit too sinful for you, don't fret. This breakfast dish is not just about the shock value, but very delicious also. The Bacon gravy isn't overpowering at all, and reminds me of a thin pasta carbonara sauce when the egg is mixed into it. Very very tasty - and that bacon? Thick rashers of bacon  is the healthier bacon option right?

Black Star Bakery, Newtown and their Epic Ginger Ninjas.

First off, Happy Long Weekend. Personally, I don't know exactly what the Public Holiday on Monday is for - but thank you New South Wales. Its been a long week for both Demos and I - the work days are just getting longer and longer! We plan to have as much fun as we can for the next 3 days and we hope you guys do too! I don't think I have been excited for a long weekend in Sydney for a while. This is actually the first break we have had in the last year where we haven't spontaneously decided to jump on a plane. Thinking back, this exact time in 2009 we were in Hong Kong, Macau and China. In the last 12 months we travelled to New York, LA and Vegas, I went to Amsterdam and recently we visited Japan and Singapore. All these travels involved food of course, and these next few days will be no exception. Okay, back to earth Gianna, stop rambling and lets get to these Black Star Ninjas.

So dear friends, If you are out and about this weekend and happen to be in the vicinity of Newtown, please drop in to Black Star Bakery because it is EPIC. Here, let me show and tell you why..

 

As soon as you walk in you can just smell the coffee and the pastries - if your not hungry to start off with then you definitely will be after the first 1.5 minutes. There are tarts, pies, cakes..sweet or savoury you'll find something that will tempt you. One mistake that we always make when we come here is getting in too late. By 3pm, the good stuff can sometimes be gone - one day I will get there early enough to try the lamb shank and red wine pie! Its a tiny place but full of old school mis-matched charm. We always sit outside on the footpath in hopes of snagging the coveted Gnome table, but alas, it is always taken. 

On our first visit I spot the ninja's displayed on the counter. "That's you" I say to Demos. How can you resist a gingerbread man kitted as a ninja? The plan was to buy them all and build a ginger army, but we had to be practical. (Demos note : Domo would get jealous and eat them silly.)

The coffee here is 10/10. Even the macchiato tasted very creamy, with the perfect amount of punch. The barista's are super friendly and work non stop - you can tell that most of the patrons come here for a daily coffee hit.

In this particular visit, we are joined by our lovely friends Lu and Emannuel. This was the day before my birthday and Luisa had just got back from her Euro summer holiday, I stole bites from her pistachio macaroon as she told me about the all the amazing food in Paris. Well I bet they did not have gnome tables and ginger ninja's there.

 

Black Star Chocolate Eclairs

 Black Star Blue Cheese and Fig Jam Brioche

Demos and I share the quiche lorraine, as previously mentioned we missed out on our Pies and Sandwiches. What a delicious afternoon snack! The pastry is perfectly flakey and so buttery in flavour - it cured weekend 3.30-itis.. when your a bit peckish after lunch and you don't want to spoil dinner.

Blackstar Pastry is a bit tricky to find, its located in one of the back streets across from the Newtown train station. Its a small cafe, not as small as Bourke St Bakery, but seating is prime and there might be a short wait to get a spot. It sure is worth it though. The cafe itself is across the road from the Courthouse, off King Street. Big Love to my awesome amigos who spoilt me rotten for my birthday! Nothing like roaming the streets of Newtown because you forgot where you parked your car!! 

  

So friends, what are you upto this long weekend? As I rush to finish this post, Demos is waiting on the couch. I woke him up bright and early to head to the Growers Market today in Pyrmont, and then off to Signorelli Gastronomia for some Brunch. Today, I also nabbed the last spot for a food photography course at the Australian Center of Photography. Phew! Thats the plan until mid-day and its close to 9am! This is all part of the Crave Sydney Food Festival - I already love October! Have fun everyone!

Black Star Pastry 277 Australia St Newtown 02 9557 8656

2042 Cafe and Deli, Newtown

We here at The Empty Fridge take brekky seriously - and when it comes to the meal of champions, we don't muck about. We do the hearty breakfasts well, most attribute this to a big night out and would consider these dishes "hangover cures"but come on guys..you know us better than that. Our nights have been spent at home, alternating between Bill the Vampire and Don Draper. Hungover or not, somehow the Museli, Yoghurt, Banana Bread, Oats, Fruit Salad aka Healthy Light Option portion of the breakfast menu is overlooked 9 out of 10 times. Bring on the Bacon and the Chorizo, and pile it up.

Gianna and I have trekked down the far end of King St (The 'away from the city' side) several times to visit 2042 Cafe and Deli, and its fast becoming a regular haunt for locals. It is also across the road from the increasingly popular Bloodwood restaurant. This particular visit was on a sunny Saturday morning and it was already bustling at 10am. I want to add that this cafe is also a continental deli, and you intelligent readers would have also seen that in the title - but I'll get to the magical cave of wonders of imported meats and pastry goods inside. We are on a breakfast mission and we manage to score a table outside. 

The coffee here is delicious, they serve Danes organic coffee and G's Piccolo and my Macchiato are brought out in a flash and with a friendly smile.The service here is excellent, despite everyone being rushed off their feet by the weekend morning crowds. I order the Schulz smoked wagyu beef sandwich with swiss cheese, saukeraut, dijonaise and pickles on soft white rye bread ($13.90).

Gianna..being Gianna (note: who is currently undergoing a fitness / healthy eating overhaul) orders the corn and ricotta hotcake with bacon, rocket and green tomato relish ($14.90). However, she flashes that smile and substitutes the bacon for chorizo and this is why I adore my hungry girlfriend. For a while there, I didn't think she was going to share anything, but the dish is a great choice. The hotcakes are still sweet, and balances the salty goodness of the chorizo. There are also sweet corn kernels mixed into this batter which also gives it a nice crunch. The rocket and green tomato relish make Gianna think that she is eating something healthy but I think it provides a nice tangy flavour and adds to the overall appeal.

My breakfast sandwich was simply put - delicious. The Smoked wagyu beef is a testament to the high quality of meat that is sold at the deli counter. It has a great flavour, and is reminiscent of my favourite rare roast beef sandwich at Katz Delicatessen in New York. The tanginess of the dijonaise spread cuts through the slices of wagyu beef, and it was so good I wanted to ask for a big squeezable bottle of that stuff. My only complaint is that it was missing was a big bowl of fries - but this was breakfast.

After demolishing our meals, we opt for fruity frappes. Gianna had a cherry frappe and I had the the lemon variation. Both were delicious even with the cold wind blowing in our faces and a couple of brain freeze situations. Drink Slowly. 2042 is a licensed cafe and is open till late - so you can also have a champagne breakfast or a late night vino if you can pull yourself away from the TV.

If you are not full, or even just passing by make sure you take full advantage of the deli inside. As mentioned previously, its a treasure trove of imported small goods, cured meats, antipasti - and everyone's favourite - imported cheeses. Eveything is sourced from around the world - Imported salami and proscuitto, Spanish Jamon, Danish and French Cheese is all exciting stuff. The writing on the wall tell us that come lunch and dinner time, 2042 would make a mean cheese and chauticerrie platter, with cocktails and wine to match. We are definitely coming back for a 2024 after dark post, the offer is just too tempting. For today, its a small container of Sicilian olives and some French Brie for afternoon tea later in the day. They also stock Sonoma artisan bread, and we should have grabbed that olive loaf.

Until next time 2042, thank you for an amazing breakfast. You give Bill's a run for their money and we'll be back in Newtown shortly, hopefully to pick up a bike from the shop nearby. You have to burn off the chorizo and wagyu somehow. 

2042 Cafe and Deli 

403-405 King St Newtown (02) 9550 2500