Talbot markets, Etica pizzas, Ut Si cafe, Coogee Pavilion: imagine these and more in one village

Lifestyle. It used to be an option, a throwaway term in a million annoying ads. Now, increasingly, it’s a necessity.

How do you deal with the combined aggravation of longer working hours and big-city traffic jams? You live somewhere in proximity to dinner (and breakfast and lunch and coffee and drinks). How do you avoid spending half your waking hours driving or catching an overcrowded train across town to the fish shop?

You live in a village, albeit one with a butcher, baker and Third Wave cafe (since candlestick makers aren’t in huge demand any more).

The village is back, only with better food.

Demographer Bernard Salt says localism and authenticity are powerful movements driving middle-class urban lifestyles, and are never more apparent than in the realm of food and drink.

“Not so much in the suburbs but most certainly in the inner suburbs — inside the goat’s cheese curtain — there is a yearning for a village way of life,” Salt says.

“Perhaps it’s a rejection of modernism; perhaps it’s an embrace of localism. Know your butcher. Chat with your greengrocer. Develop connections with those who contribute to your everyday life.

“It’s not all about the food, though. It’s about connection and feeling that you are different from the blandness of the city.

“I think we will see much more localism within our biggest cities in future.”

In major retail developments, however, you could be excused for thinking it is all about the food. At self-styled “entertainment precincts” such as Crown Melbourne and the new Barangaroo in Sydney, developers scrabble after big-name restaurateurs in recognition of the lure of their brands to a lifestyle-hungry public. And food is equally a cornerstone strategy of the local shopping centre.

Greg Chubb, head of retail for Charter Hall property group, says a diverse, high-quality food and beverage offer is now considered a fundamental part of development infrastructure.

“Back in the late 90s, when I was involved in launching [Sydney restaurant precinct] Cockle Bay Wharf, no one else in Australia was backing the idea of aggregating food businesses in the one precinct,” he says. “Now everyone’s doing it.”

At Charter Hall’s 80 suburban shopping centres, “f&b” is the fastest growing category. “A few years back, you were lucky to have a Donut King in a new shopping centre,” says Chubb. “Now it’s expected we will provide good quality family eateries, good coffee, good liquor stores.”

Here at The Weekend Australian, we have very definite ideas about the sorts of food and wine businesses we consider essential to the modern village, as well as a few we would rate as merely desirable (seaside cafes are hard to come by in the inner city, and Hot 50 restaurants are not usually a short stroll from home).

So here, then, is our wish list, complete with some of our favourite names from around the country and compiled with a little help from our Hot 50 contributors. It’s where you’d want to live: Our Ideal Foodie Neighbourhood.

 

Bakery/patisserie

Abbots & Kinney, Adelaide

Baker D. Chirico, St Kilda, Vic

Bread In Common, Fremantle, WA

Mary Street Bakery, Highgate, WA

Alley Cats Patisserie, Darwin

Chez Dre, South Melbourne, Vic

Brickfields (bakery and cafe), Chippendale, NSW

Tivoli Road Bakery, South Yarra, Vic

Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills, NSW

Flour and Stone, Darlinghurst, NSW

Chouquette, New Farm, Qld

Sugardough, East Brunswick, Vic

 

Cafe

Wombat Hill House, Daylesford, Vic

Market Lane, Prahran, Vic

Single Origin, Surry Hills, NSW

La Veen, Perth, WA

Laneway Specialty Coffee, Darwin

Pixel, Leederville, WA

Ut Si, Perth, Tas

Dukes, Melbourne CBD

Boathouse, Daylesford, Vic

Excelsior Jones, Summer Hill, NSW

Bare Bones, Jindalee, Qld

 

Market

Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne

Adelaide Central Market

Sydney Fish Market

Fremantle Markets, WA

 

Butcher

Hudson Meats, Toorak, Vic

Meatsmith, Collingwood, Vic

Peter Bouchier, Hawksburn, Vic

Torre Butchers, East Perth, WA

Mondo, Inglewood, WA

Victor Churchill, Woollahra, NSW

Pino’s Dolce Vita, Kogarah, NSW

 

Grocer/deli

Sourced Grocer, Brisbane

Boatshed Market, Cottesloe, WA

Mediterranean Wholesalers, Brunswick, Vic

Clay, North Carlton, Vic

The Re Store, Leederville, WA

New Farm Deli, Qld

Rosalie Gourmet Market, Qld

Salt Meats Cheese, Alexandria, NSW

Boccaccio Supa IGA, Balwyn, Vic

Fourth Village Providore, Mosman, NSW

 

A bite with the kids

Baby, Richmond, Vic

Din Tai Fung, Sydney and Melbourne

Sorellina, Woolloongabba, Qld

Green Park, North Carlton, Vic

Coogee Pavilion, Sydney

Three Blue Ducks at The Farm, Byron Bay, NSW

Pompei’s, Bondi, NSW

Lau’s Family Kitchen, St Kilda, Vic

Nantucket, Indooroopilly, QLD

Lupino, Melbourne CBD

Brother Burger, South Yarra, Vic

 

Wine shop/wine bar/cave a manger

City Wine Shop, Melbourne

Young George, East Fremantle, WA

La Vigna, Menora, WA

121BC, Surry Hills, NSW

Harry & Frankie, Port Melbourne

Prince Wine Store/Bellota, South Melbourne

Gertrude St Enoteca, Fitzroy

Cork Wine Cafe, Adelaide

Asian grocer

Minh Phat, Richmond, Vic

Miracle Supermarket, Newtown, 
NSW

Thuan Phat Supermarket, Croydon Park, SA

 

Alfresco beach cafe

The Beach Club, Cottesloe Beach, WA

Wye General Store, Wye River, Vic

Halcyon Hotel, Cabarita Beach, NSW

White Elephant Cafe, Gnarabup, WA

 

Fish and chips

Peter’s Fish Market, Main Beach, Qld

Bondi’s Best, NSW

Richmond Oysters, Richmond, Vic

 

Pizzeria

Etica, Adelaide

La Svolta, Hampton, Victoria

Da Mario, Rosebery, NSW

Tartufo, Fortitude Valley, Qld

Da Orazio, Bondi, NSW

Rosso Pomodoro, Balmain, NSW

 

Good-value Asian eatery

Tokyo Tina, Prahran, Vic

Izakaya Fujiyama, Surry Hills, NSW

Park Lok, Adelaide

Old Tanh Huong, Marrickville, NSW

 

BYO

Osteria di russo & russo, Enmore, NSW

Sean’s Panaroma, Bondi, NSW

France-Soir, South Yarra, Vic

FermentAsian, Tanunda, SA

Lady of Ro, Subiaco, WA

Ayame, Malvern, Vic

 

Fishmonger

Bay Seafood, Byron Bay, NSW

Kailis Bros, Leederville, WA

Claudio’s, Sydney Fish Market

Preston Fresh, Cairns, Qld

Whitsunday Seafood, Proserpine, 
Qld

Omega 3, Lakes Entrance, Vic

Seafresh, Innaloo, WA

Aptus Seafood, South Melbourne Market

Samtass, Richmond, SA

Claringbold’s, Prahran Market, Vic

 

Craft brewery (open to public)

Young Henrys, Newtown, NSW

 

Craft distillery (cellar door)

Four Pillars, Healesville, Vic

Lark, Hobart

 

Farmers market

Angaston, SA

Woodend, Vic

Rapid Creek Sunday Market, Darwin

Talbot, Vic

Margaret River, WA

Carriageworks, Darlington, NSW

Mt Claremont Farmers Market, WA

Capital Regional Farmers Markets, Canberra

Slow Food, Abbotsford, Vic

 

Hot 50 restaurant: personal faves

Necia Wilden: Pilu at Freshwater, NSW; The Bridge Room, NSW; Cafe di Stasio, Vic

John Lethlean: Etica, Adelaide; Luxembourg, Melbourne; The Bridge Room, NSW

Anthony Huckstep: Ester, NSW; Africola, Adelaide; Monster, ACT

Max Allen: Lee Ho Fook, Melbourne; Billy Kwong, Sydney; Fino Seppeltsfield, SA

 

Additional reporting by Anthony Huckstep and Max Allen

 

Source: The Australian, Necia Wilden and John Lethlean, 22^nd August 2015
Originally published as: Talbot markets, Etica pizzas, Ut Si cafe, Coogee Pavilion: imagine these and more in one village