AWARDSAwarded one chef's hats 2009, Good Food Guide.
PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAThe name diner confuses me, because this is nothing like the quaint diners of old American television shows – you won’t find limp hotdogs and frothy milkshakes here. In fact, the menu is eccentric as the design (all black walls enveloping an almost uncomfortable excess of space) with a blackboard listing options like fish broth with potato dumplings and linguine with meatballs and green olives. The Euro-inspired dishes are courtesy of Alex Kearns, former chef at Sean’s Panorama and Bourke St Bakery and now the owner of this Inner West find.
Sit on one of the couches lining the wall and enjoy the feeling of a trendy espresso bar – the coffee is great and a wonderful accompaniment to the wobbly white pannacotta, infused with rosemary and honey and served with a crisp wafer. Other desserts are similarly excellent, the banana fritters sweet and hot to the tongue, tempered by a scoop of homemade rum and raisin ice-cream. At night the Diner becomes a restaurant, the class levels upped but the food still homely and satisfying. Better yet, the majority of the food is locally sourced and/or organic, so you know you are eating food that was thoughtfully selected (and excellently prepared).
Jennifer Miller, June 2007
