LOCATIONOn Devonshire Street, between Crown and Bourke, 15 minutes’ walk from Central Station.
PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAFoodies can indulge the mind and the belly in comforting surrounds at The Book Kitchen in Surry Hills, where words and food unite to form a delightfully soothing blend. Curl up with the likes of Maggie Beer, Bill Granger and Stephanie Alexander while the staff brew the beans and fire up the oven. Tucking into the cafe’s seasonal menu is like the unrivalled bliss of devouring a good book, and in this enchanting bookstore-cum-restaurant, visitors can revel in both. Manager Tarsh has hand-picked a scrumptious range of new and used food-related texts, from cookbooks and reference guides through to novels and photographic journals. The Book Kitchen has been feeding epicures’ appetites for the past four years, and here the cover is just as delightful as the treasures stowed inside. Inhabiting the old bones of a former mechanics workshed, guests can soak up the sun outside or take a seat inside with a book for company.
The seasonal produce-driven menu evolves from the best bits and bobs found at the weekly fresh food markets, with a steady lean towards ecologically sustainable, organic and free-range ingredients. Start the day with a slab of sourdough toast smothered in cumquat and brown sugar or pop in for a cuppa and slice of organic banana bread with passionfruit butter. Open Friday and Saturday nights for dinner, bring the brood for a tasty selection of small sharing plates – making sure to include the signature blue swimmer crab ravioli with seaweed dressing and baby basil – and a glass of Merlot (or three). The sweetest bookend of all comes in the form of the banana tarte tatin with vanilla ice-cream, which is well worth the 20-minute wait.
Lauren Barker