Food News

Reader lunch: Fred's, Sydney

Beat the queues to Sydney's most sought-after table and join us for a knockout summery lunch at Fred's.

By Samantha Teague
Danielle Alvarez, Fred's
Beat the queues to Sydney's most sought-after table and join us for a knockout summery lunch at Fred's.
Danielle Alvarez can cook. At Fred's in Paddington the skills she honed at Berkeley's Chez Panisse and her deceptively simple-seeming Mediterranean fare have made the restaurant the toast of the Sydney summer dining season. Throw in a killer wine list and a room evoking sunlit kitchens in southern France and it's easy to see why Fred's is the hottest table in town. The only challenge has been getting in.
 
Inside Fred's.
Which is why we've grabbed you a seat. We've got the restaurant to ourselves for an exclusive Saturday lunch - and you're invited.
It's summer fun all the way, with more than a few licks from the coals. Smoky grilled vegetables with cheese and focaccia kick things off with a riff on Spain's escalivada, and then it's onto grilled seafood. A piece of meat to be reckoned with follows: a rib-eye of beef, roasted with garlic butter, and served with anchovies and green beans. Alvarez fires the steak in the wood oven. "That gives it a really beautiful crust that's quite difficult to achieve on the grill," she says.
To finish: a flaky rhubarb galette. The pastry, madeusing a technique favoured at Chez Panisse, is filled with frangipane and rhubarb.
Rhubarb galette.
The Saturday lunch, with wine from Yarra Valley's Mac Forbes, will be a jovial affair, says Alvarez. "Have fun, talk to us and eat delicious food." We're there.
Join us for lunch at 12pm on Saturday 4 March at Fred's, 380 Oxford St, Paddington, NSW. The cost of $120 per person includes four courses, matching wines and a $10 donation to the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation. To book, call (02) 9240 3000. For more on the OCRF, call 1300 OVARIAN or visit ocrf.com.au
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