RODNEY MACUJA
Fred’s chef Danielle Alvarez has grand plans for her patch of Oxford Street in Sydney’s Paddington, up to and including establishing a farmers’ market in the neighbourhood. For now, though, there’s excitement enough in the new offer of a selection of pastries, juice, coffee and a spot to collect vegetable boxes put together by Sift Produce.
“I want that European morning feel,” Alvarez says. “Like we’re your neighbourhood coffee place.”
Opening up the restaurant earlier was an easy decision, she says, and one that requires little extra effort from the team who are there preparing for lunch service anyway.
The hard work of pastry chef Elle Marion, though, is on show as soon as you walk through the door. The marble-topped bar is laden with glistening pear galettes and golden scrolls. Carefully moulded canelés line up on a silver platter, while a wooden tray is piled with scones. It’s a pretty irresistible spread.
The selection of baked goods will change each week, and Alvarez plans to add other sweet treats such as choc-chip cookies and a gluten-free orange and almond cake down the track. It’s not a full bacon-and-eggs situation, but rather a place to sit down with a pastry or two and have coffee, or grab something to go. As for the produce boxes, they may be supplemented in future by products Alvarez uses in the restaurant, such as Willowbrae goat’s curd or eggs from the Southern Highlands.
We slipped in early to take a look at the menu mainstays. Here’s what we found:
SCONES
Alvarez says biscuit, I say scone. To be fair to her this small bun feels closer to the American take. It’s got quite a firm crust, and the inside isn’t as fluffy as what you might expect from an Australian-style scone. The savoury dough, made with buttermilk, gets a sweet kick from a sugar glaze brushed on top, with the option of adding more sweetness with a dollop of house-made jam (on this occasion, apricot) or lemon curd. The size will please those who like to start their morning light.
PEAR GALETTE
This one’s a stunner. The galette has a deeply golden crust, and the pears look tender and glossy, with just the slightest char to them. It’s also beautifully balanced. The fruit is poached in red wine but, thanks to a sugar-syrup glaze that’s enriched with the seeds and skins of the fruit, pear is still the main flavour. Simple, but brilliant. You will want seconds.
LEEK, GREENS AND GOAT’S CURD SCROLLS
When you first pick up the scroll, you may be surprised by how heavy it is. But the pastry itself – similar to what’s used for croissants – is light and practically melts in your mouth. It’s wound around a luxurious filling of Willowbrae goat’s curd mixed with silverbeet and sautéed leek from Moonacres Farm. The filling will change regularly, but pray that the goat’s curd is a fixture because it really is the star of the show: crumbly, piquant and the perfect counterpoint to the rich leek and pastry. The only savoury, the scroll is also one of the more substantial items.
CANELÉS
Do not pass go without collecting a canelé. Alvarez learned the recipe for her canelés working at San Francisco restaurant Boulettes Larder, a spot that is well regarded in the Bay Area for its version of this famously tricky Bordelais treat. And the canelés at Fred’s could soon acquire a similar reputation, so crisp is the caramel-coloured outside and so eggy the interior. After your first bite, the vanilla-scented cake will have you going back for bites two, three and four. The contrast between the burnt-sugar taste of the crust and the custard-like inside is reminiscent of crème brûlée. A savoury scroll followed by a canelé could be 2018’s breakfast of champions.
Fred’s breakfast, Sat 8am-11am, starting 28 April. 380 Oxford St, Paddington, NSW, (02) 9114 7331, merivale.com.au. Sift Produce boxes available for pre-order at sift.produce@gmail.com.
