Everybody loves Nigella Lawson. And Nigella? Well, she is in love with Australia and has been frequent traveler. She’s said that she is ” gorgeously at home” here and is aspiring to spend three months each year down under. (She has been here since the start of May, and she may be bringing her dream into reality.)
As you’d expect, during the time Nigella is located in Sydney Nigella’s dining schedule is brimming with some of Sydney’s most popular restaurants including Sean’s Bondi, Fratelli Paradiso, Bourke Street Bakery – as popular hot spots like Porkfat, Cafe Paci and Ragazzi. The city’s affluent, yes it is, but that’s not a surprise for a celebrity chef who lives at Potts Point.
With the meticulously documented photos of Nigella’s dining spots through Instagram, it’s simple to imagine what she’s likely to eat during an entire day in Sydney, and that’s exactly the way I went about it.
10 am: Breakfast from Small’s Deli, Potts Point, $40.48
I begin my day in the Small’s Deli. My carefully planned menu could be shattered due to a bank error, or eating as Nigella cannot be achieved with a budget of zero. However, my breakfast companion, Sally, saves the day.
I’m hoping to purchase the meatball sandwich. Its owners, Emily van Loon and Ben Shemesh tell me Nigella enjoyed it during her visit to the restaurant in 2022. This time, the actress “literally came from the airport … straight to us because she really wanted the meatballs again”.
“Luckily, we had them back on! We’d just put them back on the menu as a special,” Van Loon says. The meatballs remained available for three more weeks than normal in the time that Nigella’s followers made their way to the restaurant.
Fortunately for me, we’ve been a bit late by 3 or 4 days. So we’re ordering the porchetta with caraway-roasted radicchio, apples, and the tarragon sauce in a panini. It’s not a meatball. However, it’s a bit saucy and sexy in a way I imagine Nigella would have a craving for. It’s a feast of textures, melting pork fat, giving meat with caramel-gold edges, soft cooked fruits, crispy but tender lettuce, plus the sturdy crispy panini that holds the whole thing together.
The flavors are awe-inspiring in their contrasts. The apples are a bit assertive in their sweetness. The condiment is herbal and sour and even medicinal because of tarragon’s anise edge, which is paired with caraway and radicchio’s mildly bitter taste. It’s a great combination.
Noon: Lunch in Icebergs’ Dining Room as well as Bar, Bondi, $172 (drinks not included)
On Instagram, Nigella wrote, “Are you even in Sydney if you don’t go to @icebergsdiningroomandbar?” Even though I’ve lived in Sydney for all of my life, this is the first time dining at this Bondi place for gorgeous women. I believe this is due to the fact that the food is tasty and beautiful; Icebergs is a place that falls in the category of “modern Australian dining,” which is mostly “Italian,” and I don’t need to visit Bondi to get the latter.
However, the view is just as spectacular as you’d imagine. The staff seated me and my lunch companion, Rio, at a table right next to the glass doors that open onto the balcony. (One member of the staff members, Ben, informs me that Nigella was offered a similar place.) Before we even sat down at the table, the Icebergs team had already scanned my order. It’s also Nigella’s exact order; all we need to do is sit down and enjoy the sun’s rays.
The first is two types of beef tartare: gamberetti and beef. The tartare is mixed with tableside with gamberetti, which is entertaining and theatrical. It is served with a near-fatal crisp rye cracker, which is smooth and blistered. Gamberetti, also known as school prawns with their crunchy fried shells, is another masterclass in texture. Rio and I talk about whether the aioli is garlicky enough to differentiate its mayonnaise counterpart.
Maccheroncini is next, followed by beer-battered chips and dory. The battered fish is one huge nugget of gold and is sparkling with flaky salt. The chips (skins placed on) are delicious – astonishingly like fried potatoes.
However, Rio and I both agree that the pasta is the main course of the dish – subtle, rich, spicy but not overwhelming, and with pasta that is as soft as it is. It is topped with a powerful forest-green powder, which I’m told is kale and sage.
Rio and I leave from Icebergs hungry, but I remind him that an lunchtime snack is mandatory so we make our way for Flour and Stone. First, in my post-lunch haze, I drive my son to the Pantry, which sells jams, sweet cream biscuits, crackers, as well as other things you can find in the Pantry.
A few doors further is the Annexe, in which all the delicious cakes and pastries are stored. Nigella enjoyed her lemon dream as well as the rose, raspberry, and pistachio cakes; however, there’s no sign of them there – maybe her followers have snapped them up? We leave with a piece of cake with brown butter and an ounce of lemon cake, almond, and ricotta.
On Nigella’s suggestion, two lamingtons with panna cotta (they graciously gave me a second one for free because they were about to close in the next few days).
Due to our small stomachs and the limited space in our bellies, we decided to divide the tart and cake, leaving the lamingtons to be a possible evening snack. While we relax on the edge of the Botanic Garden I eat a piece of the cake. The lemon curd and the whipped cream are similar to eating a bite of afternoon sunshine.
6.30pm 6:30pm: dinner at 6.30pm, at 6.30pm: dinner, Hetty McKinnon recipe in my home, $11.80
After a night of eating out, it’s refreshing to be back in my kitchen. I’ve chosen the recipe Nigella shared on her blog, Hetty Lui McKinnon’s pea egg-drop macaroni soup. That’s perfect because it’s a light and simple dish that’s perfect for ending an evening of indulgence, and McKinnon was born in Australia.
After I have all the ingredients prepared, my meal is ready in less than a half hour. I invite a few of my friends to join me for dinner while showcasing the promise of panna cotta-lamingtons. The soup is reminiscent of the cha chaan menus from Hong Kong, so I added a plate of crispy Spam slices.
The macaroni soup can be a time-sensitive thing that I have learned when friends pour into my home in 20 minutes. When the elbow macaroni sits in the boiling broth and continues to soften, it will go between becoming “to the tooth” – which is also known as al dente and then “to the tongue,” according to a friend.
The night ends with us eating and marveling at the lamingtons, “the very stuff of dreams,” Nigella calls them. The sponge is then soaked in vanilla pannacotta, the most innovative way to prepare it – then covered with berry compote, then coated with coconut and chocolate.
I have told my friends that it’s absurd that I am allowed to have this type of food as part of my job. However, it’s somewhat stressful to be like Nigella for a whole day. I was concerned about not being dressed appropriately at Icebergs (one staff member informed me they had a lot of customers who were enjoying summer across Europe). I was close to missing my train to home after falling asleep resting on the window overflowing with pasta and cake.
Nigella may not eat as much as this every day, but it’s an extremely demanding schedule. It’s also expensive like many foodies who are making the most of Sydney’s top dining venues as often as they can and reaping the rewards throughout the day from breakfast until dinner. After eating as some of the top gourmets, I was able to, at the end of my day, sit and relax in ways that can’t be found at a sandwich place, a bakery, or a stylish seaside eatery. I was able to eat dinner with my buddies at home, much like Nigella.
