Pottering about The Potting Shed

The raging success of The Grounds of Alexandria shows little sign of slowing, with their recent opening of The Potting Shed neighbouring the existing café extravaganza.

Taking over the structure and outdoor space that was formerly bistro James Barnes 4143, the new licensed lunch and dinner venue now joins the busy café, gardens, farmyard, weekend markets and outdoor barbeque offerings of The Grounds.

The menu at The Potting Shed, Bourke Road, Alexandria

The Potting Shed's outdoor space and bar are kitted out in true The Grounds style; that is, on-theme, rustic garden chic for the inner city types that don't have a garden let alone a potting shed.

Gardening tools make for cute props and accents throughout the venue: from the mini trowel holding the clipboard menu, to those on the beer taps, and repurposed mini hoes as table numbers.

The fitout provides the same sense of wonder that the kids get out of The Grounds, just with a liquor license and fewer munchkins and animals running about.

Outdoor garden seating

The food menu comprises share plates and meaty mains of a casual bistro style fitting to the area and crowd, while at the bar there's plenty of beer on tap, available in growlers even, wine, cocktails and a back bar full of spirits and fresh juice on request.

(Large) Steamed black mussels with tomato sofrito and chorizo, roast garlic bread

We started with the mussels from the share menu, available in a small or large size, with garlic bread. The mussels were cooked well in a tomato-based sauce that was way too sweet, tempered by the occasional sliver of chorizo.

The garlic bread for mopping up sauce took me right back to the days of Pizza Hut's foil-wrapped, delivered numbers: soft white bread soaked in butter.

Roasted baby beets, watercress, radicchio, hazelnuts, pickled golden shallots, goats cheese cigars and apple balsamic

Next was an epic salad from the selection of three full-sized options featuring baby beetroots beneath a mound of watercress and radicchio dressed with crushed hazelnuts and an apple balsamic vinegar.

The piece de resistance of the salad were the goat's cheese cigars of crisp pastry cylinders filled with airy, creamy goat's cheese in a heavenly match with the baby beets.

David Blackmore full-blooded wagyu cheeseburger with chips

I was wooed by the wagyu cheeseburger with chips served in a mini terracotta pot. The chips and tart mustard dipping sauce hit the spot just right but the large burger was a disappointment.

The roughly minced wagyu beef patty was served closer to rare than medium-rare and had an unexpected amount of chewy, inedible bits while the white, poppy seed-topped bun was thoroughly uninteresting, detracting from the whole experience - dill pickles, mustard seed onions, tomato chilli jam, lettuce and all. At least the chips were great.

Slow cooked grain-fed Angus short rib with sweet & sour glaze, spiced eggplant and garlic chips

Much better were the Angus beef short ribs from the mains menu, also served on a wooden board. Accompanied by roasted eggplant cubes, soft, sweet roasted eschallots, and crisp garlic chips, the tender, slow-cooked beef was still pink inside and relished in its sweet and sour glaze.

The Potting Shed, like its older sibling next door, knows exactly what it is, what it's offering and who it's making that offering to. A well-considered addition to the barely-existent nighttime offerings in Alexandria, it will likely grow and improve like The Grounds has over time, and I'm happy to potter about in the meantime.

Good times collective #6

We're off and running in 2013, and straight back into the thick of things. There's a sense of reserved optimism this summer and I get the feeling that it's a prelude to a pretty massive year to come - hang on for the ride.

Pomegranate froyo with mango and lychee pearls from MooBerry, King Street, Newtown
(Disclosure: Food, booze and shoes is acquainted with staff at MooBerry)

It's the summer of froyo. The hot days so far are proof that the boom in frozen yoghurt, or froyo, operators is scarily on trend.

I don't know whether it's a short-term or even seasonal fad but I do know the cool, refreshing feel of the fruity pomegranate froyo with fruit and lychee pearls is my summer in a cup.

Biscotti froyo with Oreos and macarons from MooBerry, King Street, Newtown
(Disclosure: Food, booze and shoes is acquainted with staff at MooBerry)

On the other end from the fruity froyo scale is the all-out dessert approach: like biscotti flavoured froyo with Oreo crumbs and miniature macarons that are as cute as they are decadent.

Chicken burger with chips from The Grounds of Alexandria, Huntley Street, Alexandria

Ten months on and the crowds keep queueing up at The Grounds with no signs of waning. Personally, If I'm hungry I can't really manage a 30-minute wait so it's a good thing that they've introduced a more substantial takeaway menu on top of cakes and coffee.

I have no issue diving into a juicy fried chicken burger for brunch in the garden, especially with The Grounds' very good thick cut potato chips and aioli on the side.

Quinoa salad from The Grounds of Alexandria

The healthy among us can look to the menu of salads including this one of quinoa, kale, pumpkin, sultanas and more. A little on the sweetly-dressed side, it was a generous serve that made an interesting dip for the chips.

Bloody Mary at The Forresters, corner Riley and Foveaux Streets, Surry Hills

The jar-sized Bloody Mary at The Forresters must be Sydney's best dressed. Garnished to the point of being a salad, this vodka and tomato juice cocktail has to be healthy on some level, with cucumber, a pickled onion, cherry tomato, artichoke and rosemary all taking pride of place.

Sunday roast - roast beef with roast vegies at The Forresters

The Bloody Mary joined the weekly changing Sunday roast, complete with roast vegetables, gravy and sauce. Just be wary of potentially dry roast beef which chewy and dry, was clearly overcooked and probably kept on some heat source for a little too long.

Chicken nuggets from The Forresters

There wasn't much more satisfaction from the chicken nuggets, which were battered breast fillets smothered in a tomato and onion sauce. The unseasoned chicken has nothing on Maccas, I'm afraid.

Baked eggs with beans at Vicinity, Bourke Road, Alexandria
(Disclosure: Food, booze and shoes is acquainted with staff at Vicinity)

I've heard that Vicinity stopped serving breakfast recently, which is a shame as it was a great, airy spot with outdoor seating that is really made for brunching - and Sunday afternoon drinks.

I'm not sure which direction the venue is moving towards but the breakfast I did sample there needed tweaking. The baked eggs with beans in a tomato-ey sauce looked more like poached eggs dumped on top of some tasty home made beans, served with a huge slice of barely toasted bread.

Green and gold at Vicinity, Bourke Road, Alexandria
(Disclosure: Food, booze and shoes is acquainted with staff at Vicinity)

The 'green and gold' breakfast dish was actually quite a good, healthy option: more large-slice bread with mashed avocado, broccoli, watercress and a poached egg.

I keep meaning to return for lunch or dinner, but I'll also be watching their morning offerings with interest - after all, a big year is going to need a big breakfast.

A long wait for The Grounds of Alexandria

I've passed the heritage warehouse of The Grounds of Alexandria so often during its refurbishment phase, I could almost note the weekly progress. Originally slated to open in February 2012, The Grounds of Alexandria sold its first coffee in early April after council and construction impediments.

Building No. 7 - The Grounds of Alexandria, Huntley Street, Alexandria

Incorporating a café, coffee roasting facilities, bakery and vegetable garden, The Grounds promised to be like nothing the industrial area -now increasingly populated with home and furniture centres, car dealerships and corporate complexes - had ever seen.

The gardens

Walk into the Huntley Street block any weekend now, and expect more of a wait. Word has clearly gotten around that Alexandria has a new cool-kids' hangout so be prepared for a 45-minute wait for a table for two - otherwise takeaway coffee and pastries are your consolation.

Tea herbs in the gardens

But the wait gives you time to wander around the styled gardens of The Grounds: part outdoor waiting area, part kitchen garden and eventually to be made available for event hire.

Baby eggplants

Indeed, the gardens are is almost as big as the dining area itself; boasting an onsite horticulturalist, kid- and dog-friendly space, and herb and vegetable spotting for keen beans. I think there are even chickens there although the coop was empty when I peered in.

The gardens and waiting area

With the garden full of mismatched tables and chairs, I was surprised that there weren't diners out here too given the waiting masses, but perhaps that's the plan later in the game.

Diners wait in the gardens

In the meantime, the pages of waiting patrons on the clipboard are already keeping the staff busy enough and front-of-house struggling a little, but the hipsters seem happy enough to wait.

Inside the café

Inside, the café dining area is split by the pastries and takeaway counter where blackboard menus are also on display. It is, quite simply, a good-looking place that has the right doses of cool, quirk and function.

Finally seated on the smaller and quieter of the two sides, I plonked down onto the leather banquette to be told we've missed breakfast (up until 11am; lunch starts at 11.30am - not sure what happens in the 30 minutes in between).

Cappuccino

Nonetheless, there's plenty on the lunch menu to keep us interested and of course, the coffee which is roasted on site under the watch of Jack Hanna; a latte art champion, head honcho of The Grounds Roasters and a co-director of The Grounds with Ramzey Choker.

Where I was seated I could see into the roasting area labelled in neon yellow, "Research Facility", where coffee bean testing happens. My skim cappuccino tasted every bit as smooth and creamy as a weekend awakening should, especially if it's been researched, tested and all.

Fresh orange and grapefruit juice

For the caffeine-free, a fresh juice of orange and grapefruit might hit the spot, served in a thick glass drinking jar which also served as water glasses in our case (but not all).

The quirky retro water bottles are fun too, adding to the post-industrial feel of the interiors which is artfully casual with cutlery on the tables.

Hand made pappardelle

With breakfast off the menu, we're informed that the lunch pasta dish has been flying out the kitchen, so we put in an order for the pappardelle with slow braised lamb, peas and extra virgin olive oil.

It was a seriously large serve, especially for breakfast, with rich and comforting flavours and topped off with shavings of parmesan cheese.

I still can't decide what was better: the silky ribbons of pappardelle or the homely combination of lamb and peas. A touch of tomato wouldn't have gone astray but this was a winner that I'll be returning for.

Slow cooked lamb salad with yoghurt, chickpeas, roast  pumpkin

In the rush of ordering we'd doubled up on lamb, which was quite possibly the same slow cooked meat as for the pasta dish.

The shredded lamb was tossed with cubes of roasted pumpkin, Spanish onion, whole chickpeas, radicchio, rocket and parsley - the latter few which may well have come from the outside garden.

I think the sherry vinaigrette dressing may have been missing its vinegar component, but you can't really go wrong with lamb and yoghurt anyway. The brown bread was a little more dense and fluffy than I might have expected, though I'm not sure if the bread is yet made onsite.

Chips

We offset the salad lunch with a side bowl of chips: wide, irresistibly crunchy ones with a chilli salt and spicy mayonnaise.

Looking around, the burger with fries looked to be the most popular lunch order but with the priciest meal coming in at $17, I think it's all going to be very popular with the locals and nearby workers. 

The Grounds signpost

Despite the long wait for a table on Saturday mornings, our orders actually arrived in lightning-quick time with friendly and efficient service.

The other wait is actually that to pay: bills arrive to the table but are paid - by cash only at the moment - back at the counter where you might encounter the takeaway queue and need to join the end. Perhaps it's a ploy to get more takeaway coffee and cake sales, but overall, the wait for The Grounds has been well worth it.