Saturday cycle social

Where Annandale to Rozelle

Why My first blog-inspired cycle date was set with K and her brand-new, wasp yellow Cell bike. We thought we’d explore the new Essential Ingredient in Rozelle, eat something in the adjoining café then finish with a nice cold cider in a pub. It seemed silly to set off for this one-stop foodie shop without being in search of one essential ingredient from its shelves, so first I had to find something to cook for dinner. Two cookbooks later, it was found – a recipe for beef stew in Clarissa’s Comfort Food, into which the “fat lady” throws onions, bacon, cider, anchovies and – well I never – pickled walnuts. Hurrah!

The store [731-735 Darling Street, Rozelle NSW 2039] is lovely and light, and filled with the kind of beautiful and useful cookware, books and edibles coveted by amateur and professional cooks as well as style-hungry people, so it’s well-suited to hours of browsing. We peeked in at the on-site cooking school, where TV chef Tom Kime seemed to be showing some foodies how to cut up raw chickens.

The best bit for me is the food section, where temptation lies at every turn and you’re bound to see things you never knew existed. Whether you want to part with the money is another matter, but there’s something comforting about knowing where they are should you ever desperately need, say, ready-rolled sour cream shortcrust pastry ...

or eight-colour trofie pasta ...

... oh yeah, and pickled walnuts.

The cafe looks great, too, with a small blackboard menu and good-looking sandwiches on display, but as K is gluten and lactose intolerant and there didn’t seem to be anything she could eat except a cupcake, I left the pissaladière special behind the counter and we settled for mugs of good flat white which came with dark chocolate coated coffee beans.

For our cider’n’ice, we picked the Three Weeds on Evans St, and as gastropubs go it didn’t disappoint even if the options for K were again fairly limited – she couldn’t join me in enjoying the goats cheese stuffed zucchini flower on special, though she did use some of the rocket pesto oil for dipping her share of the crispy smashed chats with rosemary salt. The bowl of marinated olives was o-lovely, with great big green ones and tiny little black ones and lots in between.

How From Albion St in Annandale, take Whites Creek Lane all the way to Rozelle Bay, then continue along the shared footpath over the bridge and up Victoria Rd to Darling St.

Damage Large coffees $4 each; Zucchini flower $3; smashed chats $9, mixed olives $7.

Distance About 4km (one way)

Tip

• No trip to Rozelle is complete without a visit to Herbie’s Spices, another shop where it’s extremely hard not to spend money – we bagged exciting Mexican and Indonesian spice mixes, plus a pack of filé powder so I’ll be prepared for any unforeseen gumbo-making urges. K also had an interesting chat about gluten-free labelling with “Herbie” himself.