What happens when three-hatted Sixpenny partners with trailblazing Baba’s Place to relaunch Randwick’s Corner 75? Sunflowers, scones and chicken dumpling soup.
When two of Sydney’s hottest restaurant teams recently announced they would embark together on a central European food odyssey, the collaboration was surprising.
Good Food revealed in November that Marrickville’s newly hatted Baba’s Place had partnered with chef Dan Puskas, from Stanmore fine-diner Sixpenny, to work on a then-confidential project that tapped into the latter’s Hungarian heritage.
Now the two venues have unveiled the sympathetic revamp they’ve given the food and decor at Randwick’s four-decade-old Corner 75 Hungarian restaurant. The March 6 launch is one of the most anticipated openings of the year.
The flouncy lace half-curtains that drape the time-capsule dining room remain on the Corner 75 shopfront. Framed photos of famous Hungarians are back, and some fittings and decorative details reinstated as they were when Bob Hawke was in office.
Baba’s Place co-owner Alex Kelly can’t accurately pinpoint how long the Hungarian restaurant has resided at 75 Frenchmans Road. A French restaurant opened at the site in 1974, and Kelly said it took its Hungarian turn at an unknown date during the 1980s. Corner 75’s first Herald review appeared in 1987.
During the renovation, the team found Valentine’s Day menus, a newspaper from 1984 and old beer cans.
“It’s made me realise it’s a lot more work to preserve something than create something new,” Kelly said.
Corner 75’s new owners have shown the sort of meticulous care you’d expect from an episode of Restoration Australia. Kelly said they documented where every framed artefact sat on the wall prior to renovation. “They’re culturally load-bearing,” Kelly jokes about returning each item to the correct spot.
The chandelier still dangles above the dining room, and they’ve restored the sign on the street, while adding a couple of new details. “Corner 75 is a Fun Place with Great Food,” is etched above the entrance.
“We tried to replicate the carpet. When we tore it up, we discovered another carpet from the 1980s under it, lighter [in colour]. We’ve gone for something between the two shades,” Kelly said.
Outgoing owner Paul Varga upheld Corner 75’s traditions and Hungarian menu after taking the reins in 2012. Chef Dan Puskas has the advantage of Hungarian heritage (Hungarian footballer Ferenc Puskas’ jersey graces the restaurant’s walls, though he is no relation of Dan’s), and knows the cuisine is viewed as more traditional than cutting edge.
“We hope to change the way people look at Hungarian food,” Puskas said. As owner-chef at the innovative Sixpenny, which is perched at the three-hat summit of Sydney restaurants, you might expect Puskas to oversee a complete overhaul of the Corner 75 menu. Instead, they’ve kept more than 80 per cent of the old menu.
The chicken paprikash is still there, but it has been upgraded with heritage-breed chicken. You can still grab an order of nokedli dumplings. Goulash? Check. Langos, the fired flatbread? Yes, they even serve it with house-made sour cream.
Puskas worked painstakingly through the menu with Corner 75 head chef Carley Scheidegger, and Baba’s Place executive chef Jean-Paul El Tom. They settled on pork and chicken schnitzels after plans to add a Viennese version were put on hold due to the high cost of veal.
Cheese scones, a staple of Budapest bakeries, are on the new menu, and you can order a mini-sized of the chicken soup with semolina dumplings for $8.
“For me it’s all about the different sides – fermented red cabbage and creamed spinach,” Puskas said. Scheidegger’s background and skill with pastry at Fred’s will shine when the dessert trolley starts rolling.
The fields of sunflowers El Tom spotted on a research trip to Hungary also inspired the team. “We have a sunflower seed dip,” Puskas said. “They are embroidered on the uniforms, and there is sunflower seed milk in one of the cocktails.”
Open lunch Sat-Sun; dinner Wed-Sat
75 Frenchmans Road, Randwick, corner75.com.au
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Scott Bolles writes the weekly Short Black column in Good Food.
