Nigella Lawson’s Sydney restaurant recommendations

June 15, 2025
8:41 pm

The British foodie on why she loves our food scene, her fave restaurants for pasta and dessert, and the one spot she’s “desperate” to visit.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a bigger international fan of Sydney’s and Australia’s food scenes than British cookbook and TV personality Nigella Lawson. You just need to look at her Instagram account to see her enthuse about the restaurants she has visited here over the years. It’s why Vivid’s creative director, Gill Minervini, invited Lawson to host three dinners as part of this year’s festival. Just before the 280 guests arrived for her three-course curated dinner in the reimagined Muru Giligu Tunnel in Martin Place, Good Food snared 10 minutes of her time to talk about her favourite topic: eating.

Nigella Lawson in the Muru Giligu Tunnel just before her Vivid Sydney dinners.Destination NSW

You’re a big advocate of Sydney’s food scene. Why?

I haven’t eaten in every city in the world, but the reason why I love eating in Sydney is that I think the food is extraordinarily good. There are chefs who are really inspirational for me, but it’s done in an informal setting. I don’t mean Sydney itself, but at restaurants. What interests me is really exquisite food but [done] in a rather relaxed, unpretentious setting so it feels very inclusive …

Obviously, the variety of food in Sydney is enormous, and I think that’s partly because, like all port cities, there are people from so many different cultures, and that feeds into the food culture. But there’s a particular sort of attitude, an Australian attitude, which is perhaps less bound by tradition so it’ll allow itself to drink in and absorb many cultures, and then somehow will spin them and merge them and come up with something that is very direct, very unpretentious, very Australian, and that’s fascinating.

The cheese toastie at Penny’s Cheese Shop in Potts Point. Chris Pearce

You’ve got a day to meander around Sydney eating and drinking. What’s on your itinerary?

Well, I should warn you first that I have such a bad sense of direction, so whatever’s in my itinerary, where I set off for, who knows whether I’ll get there. But that’s the whole point of wandering about a city.

I might have to go to Flour and Stone for a cannoli and a coffee. And then I certainly would want to go into that fabulous Art Gallery of New South Wales. And then I would most definitely have to stock up on cheese at Penny’s Cheese Shop and have that toastie. Her incredible toastie is sort of gooey in the middle, and then somehow there’s a sort of shell of cheese on the outside of the bread. So that is a must.

There’s only so many meals even I could eat in a day, but I think I’d have to stop off at Ester, but I certainly would want my day to last longer than 24 hours, because I need Cafe Paci and I certainly need Fratelli Paradiso for just the absolute epitome of hospitality.

A bowl of pasta at Palazzo Salato in the Sydney CBD. Edwina Pickles

Where do you go for pasta?

I’m very fond of Palazzo Salato … I know it’s called Italian [food], but for me it’s interesting because it’s Australian Italian, and I like that. Italians are much more bound by tradition. The pasta here has ingredients that really break all the rules, but they still taste wonderful. The pasta is made so beautifully. The scampi spaghetti at Fratelli Paradiso is, to me, proper Sydney Italian.

Fontana’s zabaglione cream with quince.Rhett Wyman

How about a dessert?

I had a really amazing dessert at Fontana in Redfern the other day. It had a zabaglione cream, but it had an upside-down crumble, like a really peppery shortbread. And with that (and the fruit changes according to season because I interrogated them) it’s quince poached in wine. I love quince, and it’s good to celebrate that. So I think that is wonderful. The cakes at Flour and Stone are so good. I think Nadine Ingram is such a beautiful baker.

Nadine Ingram, founder of Flour and Stone bakery in Woolloomooloo.James Brickwood

Anywhere else on your hit list?

I am really desperate, I really want to have the clam pizza at Bella Brutta. I don’t know how I’m going to fit that in.

Bella Brutta’s clam pizza with fermented chilli, lemon juice, parsley and toasted garlic oil.
Jennifer Soo

Do you think there are any Aussie chefs who should have more of an international profile?

You know, in a way, wanting a profile overseas, or having a profile overseas, often means the swankier, more show-offy chefs get that. And what I love about Sydney and Australian chefs is they don’t seem to have that enormous ego. Of course chefs need a certain amount of ego. For me, Mat Lindsay [of Ester, AP Bakeries, Poly] is one of the great chefs. Also Josh Niland, but he does have a profile. I think the thing is that everyone here knows and loves them, and that’s really important.

Mat Lindsay, head chef at Ester.Peter Rae

Do you think Sydney, Melbourne and Australia’s culinary prowess gets enough overseas recognition?

I think those people who are really interested in food do know that Australia has a food culture like no other. I think it isn’t just about the restaurants, because the restaurants are wonderful, and I love restaurants, but I’m a home cook and, without wanting to sound pretentious, it’s an incredibly food-literate society. The produce is so good, just the basic level of produce, and I’m not talking about going to fancy shops.

Food and New South Wales food really excites me … And so anyone cooking here starts off with a ridiculous advantage. I rent an apartment, so because of that I go shopping and I cook a bit, so I can see that it’s not just about going to restaurants … The tomatoes are good. The meat is good. Obviously, the seafood. So for me, that’s a bit of a thrill.