New York-style “chopped cheese” sandwiches, beignet doughnuts and soft-serve sundaes are set to put a smile on diners’ faces.
Happyfield’s pancakes have been called the best in Sydney – but you won’t find them on the menu at their new diner, Happy Shop. “There won’t be pancakes. There won’t be McLovin muffins. There won’t even be eggs and sides,” says Chris Theodosi, co-owner of Happyfield and Happy Shop.
That news is bound to make some folks unhappy – but the new menu, which includes a New York-style chopped cheese sandwich and deep-fried beignet doughnuts, presents plenty of crowd-pleasers regardless.
Happy Shop will take over the former site of Yiayia’s Gone Bad in Haberfield – just two doors down from Happyfield – and is expected to open towards the end of the year.
Architect Matt Wood, who nailed the diner aesthetic at Valentinas in Marrickville and Flora in Newtown, will oversee the design, which will offer an elevated take on Happyfield’s cheerful aesthetic, with “lots of yellow”.
The kitchen will take up the entire indoor area, with seating for 40 outside in a covered courtyard. “It will be a bit like a fancy fast food restaurant,” Theodosi says. “There will be an order window and a pick-up area. There will be no plates – everything will be served on yellow fast food trays.”
The menu, which is currently in development, will revolve around past specials from Happyfield – “all those hot ticket items that we never had time to do because we were always so busy making pancakes,” Theodosi says.
Instead of the McLovin muffin – Happyfield’s signature chicken sausage and folded egg roll – Happy Shop will serve two new brekkie muffins made from custom patties created by LP’s Quality Meats.
There will also be a stack of new sandwiches, hot and cold, including the New York-style chopped cheese, made from Whole Beast Butchery ground beef, onion and American cheese, smashed together on a hot grill and tucked in a hoagie roll. “It was probably our most popular sandwich special at Happyfield ever – we ended up bringing it back four times,” Theodosi says.
Rounding out the menu will be two salads, including a fresh take on a classic caesar. The dessert menu will be all about the beignets – a deep-fried pastry from New Orleans, buried in powdered sugar and served in new custom Happy Shop beignet bags.
Coffee will be on tap, literally, with a self-serve drinks station featuring pour-your-own batch brew and cold brew coffee, as well as lemonade and iced tea.
Theodosi and co-owner and chef Jesse Orleans had thought about opening Happy Shop in a different area of Sydney, but they also saw an opportunity to lessen the lines at Happyfield.
“There’s so much overflow on the weekend. It was a two-hour wait before we added our second dining room and even now, it’s still a one-hour wait on the weekends.”
No queues? Now that will make a lot of people happy.
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Erina Starkey – Erina is the Good Food App Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Previously, Erina held a number of editing roles at delicious.com.au and writing roles at Broadsheet and Concrete Playground.
