Cafe Paci might have the look and feel of a bistro, but the food tells a more complex story.
Contemporary$$
Pasi Petanen has spent a lifetime preparing food that defies his surroundings, and his little Newtown restaurant doesn’t buck the trend. It’s a culmination of his long haul as head chef of Mark Best’s divisive, now-closed three-hat restaurant Marque. His love of French culinary expressionist Pierre Gagnaire. His passion for the Finnish flavours he grew up with.
The long room, with its peacock-blue accents, bentwood chairs and mirrored walls with specials scrawled across them, is dominated by the bar and open kitchen. If you came in cold, you would be forgiven for assuming a menu of French onion soup and duck confit.
Instead, have a devilled egg, inspired by Petanen’s time cooking alongside O Tama Carey at her Darlinghurst restaurant, Lankan Filling Station. The “devil” bit is a mix of coriander, chilli, salt, pepper and turmeric, all toasted until close to burnt, then whipped with egg yolks and caramelised butter. Garnishing it with trout roe feels like some sort of egg-on-egg Finnish in-joke. I’m into it.
The chef and his team have been running this iteration of Cafe Paci on the north end of King Street for the past six years. Good Food gave it a full-page review and one hat when it opened, but the restaurant has evolved and matured since 2019.
You might also recall the original Cafe Paci in Darlinghurst, built on the remains of late-night Mexican party bar Cafe Pacifico. It was unapologetically itself, from the entirely grey fitout (the walls, floors, tables and chairs were all painted Taubman’s Iron Age) to the groundbreaking menu.
A few iterations from that original carte are still available today. Try a soft rye taco, filled with thinly sliced ox tongue, char-grilled until the meat is almost candied around the edges, and finished with chopped egg and a sauerkraut that can only be described as delicate. (If that’s a word you can use to describe fermented cabbage.)
Dark rye bread is painted in sticky, bittersweet molasses and served with a side of salty, house-churned butter. Save a little of that bread for any leftover black pepper butter smothering sweet, juicy Skull Island prawns.
Petanen spends a lot of time working around the edges of dishes, taking crisp/caramel/ruffled/candied right to the brink. A wildly buttery blini is somehow light and fluffy despite itself, with just the right amount of crisp batter bits. Generous shreds of mud crab sit on top of the pancake, all covered in an aerated Hollandaise sauce.
There’s plenty of fun to be had on the wine list, but try a Lonkero. It’s a gin and grapefruit soda loved by Fins for post-sauna rehydration, but equally good in a restaurant setting accompanied by a delicate Abrolhos Islands scallop, defrilled and nestled in thin layers of pressed potato, fried until crisp and golden, then spritzed in salt and vinegar.
The pacing here is fast. No one’s rushing you, but there’s a certain rigour all the same. I’d describe the service style as “sprinting with care”. And in this setting, it makes sense. It’s a perpetually busy place, where the dominant vibe is one of industry.
Petanen’s cooking is balance in all the right places.
While the menu mostly transcends classic bistro dining, there are dishes that embrace it wholeheartedly. See the steak Diane in all its old-school brasserie glory. Plump slices of charred Black Angus scotch fillet are served medium-rare and bathing in the tangy, savoury sauce, straight from the Escoffier playbook. On the side, a perfectly dressed green salad and very good chips (skin on, salty, gnarled like an old man’s hand).
Petanen’s cooking is balance in all the right places. Deep savour and great length of flavour when you want it, and lightness when it’s needed. His signature dessert embodies that, starting with a base of licorice cake, then a carrot sorbet, all hidden under a blanket of aerated yoghurt.
Classicists might stick to the pain perdu – a thick, custardy slice of fried brioche covered in chocolate caramel and finished with a scoop of passionfruit gelato so light it’s almost like iced milk. Or there are soft shavings of bright mandarin granita topped with coconut Chantilly cream – the fine-dining version of a Streets Splice.
Cafe Paci has always been a place to eat delicious food. But over the past few years it’s become a smarter, more meaningful experience. A ride always worth taking, whether you’re a rye-curious first-timer or a die-hard regular.
The low-down
Atmosphere: Lively, fast-paced and fun, where diner happiness is the priority
Go-to dishes: Crab blini ($30); steak Diane ($68); Skull Island prawns with black pepper butter ($45); pain perdu ($18)
Drinks: A strong cocktail offering along with a treasure trove of local and international wine and sake
Cost: About $180 for two, excluding drinks
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
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Myffy Rigby is the former editor of the Good Food Guide.
