Photograph: Supplied/Yellow
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here.
Update: Potts Point 's butter-yellow plant-based restaurant – and one of Sydney's best – is under new ownership. The fine diner, which the Bentley Boys (Eleven Barrack, King Clarence, Monopole) opened in 2014, is now being run by long-time head chef Sander Nooij and his business partner Mark Hanover. But fans of the Macleay Street restaurant can rest assured that the creative, elevated, seasonal and truly beautiful dishes will remain, with the team committed to 'botanical gastronomy'.
Nooij said: 'Botanical gastronomy is a culinary approach that celebrates the vibrant world of plants, herbs, and flowers. Free from animal products yet rich in flavour, we emphasise seasonality, sustainability and the extraordinary. Our goal is to create a dining experience that is not just for vegans, but for anyone who values creativity, refinement, and the beauty of nature on their plates.
Free from the controversy and politics that can be part of the vegan narrative, botanical gastronomy merges elements of contemporary cuisine with a strong emphasis on botanical ingredients, showcasing their flavours, textures, and nutritional advantages,' he added.
Yellow is renowned for its six-course seasonal menu celebrating heirloom vegetables from local suppliers. While what you have on the night will vary, you might enjoy things like a crisp polenta chip with a caper sauce and avocado salsa; smoked tomatoes paired with silky cashew cream and plums; an eggplant parcel with hemp ricotta and chilli crisp; and a riff on banoffee pie made with bananas from Boon Luck Farm.
Whether you follow a plant-based diet or not, this feel-good restaurant is for everyone who appreciates a cracking, thoughtful meal – one that just happens to be vegan. Hell: bring your meat-lovin' mates and don't tell them.
– Avril Treasure
*****
It takes a kind of vision bordering on the mad to see a burnt onion as a dessert, but that is the creative genius we're dealing with from the team at Yellow. Not just a staunchly savoury veg, but a burned one at that, is ground down into a charcoal-black powder to contrast brutishly with the pretty-in-pink Frenchness of a tartine made from more leaves of sticky apple than your average Penguin Classic. This is so much more than meat-free cooking, it's abstract expressionism with fruit and veg.
Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt's restaurant empire (Bentley, Monopole, Cirrus) had always catered to vegetarians without making a fuss, but when they devoted their Potts Point dining room to the best of the plant world, people really started to take notice. And importantly, they kept coming back for more.
More of the stracciatella, a fresh cheese that's so creamy and relaxed it's basically a liquid, sprinkled with a magic banana powder made from extreme slow cooked bananas (two and a half months at 60 degrees in the skins). Add the bright tang of cumquat and it's almost a sweet, except for the fierce pull towards savoury by the gently charred, sprouting broccoli and cauliflower. The vegetables win this one, but only just. Baby corn in a can is a monstrosity; baby corn served in its charred husk, under a blanket of funky miso milk crumbs, is bringing smoky maturity to next-gen veg.
A round of applause goes to the tight harmonies in a dish of nori sheets camouflaging a core of soft leek wearing the reflected richness of shaved duck yolk and parmesan's gravitas. Horseradish brings the treble, shimeji mushrooms the earthy bass, and a sweet-tart ponzu dressing makes a surprising guest appearance.
We are not being facetious when we say that the baked celeriac, with all the earthy grunt and spiced char of a prime cut, trumps meat. And fried chicken is matched and in many ways bested by the juiciness, savouriness and feather-light crunch of Jerusalem artichokes in a tapioca batter, served on a rich and powerful, condensed Swiss brown and button mushroom purée.
We expect vegetables to be part of a great tasting menu in Sydney, but it's rare to see them demand the spotlight like a diva hitting the high notes and refuse to relinquish their starring role. This is what makes Yellow such an extraordinary restaurant. They've seismically shifted how we frame fine dining in Sydney, and we love them for it. – Reviewed in 2018.
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Time Out
7 days ago
- Time Out
Eleven Barrack
✍️ Time Out Sydney never writes starred restaurant and bar reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills, and anonymously reviews, so that readers can trust our critique. Find out more, here. Being at Eleven Barrack feels like Christmas. Every dish or drink that lands on our table is like a gift – a perfectly presented package that, when unwrapped, contains a delightful treasure that's a little unexpected. A good surprise. Take the spanner crab and fish pie. It's a picture-perfect golden-crusted pot pie in a little cast-iron pot, with a pastry crab on top and a shellfish bisque served on the side in a classic silver gravy boat. The pie pastry is almost too flawless to crack open, but when we do, we're rewarded with a well-seasoned, creamy filling with finely chopped pieces of spanner crab, fish and spinach. It's divine just as it is, but then you pour in the bisque, and the dish goes from delicious to unforgettable. The buttery pastry, tender seafood, creamy white sauce and that punchy, sea-flavoured sauce (the colour of crab shell) is like a pot of comfort food with a luxury upgrade. It's arguable Sydney didn't need another steak and seafood grill, but it did need this one. Just like Santa Claus, the Bentley Group's co-owners Brent Savage (chef) and Nick Hildebrandt (sommelier) – who've also recently gifted us treats like King Clarence, Brasserie 1930 and a newly flavoured Monopole – have delivered yet again (in collaboration with group head chef Aiden Stevens and Niro Richards). I'm obviously a fan of the food here (this is not my first visit), but the décor is what really sets this place apart from other grand New York or Parisian-style diners here in Sydney. It's on Barrack Street, in the old, high-ceilinged Savings Bank of NSW building. And while they have indeed leaned into the grandness and scale of the classic old building, there's nothing traditional or fuddy-duddy about the room's attention-grabbing design touches. One of the room's central columns is wrapped in metallic purple. There are big, eccentric, custom-made light shades (some bright orange, some white) that dangle dramatically from the ceiling. There's a gold-mirrored, oval-shaped, er, I'm not sure what to call it – decoration – hanging from the ceiling above my table. And the carpet is tartan, like the Christmas wrap my grandpa used to use. Yes, the room is also festive. I order a gin Martini, and it arrives via a trolley, poured frosty and theatrically at our table. (The service is as classy as it is in all of the Bentley Group venues.) The menu is extensive, so while it heroes steak and fish dishes, there is also a section for pastas, and a fun selection of appetisers, starters, playful salads, a bread section, cheeses and desserts. Narrowing down what to order is no easy feat. As well as the crab and fish pie, we order a steak, the 250g black opal wagyu rump cap, which comes served sliced – cooked perfectly medium rare, as ordered, charred on the outside – on a bed of rich, dark jus. It pairs well with the celebratory bottle of bubbles we share – the Louis de Grenelle BIO (certified organic) Crémant de Loire Brut, which is zippy and refreshing, with a dry, clean finish but enough richness to stand up to the creamy seafood pie. (And what are we celebrating? Just being in a beautiful setting and eating great food!) The salads we order also provide freshness and acidity. The salted zucchini with parmesan, caperberries, parsley and mint is bright, briny and herbaceous; and the celeriac with sheep's milk feta, black barley and witlof is earthy and nutty. The potatoes need their own paragraph. A baked potato has been cut in two, then the soft potato filling has been removed from the shells, mashed together with sour cream, mustard and pancetta, then placed back into the crispy, fried potato skins. A masterpiece. Last time I was here I had the coal-roasted Murray cod fillets served in the most vivid, moreish green garlic sauce, and I wish we had room to order it again. But with the pie and the steak, salads and potatoes, we didn't even need appetisers or starters this time around. If we did, I would have gone for the fried ricotta dumplings with whipped cod's roe or the eggplant 'parfait' on sourdough toast. The slice of key lime pie is a must-order for dessert (even if you think you don't have room). The lime curd filling is bright and citrusy; it's glazed with ginger, then topped with a generous piping of light coconut curd and little pops of finger lime jewels. It's truly (sub)lime. Just like Christmas, when the experience of dining at Eleven Barrack comes to an end, I'm already counting down the days until I can unwrap it all over again. Thankfully I don't have to wait a whole year.
Sunday Post
25-05-2025
- Sunday Post
Malpractice star Zoe Telford on ITV medical thriller's importance
Get a weekly round-up of stories from The Sunday Post: Thank you for signing up to our Sunday Post newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up 'I think I've found my instrument,' Zoe Telford says as she pans over her Zoom camera to reveal an electric drum kit sitting in the corner of the room. The star of hit ITV medical drama Malpractice seems to be adding another string to her bow – or perhaps more accurately another stick to her cymbals – with her latest passion in a career that's seen her go from a talented dancer to a familiar face on our screens. 'I've started quite slow with Yellow by Coldplay,' she says of her down-tempo introduction. 'I'm putting pressure on my drumming teachers – I want more Queens of the Stone Age but I'm just not ready for it! 'This is a really surprising thing that's just happened to me this year. My partner bought me a guitar. I like it, but it's sat around and we haven't really bonded. The drums, on the other hand…' © ITV While she's not rocking the summer festival stages just yet, she has been banging the drum in a different way as part of Malpractice. Creator Grace Ofori-Attah used the first series in 2023 as a vehicle to highlight pressure on our A&E doctors, and the second series shifts to a new hospital and straddles psychiatry and obstetrics. Psychiatrist Dr James Ford, played by Tom Hughes, is coming to the end of a working day when he receives referrals for two patients. The decisions made in those fateful hours lead to tragedy and investigators are brought in to unpick his work, life and the wider department. The series draws from Grace's real-life experiences as a junior doctor before becoming a psychiatric consultant like Zoe's character Dr Kate McAllister, who leads the department but has a rather more personal relationship with Dr Ford. 'I would say that broadly speaking, it is a thriller,' Zoe says. 'Really at its heart it is a study on moral ambiguities. Grace is also addressing the human cost of that working environment. 'I think everyone knows that the NHS is woefully underfunded, but what was the surprise to me was that the mental health sector gets the thin end of the wedge.' Zoe comes armed with eye-opening stats to back it up, continuing: 'Mental health makes up for something like 20% of the disease burden, but it only receives around 8% of the funding. 'You can see what a desperate situation it is and the human cost of that. It's not only for the patients, who won't be supported in the way they need, but also for the people working within the system. It's a real own goal I think, because when psychiatry goes wrong it's a catastrophe. It can end in very serious, tragic incidents. 'What does it say about us as a society that we're willing to neglect our vulnerable in the way that we are?' In recent years conversations around mental health have become more prevalent but shows like Malpractice, while fictional, highlight that the support services have a long way to go to match the demand. 'It's on the rise and yet the funding is diminishing,' Zoe says. 'It's completely illogical and infuriating to me. This show should feel shocking. It's a shocking set of circumstances for people to work in. The environment is shocking. 'I was listening to Adam Buxton's podcast the other day with Doctor Javid Abdelmoneim, who works for Médecins Sans Frontières but worked for quite some time in the NHS during and post Covid. 'He was saying that it's less stressful for him to work in war zones. 'He described it as a unique sort of grind; the relentlessness, the 10-hour shifts, the seven-hour waits, the system buckling under the weight of it all. It's not sustainable.' The hope is that Malpractice follows in the tracks of recent Netflix drama Adolescence, which shone a spotlight on young men and incel culture, as well as the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office in highlighting issues, starting conversations and driving change. 'Grace is asking such important questions,' Zoe says. 'How much are we willing to tolerate as a society, how much are we willing to put upon people working in the environment and having to make split-second decisions daily? 'Everyone keeps their fingers crossed they're the right ones but, inevitably, sometimes they'll be the wrong ones. 'Tragically, sometimes things go very wrong indeed. They are rare occurrences, miraculously, but all the things that are in the show did happen. 'The piece is really looking at the system as a whole, which is broken. 'It's a real privilege to be a part of it. I just want to be able to be a vessel for the conversation.' © Peter Marley The role follows Zoe's parts in The Lazarus Project and Red Eye, but she started off her performing career as a dancer. She trained from the age of six until she was 20 across ballet, modern, tap and jazz. 'There was a local drama class happening but I guess at that time I just didn't feel like that was the thing for me,' she recalls. 'Dancing was the way I wanted to express myself. 'Oddly, I felt like drama was almost too vocal. There were lots of people coming in and out of the drama class, just being very loud. I was like: 'That's not for me!'' Her current impressive list of acting credits shows that attitude didn't last too long. Once she had done a play and was getting encouraged by teachers, acting gradually took over. 'I was still kind of not entirely committing to it as an idea,' Zoe, 51, says. 'I did a bit here and there of telly and then it wasn't really until I was about 27 and I did Men Only and Teachers and things like that when I really felt like something clicked for me. 'It really was a bit of a light-bulb moment and I felt like this was actually what I need in order to feel happy and whole. This is where I live.' © ITV Her dancing days aren't over though and she's still always up for a boogie – but maybe not Strictly any time soon. 'You never lose it,' she laughs. 'I do like to cut the rug. I love dancing. You won't be seeing me on any of those kinds of shows though!' All eyes are on the next part, whatever it may be, and embracing projects that have strong writing at their core. And, of course, there's more drumming to do. 'My dad used to drum in a band,' Zoe adds. 'That's opened up a whole new conversation about all the old bands that he used to listen to, like Cream and Led Zeppelin. He's sending me loads of drummers saying: 'Look at this guy.' That's been lovely. 'I was watching a Ginger Baker solo the other day and that was mind blowing. Queens of the Stone Age are my current listen on repeat and I find it really hard to get beyond Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, I just think he's so amazing!' 'I have a real fire in my belly these days' Malpractice is the latest in a line of recent high-profile roles for Zoe Telford. Indeed, she's played other doctors of varying specialities in astrophysicist Dr Kitty Gray in The Lazarus Project and medic Dr Amber Hurst in Red Eye. And she took on a spin doctor when she was on the end of a Malcolm Tuckering in The Thick of It. 'Everyone wants Peter Capaldi to swear at them maniacally for five minutes,' she laughs, recalling her part as a reporter in the political satire. She also has fond memories of a 2002 short film, Nine ½ Minutes, alongside the 'lovely' David Tennant when they were both starting out. Twenty years later, they'd both work on the ITV drama Litvinenko. 'I feel so fortunate. The last few years have been really nice for me,' Zoe says. 'My children are a little bit older now and my focus was really there. 'I was obviously working as well, but not quite with the same sort of fire in my belly that I have now in terms of pursuing and creating work. 'The last few years have just really felt like a kind of unfolding. 'I'm working with really nice directors and I get a real kick out of that.' Malpractice is available on ITVX and STV Player
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Married At First Sight groom Paul Antoine sparks romance rumours with glamorous Sydney influencer
Married At First Sight's Paul Antoine has wasted no time moving on from his reality TV heartbreak – and it seems he's set his sights on a striking new muse. The 30-year-old former FIFO wellness coach was spotted getting close to glamorous Sydney influencer Skye Clements at the NEON MGMT x Midtown Bar & Lounge's Sydney Fashion Week Afterparty last week - and the chemistry was sizzling. Held at the newly refurbished Midtown Lounge in Sydney's CBD, the fashion-forward bash was a who's who of Sydney and Gold Coast socialites. The event featured a DJ spinning tracks behind a marble-clad booth and guests sipping custom mini cocktails like the Cherry Palm Colada and Pickle Margarita Fizz. But it was Paul and Skye who truly stole the spotlight. The 30-year-old former FIFO wellness coach was spotted getting close to glamorous Sydney influencer Skye Clements at the NEON MGMT x Midtown Bar & Lounge's Sydney Fashion Week Afterparty last week – and the chemistry was sizzling 'Paul and Skye immediately hit it off,' an insider spilled to Daily Mail Australia. 'They barely left each other's side all night – it was flirty, fun, and you could feel the spark.' After mingling at the Midtown party, the pair were seen leaving together and heading to late-night hotspot Pelicano in Potts Point. And while it may have started as a Fashion Week fling, sources say the pair have stayed in contact - and it's heating up. 'They've been Facetiming non-stop ever since,' the source added. 'Paul's even been telling friends he wants to relocate to Sydney just so he can take her out again.' The pair were introduced by Skye's close friend, model James Pappalardo, who was also in attendance. Paul wasn't the only MAFS groom making the rounds – Adrian Araouzou, Ryan Donnelly and Tony Mojanovski were all spotted at the event. Also spotted at the exclusive party was former bride Selina Chhaur. Guests were treated to personalised drinks menus, plush booths, and fashion-forward flair as influencers and reality stars rubbed shoulders over lychee-infused cocktails and glam banter. Paul was paired with Perth-based digital marketing manager Carina Mirabile. They navigated early challenges, including partner swap week and emotionally charged honesty letters, which initially seemed to strengthen their bond. However, their relationship took a dramatic turn following a heated argument after Carina revealed a past relationship with rapper Quavo. Further strain was added when Paul chose to go on a date with another woman during the show's final task, a decision that deeply hurt Carina and contributed to the erosion of trust between them. At the Final Vows ceremony, Paul expressed his desire to continue the relationship, but Carina decided to end it, citing the cumulative issues they had faced. While Paul attempted to reconnect with Carina after filming concluded, she declined, stating that although there was no animosity, she did not wish to rekindle the relationship. Their tumultuous journey highlighted the challenges of building a relationship under intense scrutiny and the importance of trust and respect in a partnership.
