Sydney's new Japanese cafe, where your cutlery is a piece of string
She later relocated to Tokyo, where many noteworthy examples of the mochi style can be found (I recently lined up behind locals at Shinjuku Isetan's amazing food hall for that exact reason), but Nakayama didn't have the luxury of exploring them. 'I was crazy busy working as a nurse, I didn't have enough time to enjoy daifuku,' she says.
Mochi-making as a career option didn't emerge until December 2024, when she started experimenting with rice flour and fillings at the home of Tin Jung Shea. He runs charming, just-like-Japan venues (from the sake-bar squeeze of Nomidokoro Indigo to smoky Yakitori Yurippi) and along with Studio Hiyaku's Sunny Liu, he's behind the SevenH complex where Sydney Daifuku Store is located.
The site is in a highly leafy residential area: you even second-guess whether you're going the right way as you head towards its address – it seems so unlikely that any shop could surface here. Then SevenH appears, with its understated open design and paved outdoor area. It's a serene spot that's in tune with the quiet, made-to-order tempo of Sydney Daifuku Store, which shares the space with Commission Coffee.
While Nakayama consulted relatives as she fine-tuned recipes ('I was asking family all the time'), she also lightened the mochi dough for local tastes. You see her roll it out and pad the centre with ingredients before presenting the completed daifuku to try. The pillowy pastry feels like a soft cloud you can pinch, and a big joy of the eating comes from lopping it in half with a twist of supplied string. Transparent dough gives way to a colour burst of jewel-like anko-lined strawberry, for instance, or a whole grape coated with white bean paste.
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