When we heard the news that Clayton Wells was opening a new restaurant in Singapore, we worried that Sydney had lost another great chef from the stable. But in excellent news for both your stomachs and your wallets, Wells is back in town and prepping to open a causal eatery in early 2018. A1 Canteen will be an all-day dining destination, and they've already locked down the site, which is conveniently inside the same Chippendale precinct as Wells lauded Automata restaurant.
They're taking over the ground floor of the Old Rum Store on Kensington Street, where you will be able to lock down a curried scrambled eggs breakfast with pork sausages from LP's Quality Meats; a beautiful dragonfruit and yoghurt snack served in the hollowed out fruit shell like some sort of tropical cornucopia; and a snazzy bacon and egg roll. Come lunch time there'll be fancy sangas like crumbed, fried eggplant with provolone cheese and romesco sauce, plus more substantial fare like a whole roasted flounder with fried curry leaves, roast lamb shoulder with za'atar and tahini yoghurt and roasted sardines with caper berries and radishes.
Photograph: supplied
They'll also do food on the run with take-away coffee, pastries and ready made lunches, and the whole Automata-lite vision will be carried out by Scott Eddington, who will be joining Wells in the kitchen.
A1 Canteen opens in early 2018 at the Old Rum Store, Kensington St, Chippendale 2008.
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