Birthdays Part 3: Luxe Bakery & Wild Sage

With Monsieur Poisson’s birthday and mine being just over a week apart, it makes for an extended period of excuses/reasons for eating. When the dates fall on or in the lead-up to a weekend like this year, it leads to a whole day of eating, rather than a single celebratory meal to in the name of the event.

It is a sunny Saturday and although we are a little slow to get going, we still manage to enjoy some brunch at Luxe Bakery. Located just across the laneway from Campos Coffee, we score the last available table as we step into Luxe. I can’t go past the ‘Schultz Wagyu melt’ which is served like an open Reuben and blanketed with a generous helping of melted Swiss cheese. A bedding of pickled cabbage proves to not be too tart, unlike some sauerkraut, whilst a small amount of horseradish along with a finely sliced gherkin help to alleviate any the heaviness from the cheese.

Monsieur Poisson decides on something a little more breakfast-y with the ‘Organic free range eggs on sourdough toast” which he chooses to have poached. The eggs burst open with bright orange yolks and sides of meaty and firm Lebanese sausages plus baked mushrooms complete the meal for him. Coffees are a little delayed partly due to my starting a conversation with the waitress about her nail polish, but when they arrive the coffees are strong and piping hot without being burnt.

At some point in time, I detect the unmistakeable waft of truffle oil in the air and it is a neighbouring table receiving the ‘House-cured ocean trout with hash, poached egg and truffle oil.” Now, how did we miss that even though we were sitting right under the blackboard menu?

The afternoon is spent moseying about Newtown before heading to dinner at Wild Sage, a place we’d happened upon quite by accident one afternoon. It is a full house on this Saturday evening and it’s encouraging to see that there are plenty of families along with kid-friendly coloured pencil packs to keep them entertained.

‘Chargrilled king prawns with sand crab tabouleh & preserved lemon’ form a component of our starters and are able to be ordered as a serve or 2 or 4. They are smoky and contrasted by the refreshing tabouleh although there is little detectable sand crab. ‘Tuscan spiced meatballs with tomato relish’ and ‘Feta & olive arancini’ are available as little share plates with both being tasty, incredibly more-ish and comforting.

Monsieur Poisson has his eyes on the ‘Twice cooked crispy pork belly, seared scallops, asparagus, watercress, with sticky soya dressing’ with the only disappointment being the sticky soya dressing being, well, too sticky and sweet. Perhaps being Asian, we were expecting a certain salty and umami component to the sauce. I opt for an entrée-sized ‘Chilli spaghettini with fresh local seafood, cherry tomato, sea salt, flat leaf parsley, virgin olive oil’ and am most impressed by the seafood-to-pasta ratio. The chilli is subtle and provides more a note of heat after each mouthful rather than being in-your-face spicy. The dish does get a little oily towards the end, however, with a small pool of olive oil collecting at the bottom of the plate.

The ‘Soft-centred Belgian chocolate pudding‘ is a chocolate fondant by another name and requires a short wait as expected, but is perfectly oozing when it arrives. Flanked by a strawberry, double-cream and our request for ice-cream, it is surprisingly light and not as sugary as I expect.

An encouraging local-ish delight, we definitely need to discover our own surrounds more!

Luxe Bakery

195 Missenden Rd (cnr Longdown St), Newtown NSW

Tel: (02) 9439 8988

Opening Hours:  Mon  7am-4pm

                        Tues-Fri  7am-9pm

                        Sat & Sun  CLOSED

Wild Sage

Shops 17 & 18, Stockland Mall, cnr Miller & Amherst Sts, Cammeray NSW

Tel: (02) 9929 8455

happy eating!