It\u2019s been a while since Paddington\u2019s seen an opening like Adelaide\u2019s Kitchen, which moved onto a Paddington corner just off Oxford Street in July.<\/p>\n
In a suburb packed with cafes, Adelaide\u2019s Kitchen has launched with the sort of bang most small businesses only dream of. It was packed with locals from day one, with a line snaking out the front door on its first weekend.<\/p>\n
The crowd was very Paddington, everyone flocking to take a bite of the opening menu: dippy eggs with sage-buttered toast soldiers; porridge topped with a chardonnay-poached pear, tight curls of dark chocolate and crushed hazelnuts; pesto-topped toast; and house-baked goods, heaped onto trays under the glassy front counter.<\/p>\n
The little spot comes from Paddo local Adelaide Darling, who is relatively new to the industry. \u201cI changed my career about five years ago,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to be a chef, but I was a graphic designer for years. I worked at Lee Mathews for a while, and then, long story short, I was in a big car accident. [I had to] learn how to use my hands again \u2013 cooking was the best therapy for me, for my hand. So I decided to go to Ballymaloe [Cookery School]<\/a> in Ireland and did the 12-week culinary course there.\u201d<\/p>\n The cafe\u2019s in a prime area, but the hulk of its popularity comes down to Darling\u2019s expertly executed simple plates and the special vibe in the corner spot. People loved it \u2013 too much.<\/p>\n After a full-on first week of trade, Darling and her small team \u2013 including her husband Tom Langdon (who founded Lay Day Coffee<\/a>) and sous-chef Rue Peck \u2013 decided to pull back the hot food from the menu until receiving council approval to hire more kitchen staff.<\/p>\n The dippy egg-sized hole was filled by the ever-changing spread of excellent rustic baked goods \u2013 sugar-crusted scones with jam and cream, zesty orange cakes, brown-topped Basque cheesecakes and chunky salted choc-chip cookies \u2013 and great coffee, the classics plus a popular Mont Blanc-leaning drink with cardamom-infused cold foam topped with lime zest.<\/p>\n The pared-back offering has continued to draw us in, though. When Broadsheet visits again on a Wednesday afternoon, every table\u2019s been snagged.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful old heritage building,\u201d says Darling. \u201cIt\u2019s been a barber. It\u2019s been a fashion concept shop. It\u2019s been a clock shop, of all things. But it\u2019s the first time it\u2019s been a cafe.\u201d The fit-out, like the menu, is very inspired by Scandinavian and European cafe culture. Paintings and a striking egg-cup-adorned quilt hang on the walls; the menu is scrawled on a central chalkboard allowing the team to switch things up each day, and a no-laptops policy keeps things feeling happily hygge. Mugs are made by Darling\u2019s mother, ceramicist Alexandra Darling.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s made about 100 of them,\u201d says Darling. \u201cWe\u2019ve been working on them for about six months. It\u2019s been such a dream working with her. She\u2019s been a mum, and she\u2019s then come back [to ceramics] and now she\u2019s starting her business again, so it\u2019s been pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n The plan for the food is a tight menu \u2013 scrawled on the blackboard \u2013 that changes every couple of months, depending on what Darling feels like cooking. \u201c[It\u2019s] a way I love to cook, and a style that\u2019s very much how I was taught at Ballymaloe. Will definitely be bringing back the porridge, with the toppings changing, and hopefully the eggs \u2013 but not all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n In summer, Darling\u2019s planning to open at night occasionally, hosting supper clubs and small community dinners for 10 to 20 people. But for now, her goal is simple: \u201cI would love to just have people coming back as often as possible, to know all their names \u2013 and for people to be able to get a seat.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Adelaide\u2019s Kitchen Hours:
9 Regent Street, Paddington<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tue to Sat 7am\u20133pm<\/p>\n