Something For Jess, Chippendale (NSW) by Benny

Something for Jess is a tiny café reminiscent of a country kitchen. Rustic mismatched furniture, well-loved bibs and bobs that look like they were donated by someone’s nanna, boxes of produce (exactly how many turnips would a little café use, we ask), naïve artwork and a big splashy mural. The overall atmosphere is just like your country cousin’s place (even if you don’t have a country cousin). The design is a credit to the owner’s girlfriend – the eponymous Jess is a graphic designer.

Bilby Blue and I were looking for breakfast on a recent trip to Sydney, an alternative to the jawdroppingly expensive hotel charges, and as it turned out we were very lucky to find Something for Jess. The menu is only small, with most items being vegetarian, although there are a couple of options for meat eaters.


The more traditional breakfast options (organic house-made muesli, poached eggs on toast) sounded good, but the brunch options sounded even better, so we decided to share the Spanish chorizo bruschetta with roasted apricot-maple jam, poached egg, ox heart tomato, baked beetroot, enoki mushrooms and shaved pecorino cheese. The generous serving had been divided for us onto two (mismatched) plates – only one plate got the egg, but as Bilby doesn’t like poached eggs that worked out fine. Quite an international melange of components, all of which were individually excellent, and the combination also worked brilliantly. A half serve each was ample for breakfast.


In addition we both had the juice of the day – a luscious mix of freshly whizzed apple, rockmelon and pineapple.


After such a good breakfast, Bilby returned the following day for lunch (I was trapped at a conference). Her slow-roasted leg of lamb panini came with za’atar hummus, honey-roasted pumpkin, fresh avocado, house-made pickled red onion, grilled Cypriot haloumi and dill cabbage white zucchini slaw. She reported that it was spectacular – so good that she deconstructed it. The lamb was sweet and tender, excellent crusty panini, and the haloumi was a great contrast. The standout element however was the house-made hummus – gently garlicky with more than a hint of spice, spread over the panini. Bilby would have happily lunched on just the hummus with a good sourdough. The waiter admitted that he eats the hummus on everything – with a particular favourite being hummus, avocado and Vegemite… although it sounds like a weird combo, Bilby felt that the umami from the Vegemite would make it work.


To complete the indulgence, Bilby decided to finish off with a flourless double chocolate brownie, garnished with a dollop of cream, a couple of berries and a sprinkling of pistachios. Made from almond meal, the flavour was great, but Bilby thought it was a bit oily – unfortunately not quite up to the high standard of the savoury options.


The blackboard menu changes weekly, depending on what fresh produce is available, with a particular emphasis on small scale providers. Vegetarians are very well catered for, but meat eaters are not neglected. The relaxed atmosphere encourages you to linger– and if you are there by yourself, the guys are happy to chat.


With no external signage, Something for Jess can be easily missed. Look for the name stencilled on the bottom box of the stack just outside the door.

Verdict

We really liked it.

Overall

A great little café serving up fresh organic produce for breakfast and lunch. If it was our local, we would be regular visitors.

Find it at

Something for Jess
Corner of O’Connor Street & Abercrombie Street
Chippendale NSW 2008
Telephone: 0405 753 530