‘They make the best croissants’: Top chef Josh Niland dishes the details you really need to know
The Good Food Guide Chef of the Year shares his favourite restaurants, cafes, bars and dishes in Sydney, Melbourne and San Sebastian. Bookmark them immediately.
Internationally lauded restaurateur and chef Josh Niland has a lot on his plate. His Sydney diner Saint Peter was recently recognised in the long-list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, he is SMH Good Food Guide Chef of the Year 2024, and he and wife Julie are just about to open the next “world-class” evolution of their two-hatted seafood restaurant Saint Peter within The Grand National Hotel in Paddington. Add to this a restaurant in Singapore, which he visits at least six times per year, plus four young children, and you could say life is quite busy for the Nilands.
But Josh always makes time for a guest appearance on MasterChef, a program that takes him right back to the beginning – not as a contestant, but to his childhood in Maitland in NSW. It’s here where Niland and TV judge and co-host Andy Allen both grew up – meeting at kindergarten and becoming childhood sporting friends thereafter.
“Andy’s mum was my Year 6 teacher and his dad was my basketball coach. Andy and I were in the same basketball and soccer teams,” says Niland. “So, it kind of feels like going home, instead we’re in a kitchen and it’s on national television,”
On this year’s MasterChef, Niland is guiding contestants on how to make a Saint Peter fish dish. He’s the first to admit the TV appearances are good for business.
“I always feel really privileged to go back to MasterChef. It’s an opportunity to educate the contestants about what we do in the restaurant, and gives you visibility to a broader market. It does make people more aware of what you do,” he says.
Niland found some time amid everything to share some of his food favourites with us.
Eating in
My signature dishes at home
Salt-and-vinegar blue mackerel in Gordal olive brine, bread and cultured butter. I have four kids under 10, so other dishes we cook a lot are mild in flavour – fish like John dory, Murray cod and coral trout, always served with salads. I also make a yellow chicken curry with chickpeas and sweet potato, which gets the big tick of approval from all the kids. In winter it’s very comforting, and we can fill the freezer up with leftovers.
Guilty pleasure
Too often it’s heavily seasoned avocado on grilled sourdough. While it doesn’t sound too guilty, I know I probably shouldn’t eat it at 11pm.
Kitchen wisdom
If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.
Eating out
Favourite restaurant in Sydney
Sean’s Bondi (formerly Sean’s Panaroma) for roast chicken, chicken liver pâté, roast pork or pipis. It’s the feeling you get when being there and a favourite restaurant for us. Steve Hodges recommended we first try it years back. I was blown away. It was the era of beautiful bistros and small hole-in-the-wall, BYO, al a carte places. The room felt comfortable and easy. Julie and I often go there for our wedding anniversary celebrations.
Favourite Sydney cafes and bakeries
I feel fortunate to have a fantastic cafe right behind Saint Peter — the Bonython Cafe. The coffee is fantastic, the gesture of the daily newspaper stacked up on the table, as well as a small posy of flowers on each table adds to the many reasons it’s such a favourite. Whether it’s bircher in summer or porridge in winter, I find myself doing my best work there early in the morning.
For coffee it’s Double Cross in Crows Nest. I always order batch filter coffee or strong three-quarter latte, which is so obnoxious but how I do it. In Melbourne it’s called a magic coffee.
Fiore Bread in McMahons Point is close to home and a regular pitstop when doing school pick-ups or drop-offs. Brioche buns with icing sugar are a must for the kids.
More Sydney favourites
AP Bakery — For croissants and phenomenal bread. They do pies and sausage rolls, but they make the best croissants in Sydney. It’s where I go to have my latte and a plain croissant and find a pocket of sun and a sourdough on the way out.
Pina Potts Point – For an iconic Sydney breakfast and coffee. It’s scrambled eggs, avocado, bacon, toast, orange juice and coffee. It sounds simplistic, but it’s how they do it, and how consistently they do it. The warmth you feel when you’re inside, it’s remarkable what they do in a small space.
Porcine – for Sunday lunch done right, on Oxford Street. It’s celebrating the pig and Nik Hill’s holistic approach to a pig extends to my work with fish. He buys whole animals and creates a multitude of dishes – beautiful duck a la Presse at the table − and Sunday lunch is the best way to experience it.
The Waratah — for amazing cocktails. Evan Stroeve uses everything from botanicals, roots and seeds when it comes to his drinks. He creates his own flavours riffing with native ingredients, and working with his chef in the kitchen to make snacks that pair well with his cocktails. I usually order an iteration of a negroni or a martini.
On the road
Melbourne favourites
Embla is a Melbourne institution. It’s their ability to thread vegetables through their whole menu that draws me in. I ordered a beef tartare that came with sorrel leaves to wrap the meat. Chef Dave Verheul always has a solid charcuterie board, and they serve the best bread in Melbourne.
Apollo Inn. I took NZ chef Vaughan Mabee when we were in town – I was filming MasterChef and he was in town for Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. The service is outstanding, everybody looks immaculate. A small and cosy intimate bar; oysters on a big platter, and raw scallops and martinis were delicious.
Lee Ho Fook is one of Melbourne’s very best restaurants. Victor used to work with my wife at Marque in Sydney. He came to our wedding. His food has evolved, and he is across the road from where [my restaurant is] in Singapore, too. He is growing and enjoying his work. I love the fried eggplant – it’s the best in the world, right here in Melbourne.
Favourite overseas food city
San Sebastian because from its markets through to the most elite three-Michelin-star kitchens, the food is phenomenal. If there was one other place outside of Sydney that I would want to live, it would be there. San Sebastian, and the Basque country at large, are incredibly spoilt for some of the best seafood and produce on the planet.
Hot tips for dining in San Sebastian
Elkano in Getaria is a favourite that is an absolute beacon of extraordinary fish. From their famous grilled turbot to the most simple and elegant sardines bathed in local oil, everything is as close to perfection as it can be.
The pintxos (snacks) in the old town of San Sebastian are fantastic, and whether it’s suckling pig, morcilla, tomatoes, peppers or anchovies, you can’t make a wrong decision when you navigate the many different options. Chuleta (Basque-style steak) at Gerald’s Bar is also a must.
When staying in San Sebastian, position yourself near the old town as this will give you the ability to visit it daily, as well as taking long walks on the beach to walk off all the food you’re eating.
Josh Niland appears on MasterChef on Tuesday, July 9. Watch on Ten or TenPlay.
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Jane Rocca is a regular contributor to Sunday Life Magazine, Executive Style, The Age EG, columnist and features writer at Domain Review, Domain Living’s Personal Space page. She is a published author of four books.