Kepos Street Kitchen, RedfernCredit: Kepos Street Kitchen
Kepos Street Kitchen mezze box with dips, pita, olives and crudites.
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The 2020 Sydney lockdown taught chef Michael Rantissi, owner of Kepos Street Kitchen in Redfern, what customers craved - to shop locally and elevate their at-home dining experience. The lessons he learned have ensured his Middle Eastern restaurant is booming this time around thanks to a new deli, fresh food market and takeaway menu. His approach, of offering customers components of a chef-prepared meal to make at home, has resulted in the deli making up 70 per cent of current profits. Rantissi sells more than 65 fresh items, bringing foot traffic to stock up on dips, marinated olives and Tel Aviv-style falafel.
“The deli concept kicked off in the first lockdown and, like many things, began by mistake,” he said. While Rantissi had switched to takeaway he hadn’t thought of selling produce. “People started asking, ‘Would you mind packing me up a container of hummus to add to my dinner tonight?” With his fridges overloaded with hummus, olives and other ingredients, he decided to sell this produce to customers.
“I dragged one of the fridges into the restaurant and packed it with our produce like our beautiful, marinated olives.” Rantissi was stunned at the number of people coming in to grab things from the fridge. “We now sell almost 500 tubs of hummus weekly. It’s become a world of its own. It got us through the first lockdown – it’s definitely getting us through this one.”
Rantissi’s wife and business partner, Kristy Frawley, has also hosted a series of artisan pop-ups. “We invite a producer or restaurant and create a one-stop shop,” he says. They’ve showcased Brooklyn Boy Bagels, PiOik Bakery and Crumpets by Merna. “We are introducing people to a producer and helping them shop local during lockdown.”
Kepos Street Kitchen, Redfern Credit: Kepos Street Kitchen
Front room and deli, Kepos Street Kitchen.
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Kepos Street Kitchen, Redfern Credit: Kepos Street Kitchen
Front room and deli, Kepos Street Kitchen.
Kepos Street Kitchen, Redfern Credit: Kepos Street Kitchen
Kepos Street Kitchen deli fridge stocks a selection of signature dips and meals.
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Kepos Street Kitchen, Redfern Credit: Kepos Street Kitchen
Kepos Street Kitchen deli fridge stocks a selection of signature dips and meals.
Shopping small and local is imperative during lockdown so smaller businesses can survive, says Rantissi. “In the first lockdown, my poultry supplier rang and said, ‘I have so many chickens and no one is buying them. Could you?’. I wondered who would buy a raw chicken from my café but said ‘yes’.” He marinated the chickens in 17 ingredients overnight, butterflied and packaged them for roasting at home. “We sell up to 500 of those a week.”
Kepos Street Kitchen opened with an elegant aesthetic and game-changing breakfast menu of falafel and shakshuka.
Rantissi, who was born in Tel Aviv and is passionate about the city’s street food, included falafel and shakshuka on the menu when he opened the restaurant 10 years ago. While he once thought no one would eat Middle Eastern cuisine for breakfast, Kepos Street Kitchen has evolved the way Sydneysiders brunch and has been busy ever since.
“In lockdown, it’s been a new busy that none of us expected. What Kepos Street Kitchen brings is a range of food cooked by chefs, ingredients from artisan producers and value for money.” Whether it’s falafel for breakfast or Rantissi’s go-to dinner of za'atar chicken, cauliflower salad and pita, he wants people to create their favourite meal from Kepos – “Food is so personal. If you enjoy it – it doesn’t matter what it is.”
Kepos Street Kitchen, Redfern Credit: Kepos Street Kitchen
The Kepos Street Kitchen mezze box is available to order online.
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Kepos Street Kitchen, Redfern Credit: Kepos Street Kitchen
The Kepos Street Kitchen mezze box is available to order online.
Kepos Street Kitchen, Redfern Credit: Kepos Street Kitchen
Kepos Street Kitchen's mezze box, a great option for picnics.
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Kepos Street Kitchen, Redfern Credit: Kepos Street Kitchen
Kepos Street Kitchen's mezze box, a great option for picnics.
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The NSW Government via Destination NSW is sharing a series of NSW Success Stories – businesses of all types that have adapted their offerings to face the current environment and continue serving their community with a fresh approach and shining success. These innovative initiatives are nothing short of inspiring.
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The Fall Guy Credit: Universal & UPI Media
The Fall Guy in Sydney with a spectacular Glebe Island Silo Stunt
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Action-comedy film The Fall Guy explodes onto Australian screens on 24 April, and along with Hollywood superstars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, Sydney also plays a starring role. But the city isn’t just a backdrop to many of the action-packed scenes in the film, it also offers real-life action experiences to get your heart pumping. Here’s our guide to high-octane experiences in Sydney.
On-the-water adrenaline
Just like Ryan Gosling blasting around Sydney Harbour in a high-speed boat chase, you too can feel the wind in your hair, the sea spray on your face and your heart in your mouth on an Oz Jet Boating experience. These bright red, shark-faced jetboats fish-tail, spin and slide under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, past Dawes Point Park (where we meet Jean Claude the kelpie in the film) and the iconic Sydney Opera House, leaving you breathless and somewhat damp. Turn it down a notch with a two-, three- or five-day course from EastSail, with classes on the calm shores of Rushcutters Bay, or go five-star by hiring your very own superyacht from the fleet at Sydney Harbour Luxe Charters – Ghost II was featured in the film.
Get locked in an escape room
A bolted door, a countdown clock and a series of fiendish puzzles – outsmart the bad guys and challenge your friends in one of Sydney’s best escape rooms. Award-winning The Cipher Room, with locations in Newtown and St Peters, offers immersive, expertly designed rooms. Choose from a film noir-style hotel, a mysterious abandoned toy shop or a dystopian French bunker. Entermission Sydney has virtual-reality rooms, with themes like Alice in Wonderland, a pirate ship or space station. While not strictly an escape room, the one-of-a-kind Hijinx Hotel is a fun escape-like challenge set inside a quirky 15-room hotel.
Hickson Road Reserve, Dawes Point Credit: Destination NSW
Friends walking along Sydney Harbour in the morning.
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Hickson Road Reserve, Dawes Point Credit: Destination NSW
Friends walking along Sydney Harbour in the morning.
Oz Jet Boating, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Experience the incredible speed of the red shark boats as they blast across Sydney harbour at high speed with Oz Jet Boating.
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Oz Jet Boating, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Experience the incredible speed of the red shark boats as they blast across Sydney harbour at high speed with Oz Jet Boating.
Find your need for speed
It’s not an action movie without a car chase, and while you can’t speed through the CBD streets like Ryan Gosling and Jean Claude, you can still challenge your friends to race via go kart at Hyper Karting Moore Park. At the 410-metre indoor track, the electric cars offer plenty of exhilarating straights and corners, with a high-speed function to help you overtake your mates. True petrol heads should make a pitstop at Luddenham Raceway in southwest Sydney, where the go karts are fuelled and the 600m outdoor pro circuit offers 12 high-speed corners and even nighttime drives. Want to do the real thing? Trackschool has half-day passenger or driving experiences in a Porsche 911 Carrera also at the raceway.
Have an adventure up high
A high-stakes, sky-high chopper scene is an action flick essential; recreate the experience (minus the stress) on a flight with Sydney HeliTours. The 20- or 30-minute tours take in jaw-dropping views of harbour icons like the Sydney Opera House, Taronga Zoo, Bondi Beach and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Or live out your Hollywood star dreams onboard the luxury Sydney Seaplanes. If free-falling from the sky like Ryan Gosling does jumping from a multi-story building is the heart race you crave, get the thrills without the spills at iFly Downunder: fully accessible, all-ages indoor skydiving that will make you feel like a superhero. Or take a day trip to the Blue Mountains for a ride on Scenic World’s 270m-high glass-cased Beyond Skyway for that soaring feeling while safely enclosed in a cable car.
Luddenham Raceway, Luddenham Credit: Destination NSW
Track Day at Luddenham Raceway Motorsport Park, Luddenham.
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Luddenham Raceway, Luddenham Credit: Destination NSW
Track Day at Luddenham Raceway Motorsport Park, Luddenham.
Sydney Seaplanes, Rose Bay Credit: Destination NSW
Couple ready to enjoy a Sydney Seaplanes flight from Rose Bay, Sydney.
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Sydney Seaplanes, Rose Bay Credit: Destination NSW
Couple ready to enjoy a Sydney Seaplanes flight from Rose Bay, Sydney.
Scale walls and cliffs
Action heroes need to be agile and spider-like; flex your skills scaling rock walls at one of Sydney’s top indoor rock-climbing centres. Climb Fit in St Leonards has beginner and high-tech climbs using augmented reality, while Ledge is a smaller centre in Camperdown perfect for beginners, and BlocHaus in Marrickville focuses solely on bouldering. If you prefer to climb surrounded by waterfalls and forests, make the extra leap to the Blue Mountains, and challenge yourself on an abseil or rock-climb under the expert guidance of the Blue Mountains Adventure Company.
Spots to refuel
After all that adventuring, you’re going to need a spot to refuel and cheers to a big day. Make it a meal with a view at Aster Bar on top of the InterContinental Sydney – with uninterrupted views of the harbour. The rooftop bar featured in the film is the Ivy – which is a local favourite for big nights out. Partake in Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s love for spicy margaritas at Centro 86, a new underground tequila bar in the CBD, or taste award-winning cocktails at Dean and Nancy on 22. Finish up with a feast at one of the restaurants located around Jones Bay Wharf (you’ll spot this area in the film as Ryan Gosling hides on his boat from the bad guys) or snack in the late-night dining havens in Chinatown: try Japanese izakaya Nakano Darling, xiao long bao from Nanjing Dumpling or Mamak’s legendary roti.
Rest your head
Even heroes need their beauty sleep. Rest up like an A-lister at the Kimpton Margot, a recently opened CBD hotel with Art Deco touches, and featured in the movie (ask Kevin for the fruit plate). Compact yet comfortable, the Little National Hotel is located in the heart of the city near Wynyard (also a major filming locale for The Fall Guy). And for a boutique hotel suitable for everyone from film stars to stunt crew, stay in the Ace Hotel in Surry Hills, with unique in-room features like guitars, record players and locally made custom robes.
Sydney Adventure Tours, Katoomba Credit: Destination NSW
Sydney Adventure Tours offers private tours to the Blue Mountains. With an experienced tour guide, take a bushwalk through nature and experience the rainforests.
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Sydney Adventure Tours, Katoomba Credit: Destination NSW
Sydney Adventure Tours offers private tours to the Blue Mountains. With an experienced tour guide, take a bushwalk through nature and experience the rainforests.
Little National Hotel, Sydney Credit: Little National Hotel
The rooftop lounge at the Little National, in Wynyard in Sydney.
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Little National Hotel, Sydney Credit: Little National Hotel
The rooftop lounge at the Little National, in Wynyard in Sydney.