TWIG CAFE 

Twig Café at Garden Life is collaboration between owners Richard and Rainey Francis, and Garden Life Principal Richard Unsworth. The two Dicks have known each other for many years, first meeting whilst working at in a restaurant in Bondi 15 years ago.

Whilst enjoying a long lunch at Skye Gyngell’s Petersham Nurseries in London, the Dicks came up with a plan to combine food and plants in a contemporary setting, like the Garden Life shop. With this in mind, Richard Unsworth packed Garden Life up from its tiny Darlinghurst digs and moved to a much larger space in Surry Hills, all the time dreaming of a little café out the back....

Fast forward a year or so and the Twig café is open for business. And it’s looking pretty damn hot too! Championing sustainable and locally sourced produce, the menu focuses on clean, fresh flavours. From a quick snack, sandwich, or full blown entrée, main and desert - the café has a broad range of tasty tucker on offer.

Not only is the food amazing, the coffee is out of this world! With the fabulous organic Single Origin Roasters coffee team behind us, how could we be making anything less than mind blowing coffee? All day, every day…

THE GOOD STUFF:
The Francis family has an impeccable foodie pedigree with Richard having been the Executive Chef for bills (Darlinghurst, Surry Hills and Woollahra) and Eight Over Eight restaurant in London. A passionate chef, Richard is a champion of fresh, clean flavours and locally sourced seasonal produce. Rainey also knows a thing or two about hospitality, having managed bills in Darlinghurst and Surry Hills, Kylie Kwong’s restaurant Billy Kwong, and currently working at Red Lantern Vietnamese restaurant in Surry Hills. Prior to this she was the General Manager of East@West, Christine Manfield’s fine dining restaurant in London.

THE GREEN STUFF:
Where possible, Twig cafe uses locally sourced produce from the Sydney basin. Reduced food miles, fresh produce, chemical free and seasonal eating is our philosophy, and we are sticking with it.  We are not just talking the green talk ‘cause it sounds good. It’s what we do…it’s embedded in the Garden Life philosophy. For example, we have recently helped set up James Street Community Garden, in the rear lane behind our shop. Once it gets established we aim to source our herbs and leafy greens from there. Can’t get fresher than that! And, in return we will be adding all our green waste to the garden’s compost heap to create nutrient rich organic matter to nourish the gardens.

 

Twig's phone number is 02 8021 6406