When The Botanica first threw open its doors in 2018, its fresh farm-to-fork menu, plush pink chairs, and hanging garden aesthetic made it a firm favourite with brunch fiends keen to pair great eats with a picture-perfect setting (read: Instagram opps).
After shutting up shop during 2020's COVID lockdowns, this month The Botanica is finally making a post-pandemic comeback with a brand new fine-dining chef at the helm and a new gluten-free menu.
While the sunlit conservatory slash garden oasis look and feel has remained, taking over the reins in the kitchen is chef Carl Johnson, whose resume includes stints at Heston Blumenthal's Michelin star restaurant in the UK, as well as working as head chef at The Bridge Room in Sydney and sous chef at Quay (just casually).
Johnson's new menu hasn't strayed too far from The Botanica's OG food philosophy. With a strong focus on locally sourced, organic, and seasonal ingredients, inspiration for food and drinks is drawn from The Botanica's surrounding kitchen garden.
For breakfast, try the green shakshuka with chargrilled avocado, sour cream, and chilli, or the avocado and grape guacamole on toast with confit tomato and crispy chickpea. Sweet tooths will love the sweet potato waffles blueberries, mascarpone cream, and candied walnut.
For lunch and dinner, set the tone with a plate of freshly shucked oysters served with a prosecco mignonette, finger lime, and wakame. Back it up with The Botanica's spin on a few Sydney MVPs, like burrata, served with beetroot, truffle, and hazelnut pesto, and a wagyu beef tartare plated up with cultured cream, mushroom, and potato crisps.
Mains are unfussy, refined staples like a woodfired cornfed chicken with whipped polenta, a wagyu rump cap with chimichurri and confit onion, and, for vegos, a tasty smoked eggplant dish with silken tofu, mushroom dashi, and sesame.
Coeliacs and the gluten-intolerant crowd will be stoked to learn The Botanica's new menu is completely gluten-free, save for the sourdough served at breakfast.
To drink, The Botanica will be pouring a fresh range of floral and fruit-inspired spritz and cocktail jugs. Keen to dial things up? The Botanica has bottomless packages which include your choice of two hours of Prosecco, wine, and spritz ($55 per person), or Veuve Clicquot champagne ($95 per person).
For now, The Botanica is open just three days—for brunch on the weekends (9am - 11.30am) and lunch and dinner Friday through Sunday.
Perfect for pretty brunches, long lunches, bridal showers, and yes—those upcoming Mother’s Day celebrations—jump over here for more info including opening hours.
Suss out more of our favourite spots for a long lunch in Sydney here. And for more of Sydney's best gluten-free eats, jump over here.
Image credit: Nikki To