La Renaissance/GRAPHIC

Goya cake from La Renaissance

I had a great nerdy last weekend, thanks to the inaugural GRAPHIC weekend at the Sydney Opera House – a celebration of comics and storytelling tradition with a neat range of author and illustrator panels, workshops and performances.

Shaun Tan, Neil Gaiman and Eddie Campbell at GRAPHIC
The events being held at the Opera House meant we spent a lot of time hanging around Circular Quay. And it was a weekend-long hunt to find somewhere nearby that was nice and not too expensive to grab a quick bite. Kind of difficult! Circular Quay tends to specialise in either super fabulous (helloooo Aria!), or overpriced and underwhelming (helloooooooo 24 hour cafes), with not a whole lot of middle ground. And I have to confess we may or may not have ended up at a certain Restauration Rapide in desperation one night after a late-finishing panel (ps. the Ogre Burger is pretty good!! Not gonna lie, I honestly love McDonald’s)

So on the second day, I decided to plan ahead a little, and hit up La Renaissance for lunch before the “Evolution of an Idea” panel.

I know everyone loves La Renaissance for their awesome cakes, but did you know they also make pretty awesome pies!

Boeuf Bourguignon pie – $8, or $11 with salad

Pretty generous salad portion

Of course the price might be a bit shocking if you’re used to bakery prices (or….. 7-Eleven), but seriously they are possibly some of the best pies I’ve ever eaten. They also come in Poulet Chasseur (chicken), Ratatouille (like the movie!) and Minced Beef.

Ok so it’s probably no secret that I love cake.
And I love the cake at La Renaissance.

Mango and Lemon dome

I love the little courtyard out the back. It’s crammed full of little tables, and sheltered by heritage brick walls and umbrellas. Nice and cosy, and lovely to sit in on a sunny day. Ensconced in there with a cake, some macarons, a cup of tea, and some friends is probably the recipe for the most relaxing, well fed Sunday ever.

Macarons – $2.50 each. We chose Passionfruit, Dark Chocolate, Cassis (Blackcurrant), and Strawberry with Vanilla Ganache

If you buy them takeaway, they’ll put them in a beautiful presentation box

The food was great, and worth getting there a bit early. The panel was amazing (NEIL GAIMAN IS MY HERO. SHAUN TAN IS ALSO MY HERO)

Super duper Sunday.

La Renaissance Café Patisserie
47 Argyle Street
The Rocks
Sydney NSW 2000

Ph: 9241 4878
Fax: 9241 4870
Email: orders@larenaissance.com.au