Seed oil free café and restaurant guide to Sydney
Becca Crawford
Dear Community,
It’s here! You kept asking for my list of clean eats and I obliged. By clean eats I am not referred to cafes who only buy organic produce or wild seafood or grass fed meats. We would be getting way too ahead of ourselves in that case. No, no, we are talking about something far more basic and elementary than that: the quality of the fats and oils that they cook in. Let’s start there. Why? Because if the café or restaurant uses industrial seed oils to cook with, then I don’t care how “fresh” or “organic” or “local” or “seasonal” or “paddock to plate” their philosophy is: they are destroying the quality of ingredients in a toxic sludge called industrial seed oils.
By industrial seed oils I am referring to vegetable oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, rice bran oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, grapeseed oil, soybean oil, peanut oil, hydrogenated oils, and trans fats including margarine.
Don’t be fooled by the clever marketing of the term “vegetable” oils. Vegetable oils are made from seeds, not vegetables.
What is so bad about industrial seed oils anyway? In a word, they are toxic. I discuss at length in my one on one health coaching sessions or my Food as Medicine digital package but in a nutshell here is the bad news:
Seeds don’t want to give up their oils. High heat, high pressure and chemicals are required to extract oils from seeds rendering the oils rancid (unstable)
They are high in omega 6 PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids) which cause inflammation. Inflammation is the root cause of all modern disease regardless of the name of the disease.
More specifically, seed oils impair cellular function, impair neural (brain) connections, cause oxidative stress, disrupt hormones, have been linked to infertility, mental health problems (e.g. violent behaviour) and all modern diseases including heart disease and cancer.
They are polyunsaturated fats are hence not heat stable
They have no nutrient value (completely empty calories)
They are much harder to detox from our cells than refined sugar and refined starches
The dangers of industrial seed oils have been spelt out at length in the following works, (to name just a few sources):
“Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon
The vast body of work by the Weston A Price Foundation
“Your Personal Paleo Code” by Chris Kresser
“Deep Nutrition: Why Our Genes Need Traditional Foods” by Dr Catherine Shanahan and Luke Shanahan
“Primal Body, Primal Mind” by Nora Gegaudas
“Big Fat Lies” by David Gillespie
“Nourishing Fats” by Sally Fallon
You can also read more about the dangers of margarine and seed oils towards the end of my butter blog.
What’s even worse is how ubiquitous industrial seed oils are. They are found in most packaged foods, used by ALL fast food chains and THE VASY VAST MAORITY of cafes and restaurants especially for deep frying (e.g. battered fish; chips; tempura). Why? Because they are so cheap to manufacture. The manufacturer’s of these fake oils have done a terrific job with full scale marketing campaigns aimed at convincing us to use them in place of traditional fats (like butter, ghee, olive oil, duck fat, beef, tallow, coconut oil) that have sustained humanity for millennia.
I have been fervently educating on the dangers of industrial seed oils and passionately championing the use of traditional fats and oils since 2007 when I first learnt of the works of Dr Weston A Price and the harmful physical and mental health consequences of industrial seed oil consumption.
My nutritional philosophy (which also underpins my Star Anise Organic Wholefood product offerings and dining offerings at Broth Bar & Larder) is incredibly simple: honour our DNA by eating biologically congruent food. In other words, eat real food, cooked in real fats and oils. We only need to look to our ancestors to get it right as there is so much wisdom in their traditions. Real food is made from ingredients that are whole (unprocessed as possible), nutrient-rich, ethically sourced, and traditional prepared. This is what our DNA understands to be food and what we require to best develop, thrive and function. Refined ingredients especially (A) industrial seed oils, (B) refined sugar and (C) refined starches, are NOT appropriate to our species. While millions around the globe have “quit sugar” or gone “gluten free”, there is a much smaller group that understand that dangers of industrial seed oils yet industrial seed oils are far more toxic (in my view) than sugar and refined starches because they are more alien to our ancient DNA.
The search for seed oil free cafes and restaurants is a sobering one. Surprisingly, they are few and far between. While the dangers of industrial seed oils are (finally) gaining more widespread momentum, we have not, sadly, seen this information translate into the café and restaurant scene (yet!). While restaurants pay homage to DF (dairy free) and GF (gluten free) meals, the memo on the dangers of seed oils has yet to ubiquitously infiltrate the restaurant scene where restaurateurs or their chefs are either ignorant of their dangers or the bottom line (the fact that industrial seed oils are so cheap compared to real fats and oils) prevails. However, I do believe that it is only a matter of time. The more consumers boycott meals and restaurants who cook in seed oils (or at the very least insist that their meal be cooked in butter or olive oil) the more that consumer behaviour will eventually drive the change (indeed consumer behaviour is the only thing that radically drives change). We have to keep (politely) asking and insisting when we take a seat at cafes. Nothing is more important than our health.
Now that the carnage of Covid is behind us (mostly) I thought it timely to go on a search and compile an updated list of all of the industrial seed oil free cafes and restaurants in Sydney. I found 19 businesses that made the list inclusive of, Broth Bar & Larder. I salute these cafes and restaurants for putting health above profits. We need to support and applaud them. Please note that I do not get any kickbacks or benefits from compiling this list or doing this work. I do it for my own benefit of being able to enjoy eating at a variety of places and I simply and generously share my research with my subscribers. I love sharing what I know. Always have, always will. It’s as simple as that.
I have dissected my list into 3 main groups:
Establishments with a strict no seed oil policy in both their cooking and all third party ingredients that come into the premises.
Establishments who don’t cook in seed oils but third party ingredients may contain seed oils.
Establishments who don’t cook in seed oils except for deep frying.
Businesses that only use traditional fats/oils (e.g. olive oil, coconut oil, butter, ghee, beef tallow) and are strictly industrial seed oil free (including all third-party ingredients)
Broth Bar & Larder
49 Belgrave Street, Bronte
0421 786 009
Mon-Sat 8am-6pm, Sun 11am-4pm
Call to pre-order meal of the day
@staraniseorganic
Naturally Sauced (Food Producer or ‘Food House’)
113 Reservoir Street, Surry Hills
0422 297 353
Open Mon-Fri 7am-4pm, locals night Thurs and available for private functions and catering
@naturallysauced
https://www.naturallysauced.com.au/ (Natural sauces, dressings and butters available online)
Bare Wholefoods
Shop 1/1 Bungan Lane, Mona Vale – 02 9999 1950
3/9 Albany Street, St Leonards – 02 9437 9102
Mon-Fri 7am-3:30pm & Sat-Sun 8am-3:30pm (kitchen closes at 3pm)
https://www.barewholefoods.com.au/
@bare.wholefoods
Egg Of The Universe
Shop 2 & 3, 2 Davy Road Building, Eveleigh
02 98103146
Mon-Sun 7:30am-2:30pm
@eggoftheuniverse
https://eggoftheuniverse.com/cafes/
Vibe wholefoods
Westfield Sydney - Level 5, shop 5005, 188 Pitt Street, Sydney
0460 829 668
Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-5pm & Sun 10am-4pm
@vibewholefoods
https://www.vibewholefoods.com/
Ruby Lane
Shops 1&2, 200 Pittwater Road, Manly
02 9977 7386
Mon-Fri 7am-3pm, Sat-Sun 7:30am-3pm
@rubylanewholefoods
https://www.rubylane.com.au (Only item with seed oil is chipotle mayo served with sweet potato wedges)
Bei Amici (High-end Italian)
2B Mona Rd, Darling Point
02 9328 0305
Wed, Thurs & Sat 5pm-10pm and Fri 12pm-10pm
@beiamicisydney
Chester White Cured Diner
3 Orwell St, Potts Point
Tues-Fri 5pm-11pm & Sat 12pm-11pm
@chesterwhitediner
http://www.chesterwhitediner.com.au/
Businesses that only use traditional fats / oils in their kitchen but can not guarantee that third party products/ingredients are industrial seed oil free
Café Patina
64 Coonanbarra Road, Wahroonga
02 9489 0980
Sun-Tues 8am-4pm & Wed-Sat 8am-10pm
@cafepatina
Pompei’s (Sourdough pizza or traditional meat and veg dishes)
126-130 Roscoe St, Bondi Beach (corner of Gould Street)
02 9365 1233
Wed & Thurs 5pm-10pm and Fri-Sun 12pm-10pm
@pompeisbondi
Some vegetables (eg the artichokes used on pizzas) comes in oil from Italy and may be marinated or coated in seed oils. Check before ordering.
Businesses that only use traditional fats/oils (e.g. olive oil, coconut oil, butter, ghee, beef tallow) except use industrial seed oils (cottonseed oil or vegetable oil) for deep frying
La Macellaria Bondi & Newtown
Ground Floor of Pacific Bondi Beach, G09/180 Campbell Parade Bondi Beach
0473 947 834
Mon-Sun 11am-9pm
73-75 Enmore Road, Newtown
(02) 9557 0465
Mon-Sun 12pm-10:30pm
@macelleria_australia
Petermen
66 Chandos Street, St Leonards
02 8387 4836
Wed-Fri 5:30pm-10pm, Sat 12pm-3pm & 5:30pm-10pm and Sun 10am-3pm
@petermendining
Saint Peter (High-end, sustainable seafood)
362 Oxford Street, Paddington
02 8937 2530
Tues-Sun 5:30pm-9pm and Thurs-Sun lunch also 12pm-3:30pm
@saintpeterpaddo
https://www.saintpeter.com.au/
Love Supreme (Sourdough pizza or meat and veg dishes)
180 Oxford Street, Paddington
02 9331 1779
Sun & Tues-Thurs 5pm-10pm and Fri-Sat 5pm-11pm
@lovesupremepizza
Ardi’s Block to Grill
579 Crown Street, Surry Hills
02 9319 4313
Sun-Mon 9am-7:30pm, Tues 9am-8pm, Wed closed and Thurs-Sat 9am-8pm
@ardisblocktogrill
https://www.ardisblocktogrill.com/surryhills
Meats straight from cabinet to grill have no oil or butter to meat, natural meat flavour
The Glasshouse Artarmon
1 Fredrick Street, Artarmon – on the ground floor of Home HQ centre
02 8357 8857
Mon-Wed 8am-5:30pm, Thurs 8am-9pm, Fri 8am-5:30pm and Sat-Sun 8am-5pm
@theglasshouseartarmon
https://theglasshouseartarmon.com.au/
Lox Stock and Barrel
140 Glenayr Ave, Bondi Beach
02 9300 0368
Mon-Sun 7am-2:30pm and Wed-Sat dinner 5:30pm-10pm
@loxstockandbarrel
https://loxstockandbarrel.com.au/
Apollo
44 Macleay Street, Potts Point
02 8354 0888
Mon-Thurs 5:30pm-midnight and Fri-Sun midday-midnight
@theapollosydney
Van Expresso
3/272 Clovelly Road, Coogee
02 8054 5287
Wed-Sun 4pm-10pm
@vanexpressobar
Please note:
This guide is accurate as at April 2023, based on the information that has been supplied to me by the above businesses as to their seed oil practices. I can not guarantee what other businesses do from time to time, so it’s prudent you personally make enquiries with the relevant establishment before booking/ordering, as businesses can freely change their practices. I also have not made enquiries as to what the businesses’ policies are in relation to other refined ingredients or the provenance of their produce, meat and seafood.
I can, however, guarantee that at Broth Bar & Larder (my retail establishment):
All food is free of industrial seed oils, grains (other than packaged buckwheat and Iggys sourdough bread), refined sugar, tap water, and all artificial ingredients
All grains (eg buckwheat, bread), nuts and seeds are properly prepared (e.g. soaked or fermented)
All red meat is grass fed and finished
All poultry is certified organic
All pork is pastured
All fish is wild and not farmed
All produce is certified organic where that is available.
For all other cafes/ restaurants not listed above:
Tell the restaurant you have an allergy or intolerance to industrial seed oils (vegetable oil, canola, cottonseed etc) and ask if they can cook your meal in butter or olive oil. Most are accommodating of this for at least some meals.
Avoid anything deep fried as that is ALWAYS prepared in an industrial seed oil.
Avoid fast food chains as their food is ALWAYS prepared in an industrial seed oil.
Please let me know who I have missed!?
If you know of any other cafes and restaurants in Sydney who have a seed oil free policy and have not been included in the above list please email me.
I hope you found this blog helpful.
In good health,
Love soulla xx