Folonomo Pop-Up Chef Series

Overview

Surry Hills' Folonomo has switched things up. It has closed its doors as a 'profit-for-purpose' restaurant and is now an events space for pop-ups, parties and one-off collaboration dinners.

It's kicking off its new purpose with two dinners this month, when social enterprise The Pure Collective (Portal, Symbol) hosts two of Sydney's top chef's from Hartsyard and Dear Sainte Éloise on Thursday, August 15 and 29, respectively.

First up, Hartsyard chefs Jarrod Walsh (Automata) and Dorothy Lee (Saga, Momofuku Seiobo) will be whipping up a seven-course vegetarian feast. Expect the Enmore restaurant's much-loved fried cheese, with hot mustard and pepper berry, to make the cut. Six new dishes will also be on the menu, including smoked celeriac with sake butter and fried bread; and shiitake mushrooms with buttermilk; and cauliflower and cured egg yolk. Tickets will also include Walsh's signature cocktail on arrive: a blend of whiskey, black tea and grapefruit.

Then, on Thursday, August 29, Dear Sainte Éloise chef Hugh Piper will be in the house and he's serving up a nine-course Peruvian dinner — a cuisine he learnt during time spent cooking in the kitchen at Lima's Astrid y Gastón, which came in at 39 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants List in 2018.

The feast will include dishes such as spicy ocean trout ceviche on prawn crackers, cobia topped with tiger milk and picarones — a pumpkin doughnut doused in fig leaf syrup and corn custard. Pisco sours will be poured on arrival and guests can also opt for an additional South American wine pairing. Monopole's Peter Richardson will even be working the front of house.

Tickets to each night will cost $95 a head, with optional wine pairing available at each dinner. And, as always with The Pure Collective, you'll be wining and dining for a good cause. All proceeds from the Hartsyard dinner will be donated to HopeforOllie, which supports research into muscular dystrophy at The Westmead Children's Hospital. Proceeds from the the Dear Sainte Éloise dinner will go to Beyond Blue, a non-profit supporting Australians with depression and anxiety.

Stay tuned for more collab dinners, too.