Bush

Overview

On a weeknight at the beginning of July back in 2019, Bush very quietly opened its doors. The George Street hole-in-the-wall quickly became a hit.

The brains behind the concept, Head Chef Grant Lawn saw the restaurant as an opportunity to bring the Australian bush back to the forefront of Sydney's dining landscape — by opening Bush right in the middle of Redfern. "I wanted to make a positive difference in the community," says Lawn. "Start a place that could bring people together and start conversations, while eating food inspired by the Australian outback."

The menu is small (very), but there isn't an item that doesn't look appealing. Cheeseburgers, chips, fairy bread and butter pudding — it's as if the menu from your sixth birthday party got a revamp.

The American-style cheeseburger at Bush is very good. It's certainly not Australian, but Lawn said they had to put it on the menu because "that's what Aussies want". For the meat-free folk, there's also a mean mushroom burger.

Born and raised in Sydney, Lawn briefly studied landscape architecture before turning his focus to cooking. While he was playing around with the idea of opening his own restaurant, he realised he could combine the two by landscaping a restaurant to resemble the Australian bush he grew up in. Which is exactly what he did. The space is filled with roughly cut stools and long wooden tables, native Australian plants adorn the tables and you'll spot stuffed toy versions of native Australian fauna hidden around, too.

Bush started as a pop-up in popular Sydney establishments like Young Henrys, before Lawn found the perfect spot in Redfern to set up shop permanently. And we're very glad he did.

Kitti Gould

Images: Kitti Gould.