Lobby Boy

Overview

Gone are the days when a lobby was just a lobby. Now, you'll find all sorts of great cafes, wine bars and coffee nooks jazzing up the bottom of office buildings and residential complexes all over Australia. And for Sydney, one of these is cafe Lobby Boy, which has made its home in Northpoint Tower, right in the middle of the action of the North Sydney CBD.

Spurred by the success of the original Lobby Boy over in Commonwealth Bank's Eveleigh site, this northern counterpart is once again the work of Ramzey Choker — the mind behind hits like The Grounds of Alexandria and The Grounds of the City.

The result of another collaboration with design studio Acme and the Cromwell Property Group, Lobby Boy North Sydney is decked out with rustic timber flooring, soft lighting and splashes of musk pink and deep green. It's a warm and relaxed space, designed to act as a chilled out meeting place for the buzzing Miller Street office block above.

From the kitchen comes a contemporary daytime offering, flecked with international influences. You'll spy the likes of a brioche brekky jaffle stuffed with maple-glazed bacon, roast tomato, egg and smoked barbecue mayo, and a brown rice chirashi salad starring tuna tartare, edamame, charred avocado and salted kombu. A ploughman's-style sandwich is loaded with leg ham, cheese, pickles, heirloom tomato and relish, and a lineup of small plates features the likes of Asian-style South Australian mussels, fried school prawns and an heirloom carrot and buffalo mozzarella tart.

Of course, coffees are pumping all day. To match, there's a range of shakes and smoothies, and a line of house-made sodas in flavours like Berry Minty and Pine Passion Fizz.

Choker and his team also have plenty more big things in the works, including a huge new dining precinct, espresso bar and coffee research lab opening in South Eveleigh next year. So stay tuned for that one.