Review: Panivore in Pagewood, where sandwiches wish they were made
Lovers of sandwiches flock to Panivore. For, in this small, friendly light-filled Pagewood cafe, the sandwich is exalted to a curated vehicle of bready brilliance.
Sandwiches are pretty high-falutin' things these days. Vast bread choices. A selection of about 1543 fillings. And nosebleed-inducing price tags to match.
But all the salad ingredients in the world jammed between two expensive loaf slices do not compare with the bread-based beauties created at Panivore.
First, though, it's the service. Not many cafe staff call you "Madam" while wearing a crisp apron and whisking items to the table while holding one hand behind their back. Politeness and attentiveness are paramount at Panivore (which means bread-eater).
Then it's the short but wide-ranging menu featuring Bettina "Betti" Kurth's stonkingly good house-made meatloaf, schnitzels, poached chicken and Indonesian tempeh or tofu. In sandwiches.
The bread today is a light rye sourdough from Luxe Bakery, and all come with lettuce, pickles, cucumber, tomato and house mayonnaise.
If you're lucky the menu special will be beef brisket with cabbage slaw and herbs on toasted rye. Tender meaty shredded goodness layered like lasagne with fresh sliced cabbage and a sweet, kicky dressing.
It is simple, easy to eat and mind-blowingly good.
Or another possible special, the like-a-burger with a succulent square meat patty, fire engine-red tomatoes, lettuce, melted cheese, gherkin and mayonnaise. It is, as the cafe spruiks, for the days when you think, "I want something like a burger, but not a burger."
Sandwiches are folded beautifully into Panivore crest-stamped greaseproof paper on white tin plates.
Panivore also offers salads such as kale, broccoli, beetroot, lentils and walnut – which look delicious and worthy – or a mixed leaves and red cabbage ensemble with herbs, grape tomatoes and some fat, melty, aromatic chunks of sweet potato.
Breakfast includes house-made granola with fresh fruit, chia and oat pudding, ham and cheese toasties and whacking great slabs of fragrant banana bread.
Panivore's site was once a butcher shop in a tiny strip of suburban shops. Will every butcher turn into a cafe? It is run by Kurth, who looks after the food, and Trisatya "Tri" Dharmawan, who helms the coffee; both are formerly of Mecca Circular Quay. The coffee, a creamy and strong flat white, is excellent.
There is a sort of tranquility in Kurth and Dharmawan's eyes when they talk about being in Pagewood and not the busy world of Circular Quay.
The connection with Panivore regulars is strong – those needing a late lunch ring in orders "at 1.59pm" so they can be collected after the kitchen closes at 2pm on weekdays.
Daily newspapers are laid on, there are bags of Mecca coffee to take home and the fridge stocks house-made bottles of cold brew and iced coffee or chocolate. Add a moist and chewy saucer-sized oat and chocolate biscuit from the glass cake cabinet.
You can people-watch from stools at a long front window table, laze in the dinky back room on bench seating with cushions or sit at footpath tables. The decor, front counter, kitchen and furniture set-up is pared-back, serene and neat. There is even a coat rack.
Another stand-out is the size of the coffee cups. Wide and deep, they were selected by Dharmawan, a former winner of the NSW Barista Championship, because they hold the same amount as a takeaway cup. Flock here now.
PANIVORE
29 Dalley Avenue, Pagewood
8034 7070
Mon-Fri, 6am-2.30pm; Sat, 7am-1pm
THE PICKS
Beef brisket special; oat and chocolate biscuits; iced coffee
THE COFFEE
Mecca
THE LOOK
Serene, spruce and light-filled
THE SERVICE
Warm, efficient and enthusiastic
THE VALUE
Extraordinarily good. $5-$12
Lenny Ann Low is a writer and podcaster.