The Chelsea Tea House

Following in famous footsteps can be a precarious business - as many an actor will attest. For the recent film adaptation of John le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Gary Oldman agonised about reprising the role Alec Guinness had made famous in the celebrated BBC television version.

''The ghost of Guinness loomed so large,'' Oldman told New York Magazine in an interview about his portrayal of spy George Smiley. ''I thought people might say, 'Who the f--- does he think he is?'''

Shaun Pereira may well sympathise. He is a chef, not an actor, but for locals in a particular pocket of the northern beaches, stepping into kitchen at The Chelsea Tea House is as presumptuous as slipping into one of Smiley's sombre suits.

It has been years since Lucienne Curchod sold the business but the memory of her inventive menus - and that wagyu brisket roll - lingers. With Curchod, the casual cafe became a dining destination.

Pereira, the second owner since Curchod's departure, is determined to do his own thing. He has new staff, new coffee, a new menu, and a new look for the courtyard and kitchen.

He says the only thing he has kept is the name, although wagyu brisket is still on the menu. It is a different recipe - Pereira braises it for six hours in American-style honey mustard and serves it with coleslaw.

From the breakfast crowd sipping coffee and lounging in wicker chairs, it seems he has won over the locals.

The paved front courtyard, with vines climbing up the walls and white Chinese lanterns festooning the rafters, feels like a private garden. Things are just as homey inside the little white cottage, where vintage advertising prints adorn the walls and everything smells of freshly ground coffee.

The coffee tastes as good as it smells. We sip smooth, strong cups of a Little Marionette blend as we pore over a breakfast menu with few surprises. It is the usual eggs-and-sourdough-dominated line-up. But here's something different - black pudding! Served as a side or on its own with garlic toast. From a butcher in Narrabeen, it is made from pork offal and comes in crunchy little rounds of deep burgundy. Breadcrumbs in the mix add a pleasant crunchy texture and the hint of garlic cuts through the moreish saltiness.

The other breakfasts are well put together. Two neatly poached eggs, yolks pushing at almost translucent whites, sit on toasted sourdough with avocado and a dollop of fresh and punchy salsa verde. Eggs benedict come on fairly ordinary English muffins and ham but the house-made hollandaise is lip-smackingly light and lemony. Garlic mushrooms add interest to fried eggs on toast.

There seems to be more originality on the lunch menu. The home-made pate, steak baguette, smoked salmon salad and creme brulee all look tempting, especially when paired with a tipple from the succinct blackboard list of wines and beers.

In everything, the emphasis is on simple things done well. In its latest incarnation, The Chelsea Tea House makes no attempt to reproduce the menus of old, instead creating new reasons to like the familiar space. That, as those in showbiz would confirm, is an excellent approach to any beloved character.

Menu Relaxed, cafe-style meals.

Value Good. Breakfast, $6-$16; lunch, $14-$18.

Recommended dishes Poached egg and avocado with salsa verde on sourdough; black pudding.

THE CHELSEA TEA HOUSE

Shop 2, 48 Old Barrenjoey Road, Avalon, 9973 3090
Mon-Sun, breakfast and lunch, 7.30am- 2.30pm
Licensed and BYO ($3 corkage)