Just Open: Baraka, Pyrmont

Gluten-free and paleo dieters, this pop-up's for you.

Actually, Baraka is for anyone who just loves great food. Chef and owner Fouad Kassab has made a name for himself in Sydney's suburbs by cooking delicious, Middle Eastern-inspired food with a focus on gluten-free ingredients. Last seen on the pans at Summer Hill's Chic Pea pop-up, Kassab is also 100 per cent committed to using grass-fed meats, sustainable seafood and traditional fats wherever possible.

"Baraka is a continuation of what I was doing at Chic Pea," he says.

"It continues my philosophy of using whole foods and real foods. There will be a set menu for people that are gluten-free but we'll also be using older variety grains like spelt and rye that haven't been tampered with. With Baraka, I wanted to focus on some more traditional Middle Eastern dishes that rely heavily on wheat."

Kassab says the menu will still feature a few favourites from his Chic Pea days such as hummus with capsicum relish and burnt chilli butter ($14), pistachio kofta with cardamom pumpkin puree and sumac onions ($20) and slow-cooked lamb shoulder pilaf with tahini and fried almonds ($30).

At the sweeter end of the scale there's the "Middle Eastern chaos" - a twist on an Eton Mess featuring rose mascarpone, seasonal fruit, pomegranate sugar, meringue and pistachios ($18) - as well as ricotta dumplings with a date and coffee butterscotch sauce ($18).

Kassab is using the Pyrmont location for his new venture in collaboration with food rescue charity OzHarvest. Like Chic Pea, Baraka will not be around forever.

"I did a charity dinner for [OzHarvest CEO] Ronni Kahn and we got along really quite well," Kassab says. "She offered me a space at Alexandria to do a pop-up, and I was gearing up to move in, but then the place we're in now was offered to OzHarvest. Eventually the housing company that owns the building will want to move in but it's ours to use for now."

A percentage of Baraka's takings are donated to OzHarvest. Additionally, Kassab will be hiring students from the charity's Nourish program, which teaches cooking and hospitality skills to disadvantaged youth.

Baraka is BYO for now, too, with a liquor licence expected soon. When that time comes, expect to see affordable hard-to-find wines from Turkey and Lebanon, as well as a solid range of raki and the anise-flavoured spirit, arak.

And in case you were wondering, Baraka means "blessing" in Arabic, Kassab says. The whole-foods cafe has nothing to do with the 44th president of the United States or the blade-toting warrior in Mortal Kombat.

56 Harris Street Pyrmont, 02 8065 3657, barakaoz.com.au, dinner Thu-Sat (first sitting 6-8pm, second sitting 8:30pm-close), Sun 8am-3pm