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Just Open: The Greenhouse Centennial Park, Centennial Park

Rebecca Foley

Cafe and bicycle-buff hangout, The Greenhouse in Centennial Park.
Cafe and bicycle-buff hangout, The Greenhouse in Centennial Park.Supplied

Cyclists of Sydney – here's a new establishment to wheel into. The Greenhouse Centennial Park is a bicycle-friendly cafe that has recently opened in the sprawling eastern suburbs park of the same name.

"Cyclists come early in the morning. They congregate at our place – they start here and finish here. What used to happen is that bike riders would finish and go back to cafes in Paddington for a coffee, but now that we're here, they're all coming to us," says co-owner Wally Mostafa.

Of course, this cafe isn't just for cyclists. "The space was built to fill the void in Centennial Park: the area is near the kids' cycleway and the barbecue area, where a lot of families go for picnics and parties. So they wanted to fill in that gap where the park needed it most," Mostafa says.

Brunch with a book at Centennial Park's new cafe.
Brunch with a book at Centennial Park's new cafe.Supplied
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The Greenhouse has plenty to lure in park-goers: coffee by caffeine legends Campos, bread by Sonoma and "queenuts" (cronuts) by Queens Pastri House.

Co-owners Mostafa and David Conceicao​ are the experienced team behind the Al Aseel restaurants – which took out the gong for best restaurant in 2014's Good Food Cheap Eats awards. Joining them is chef Tiago Conceicao, who was previously at London venues Dinner by Heston and The Savoy.

"What we were looking to bring to The Greenhouse was some of the Middle-Eastern flavours you might find in Al Aseel – just presented a little differently, and designed for meals in the park," says Tiago Conceicao.

Breakfast dishes include a haloumi and egg roll with capsicum spread ($13) or Egyptian dukkah eggs with basturma salad and labna ($18). For lunch, there's a kafta wrap served with hummus, pickles and spicy tahini ($10) or the grazing plate of grilled haloumi, falafel, eggplant, cauliflower and dip ($18).

Open daily, 7am-6pm (closes at 4pm when daylight savings ends).

The Greenhouse Centennial Park, ​(via the Darley St entrance), Grand Drive, Centennial Park, thegreenhouse.com.au

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