By Jacqui Taffel
DROOL
Janell Smith knew she was on to a good thing when her first public batch of doughnuts sold out in less than an hour. Originally from a small midwest town in the US, Smith now lives in Dural with her husband and dogs, and decided she wanted to share her love of the doughnut with Sydney. It took about three months of experimenting before she got the taste and texture she wanted and launched Woah Nelly. She makes about 1300 doughnuts a week mainly delivering to the CBD. Of the main nine flavours, biggest hits are the maple bacon and salted caramel with pretzels, Smith's personal favourite. Her latest inventions for autumn are orange and toasted pistachio and buttered popcorn with vanilla glaze. Box of nine doughnuts, $45, free CBD deliveries on Fridays; order before 3pm on Thursdays at woahnellybakes.com.
Woah Nelly doughnuts made by Janell Smith.
ADMIRE
In the never-ending pile up of new cookbooks, Anatolia stands out as a beauty. The hefty, fabric-covered tome takes a stroll through the marvels of Turkish history and food, from how to make your own apple tea to oxtail dumplings in yoghurt broth. On one page is a traditional sheep's head soup, on the next a simple watermelon and feta salad. It's the work of Somer Sivrioglu of Efendy restaurant in Balmain, who moved from Istanbul to Sydney at 25, and David Dale, ex-SMH journo. Much more than a bunch of recipes with pretty pictures, it's an entertaining education, with Sivrioglu's personal anedotes and delicious photos by Bree Hutchins of dishes, people and scenes of Turkey. Anatolia, Murdoch Books, $79.99.
Anatolia by Somer Sivrioglu and David Dale, Murdoch Books.
VOTE
Jeremy Bentley and Joe Grbac have been mates for 12 years after working together at Michelin-starred London restaurant The Square. These days they both head up their own places, The Devonshire in Surry Hills and Saint Crispin in Melbourne respectively. They will reunite in Bentley's kitchen for a collaboration dinner, cooking three courses each with some new dishes and some signatures including St Crispin's ocean trout that takes a mere nine hours to prepare. Bentley reckons there won't be too much cheffy testosterone-fuelled competition on the night, but Grbac is not so sure. "We might even do a vote to see whose dishes customers like better." Tuesday, March 24, 6.30pm, $160 (including wine) The Devonshire, 204 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills, 9698 9427.
WANDER
Taste of Sydney occupies the green fields of Centennial Park this weekend. It's not just about trying as many dishes from the hatted restaurant stalls as possible, you can pick up some useful skills to take home - Mark Best from Marque will show you how to hold a knife, Rowie Dillon from Rowie's Cakes reveals scientific secrets of flour. Make a diary note for the Little Havana Street Fair at Ryde next weekend, with flavours from Cuba, Central and South America, Spain and Portugal as well as Cuban-inspired jewellery plus real-deal Panama hats and free dance classes. Taste, Saturday, noon-10pm, Sunday, noon-5pm, Brazilian Fields, Centennial Park, tasteofsydney.com.au. Little Havana, March 21, 11am-10pm, March 22, 11am-4pm, Top Ryde City shopping centre, Blaxland Road, toprydecity.com.au/havana.