Review: Hazelhurst Cafe, a garden party in Gymea

Taking a seat at Hazelhurst Cafe, there's a lot to look at. Outside is a beautiful garden, with green lawns, stands of gums, and a landscaped stream running through it. Inside, a row of coloured paintbrushes hangs from the ceiling like bunting, a towering floral arrangement with wooden boxes and fruit make an impressive still life, and the kitchen has Dame Edna glasses, courtesy of a fanciful mural.

The cafe is part of a busy community art gallery, which for our visit has playful, interactive exhibitions aimed at young visitors, as well as a display of splendid artwork by schoolchildren from throughout the state.

What strikes us is that everyone here looks happy. The kids playing in the garden, throwing footballs, digging in the sandpit and jumping across stepping stones in the water; the parents eating, drinking and talking inside, or out on the deck, with a clear view of their progeny; and the children and adults making their own art at the gallery's well-stocked DIY activity table.

This garden, and the small green cottage in the middle of it, used to belong to Ben and Hazel Broadhurst, who moved to Gymea when it was still a rural backwater, and kept goats, cows, chickens and a pony. When they died, they bequeathed the land to the Sutherland Shire Council, with instructions to use it as a place of culture, serving the local community. The new gallery opened in 2000, and the cottage now houses the artist-in-residence.

The cafe is a drawcard in itself. The place is packed when we order and pay at the counter, and it takes a while for our food to arrive. With two boys, aged 8 and 10, in our party this would usually result in a certain amount of whining about how starving they are. Fortunately, they are too busy throwing and kicking various balls out on the grass to remember their stomachs.

The food is quite arty when it arrives, in a good way. Served on a beautiful blue earthenware plate, a sculpted pile of yellow saffron-tinted orecchiette pasta with suckling lamb ragu is garnished with mint leaves and zucchini flowers, with a shower of parmesan on top. The rich ragu doesn't overwhelm the pasta, and though the serve looks a little small, it turns out to be perfect. On my friend's plate, large pieces of tea-smoked chicken perch on top of beetroot-red-tinged quinoa, with orange segments and Persian feta, topped with crushed pistachios and a yuzu dressing.

The edible art prize, however, goes to the Jackson-Pollock-esque special of seafood naked sushi, an elaborate, elongated construction with prawns, avocado, crab, crispy noodles and fish roe on brown rice. It's the 10-year-old's choice, and he gets through most of it, leaving just enough for the adults to try. The eight-year-old goes the more traditional kids menu route with fish and chips, which comes as a pack with an apple and a Nudie juice. The chips are excellent and the mums are told off for stealing them.

The cafe is fully licensed, including cocktail pitchers. Tempting as a jug of watermelon and ginger mojito is, we stick to coffees, which are excellent, while the boys finish with a fruity organic ice-block. Stomachs full, we wander through the galleries. We like the hanging logs made of salvaged wood, wire and tyres that emit sounds of dingoes, frogs and birds, and the soft-toy sculptures that play music when you hug them. We pick our favourites from the schoolchildren's works – mine is a mad trio of emus by Abigail Ng, 8, of Clovelly Public School.