Cafe Parker opens in Rosebery with a focus on health

A Brussels sprout caesar salad, and soba noodles with shiitake mushrooms, are just two of the dishes on the opening menu at Cafe Parker, Rosebery's newest food venue.

Cafe Parker is part of the opening volley (a Japanese restaurant-bar in Darlinghurst is also on the way) from Paul Schulte's new hospitality group Hunger, aimed at supporting emerging talent.

Schulte was known as a bar tsar during his time as creative director at Keystone and he currently owns city restaurant-bar Prince of York. So what's he doing wading into the cafe sector?

"I feel cafes are missing the mark, [not] being health-focused," he says. "There is a gap in the market for this."

Schulte believes customers want lighter, more female-friendly food. Cafe Parker's Brussels sprout caesar salad, for instance, comes with dressing based on yoghurt rather than mayonnaise.

Schulte has handed the kitchen reins at Cafe Parker to chef Adam Burke and Rudi Yanto. As well as offering sandwiches at a competitive price point ($10-$16), the chefs are tapping their back catalogue.

Burke's background at Manly's Sunset Sabi has ushered in a few Japanese touches to the menu, among them ramen eggs.

While the Cafe Parker name is a nod to its location, in the former Parker Furniture warehouse, why did they choose busy Botany Road?

"The space was right and the area is really vibey," Schulte explains.

With an influx of new business and residents, the longer-term plan is to open for dinner a couple of nights a week.

"We've applied for a liquor licence," he says.

Open Mon-Fri 7am-3pm.

755 Botany Road, Rosebery