When he's in the kitchen at his flagship Sydney restaurant Aria, Matt Moran has sweeping views of the Opera House and Circular Quay. He's turning out dishes, with the help of executive chef Thomas Gorringe, such as duck liver parfait with shimeji mushroom, mustard leaf and chestnut.
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Today he's making sandwiches on Bunda Street with a view of the back end of Kathmandu across the road.
Indeed he's making a lot of sandwiches. His new sandwich shop &Sando made 100 sandwiches in the first 55 minutes of trade on opening day. By 3pm they had sold out.
He even had the kitchen team from his neighbouring Italian steakhouse Compa, which doesn't open until next week, on the case. Compa executive chef Nick Mathieson (ex Bistecca and Misc Parramatta) might well be sick of bread by then.
![Matt Moran has opened the first of his new Canberra venues, &Sando. Picture by Keegan Carroll Matt Moran has opened the first of his new Canberra venues, &Sando. Picture by Keegan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/MUwv8t3Wj4u7LSUBpSbqhh/3a58213f-3e5c-4e0d-8ab9-ced3d9cbbbe7.jpg/r0_322_5000_3333_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"We're going to have a lot of fun here," says Moran, who's taken a break from filling coffee orders and supervising sandwich output.
"There's been a boom of sandwich shops in Sydney of late, I think it came out of lockdown when places had to pivot.
"I love a sandwich and I think I've eaten at most of them but I had one a while back from Cut Lunch Deli in Randwick, former Quay pastry chef Libby Dunlop runs it, and I thought this is something I want to have a crack at."
He puts the sandwich boom down to the product's convenience, price point and quality.
"And bread is a thing, during COVID everyone was baking bread, and there's some great bakeries here in Canberra that we're using," he said.
He says he's copped a bit of flack from his Sydney-based chef friends about coming to Canberra. The usual complaints about the cold and how boring it is.
"But I think the Canberra food scene is booming, it feels like a bit of a hot spot at the moment," he says.
"I had a phenomenal meal at Such and Such the other night."
![The 'Shroomy' sandwich, with grilled field mushroom, rocket, pesto and ricotta on ciabatta. Picture by Keegan Carroll The 'Shroomy' sandwich, with grilled field mushroom, rocket, pesto and ricotta on ciabatta. Picture by Keegan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/MUwv8t3Wj4u7LSUBpSbqhh/11709322-0f53-47f3-87a4-4422c968a539.jpg/r0_411_5000_3333_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
And he's been spotted at the BentSpoke Brewpub in Braddon and has caught up with Hao Chen, who's just next door at Raku.
&Sando opened at 7am and a few hardy Canberrans were already waiting for a Single O Coffee and a morning pastry.
Sandwiches came out at 11am and there was a substantial queue on Bunda Street.
The sandwich menu is elevated. We can vouch for the "Shroomy", a meaty grilled field mushroom with rocket, pesto and ricotta on ciabatta; and the "Not so boring", a ham and egg baguette with salad, cheddar and rocket.
The signature "Steak Sanga" is made to order in the Compa kitchen, a tender piece of steak with lettuce, tomato, caramelised onion, beetroot and cheese.
![Canberrans flocked to the new sandwich store on opening day. Picture by Keegan Carroll Canberrans flocked to the new sandwich store on opening day. Picture by Keegan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/MUwv8t3Wj4u7LSUBpSbqhh/4f7d0b14-86a2-4d9d-a370-2184b6485827.jpg/r0_344_5000_3166_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Moran says balance is the key to a good sandwich.
"I say to people, when I create a dish, it's all about having a beautiful balance," he says.
"So if you've got something like a chicken schnitzel, which is coated and fried, it's got a fatty feel, you need some sort of acid, whether it's a mayonnaise, whether it's pickles, you've got to find that combination."
Compa will open on Tuesday, April 9. Its menu will be "built on a simple but forgotten pairing: good food and good company", he says.
It's a steakhouse but there's also a selection of seafood, pastas and more.
- &Sando, 148 Bunda Street, City.
- Open 7am until 3pm, Tuesday to Friday; 8am until 3pm, Saturday (and open Mondays and Sundays after May 12).
- andsando.com.au