The new is more than a place to grab a roast chicken and lemon myrtle mayo damper roll, summer berry and rosella jam muffin or cinnamon bun sweetened with wattleseed praline.
For Indigenous elder – who curates its menu – the venue also creates vital work opportunities and career stepping stones for First Nations youths. "The main thing for me is our young people will have employment," she says, and mentions a young woman who just started at the Kiosk.
"She rang me to thank me. She's loving it. She's a young mum," the Gamilaroi (Kamilaroi) elder says. "She walked in one day and said, 'aunty, I need help'."
Kiosk's menu is curated by Aunty Beryl Van-Oploo. Source: Anna Kucera
Another student of hers has joined the roster, too. "I just got him a job at the new Kiosk," she says.
The eatery sits in the gallery's Welcome Plaza, which recently launched in December alongside the institution's new window-dazed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects. Aunty Beryl, though, has been helping the Indigenous community for many years now.
"I set up my own catering company in 2006, which is when I set up the Job Ready program," she says. It came about when the Indigenous elder realised the First Nations youths she'd been training in hospitality were not getting work, so this directly helped them earn a living and strengthen their skill set. She also reached out to other people in the industry for interest and support – this is how she came across . They've collaborated on many catering and culinary projects, and McCloskey's company helps run the Kiosk, too.
"My main job was to get our mob skilled up in hospitality, and place them into employment. Then they go on their own journey and have a better quality of life," Aunty Beryl says. "To me, education is the key. If you have an education, you have a voice, you have a choice."
It's got space for everybody, it showcases all who are as Australians.
Aunty Beryl is now 80, and has been been sought out by top chefs for her knowledge of Indigenous ingredients – from Copenhagen's (which was named the world's best restaurant ) has approached her for advice on . But this acceptance of First Nations knowledge wasn't always there.
"In my time, there was a lot of discrimination," she says. "Nobody wanted to try the bush foods ingredients and now they're all reaching out to do that."
First Nations culture is at the forefront of the Art Gallery of NSW's new Sydney Modern complex (which is also known as the North Building). Here, you'll view the Indigenous perspective of British convicts landing in 1788, thanks to the revitalised gallery of First Nations art and a still-growing installation by Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi artist , which is shaped from native plants. It's one of many ways the gallery meaningfully highlights its 60,000-old connection to the planet's oldest continuous culture.
"Every Australian would be so proud of it, no matter what background where you come from," Aunty Beryl says.
The Kiosk complements this First Nations focus with a menu flavoured with native ingredients, from salted caramel and strawberry gum blondies to damper rolls bolstered with pumpkin, Warrigal greens and bush tomato chutney. The menu changes, according to what does well and which ingredients are available.
"As you will know, our bush tucker is seasonal and that's why we went walkabout from one state to another and we traded," says Aunty Beryl. "Lemon myrtle, I can go down to the backyard of NCIE [Redfern's ] and pick it, because we've got the trees. And we're starting to grow some native ginger and river mint."
Bush tomatoes can only be wild-harvested at the right time, though, or be used in preserved form. "Sometimes you have to wait longer for the berries, quandong and rosella buds," she adds.
We're starting to grow some native ginger and river mint.
The Kiosk's menu includes native choc-tops: the ice-cream cones get a local remix, via a sprinkling of wattleseed or the crunch of macadamias, or a blend of native apple and gum honey.
You might also find the chicken and lemon myrtle pies that Aunty Beryl makes for her own Yaama Barrgay catering company. "They just go like wildfire," she says.
While it's culturally important to highlight the significance of native ingredients, the Indigenous elder points out they're healthy, too – kangaroo is lean and bush foods are famous for being .
Choc-tops are flavoured with native ingredients at Kiosk. Source: Anna Kucera
"Aboriginal people, we were always taught portion control," she says. "Everything was in season, but you only took enough to feed the family. And it would grow back again."
Sustainability rules: she grew up grilling . "We call it Aboriginal foil,” she says of the tree bark. "You get that smoky flavour then. It works in a lot of different ways."
And while the food trend of cooking over fire has dominated restaurants for the last decade, "that's been part of Indigenous culture for ages," she says. "We'd cook johnny cakes on the hot coals, but everything was wrapped – we were making wraps before they were ever in fridges."
Along with the Kiosk, the gallery now features in the North Building, and the will showcase special menus by Chat Thai's and , the proud Bundjalung woman of the Widjabul Wia-bul clan behind .
Recharge with Indigenous Australian cuisine on your visit to Sydney Modern, part of the Art Gallery of NSW. Source: Anna Kucera
"I'm 80 years of age now. So it's good that people are coming through and putting it out there," says Aunty Beryl. "While I still have my health, I'll continue to do that."
She adds it's "amazing" that Kiosk is part of a major landmark that international visitors will seek out. "It's got space for everybody, it showcases all who are as Australians."
And the gallery setting is a reminder that not everything has to be framed or placed on a wall to be admired.
"Food is an art. You can't put everything green on a plate, nobody will eat it. To me food is an art, even if I make a sandwich, it's got to look good."
Welcome Plaza, Art Gallery of NSW, Art Gallery Rd, Sydney
Mon–Fri: 9am–3pm
Sat–Sun: 9am–4pm
INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN FOOD
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