When I first took a look at the Kantine 64 menu, I knew I wanted it all, but that I’d be self-conscious when it came time to order. Of course, foreign languages are tricky, but I’ve also not had many opportunities to practice my German: it’s a rarity in Sydney hospitality, especially the wine bar scene. Couple Emma Hoy and Henrik Boerger are changing that – if only for a few weeks.
“Don’t worry, everyone has a different way of pronouncing everything,” Hoy says, laughing. The pop-up delivers a tight, snack-heavy menu at Potts Point corner restaurant Bloom until Sunday April 5.
“We kind of realised Sydney’s missing share-style German food, so we wanted to have a variety of different dishes,” she says. “We’ve had quite a few German walk-ins, but we’ve also had a lot of people expecting [Bloom’s] Italian food. And they leave pleasantly surprised. Like, if you’re here for a pizza, you should try flammkuchen.”
The pizza-esque flatbread has a very thin, crunchy base, with a spread of crème fraîche and onions plus your choice of ham or mushrooms. Those rounds are only out-sold by the käsespätzle, an “elevated mac’n’cheese” featuring Boerger’s house-made egg pasta, dressed up with a stretchy mix of gruyere and rockflower (a floral-scented Alpine cheese) plus deep-brown fried onions on top.
Kantine 64 is a happy accident. Hoy and Boerger met at Marrickville Bowlo, before a stint in Berlin and a return to Sydney. Hoy’s studying to be a paramedic, and works front of house at The Apollo; Boerger’s a journalist and hobby chef well versed in cooking the dishes of his German homeland. The pair had played with the idea of a curry sausage and hot chips joint, but when this full-venue takeover presented itself, they went all-in – though a Berlin-style currywurst is on the menu.
“It’s a street food snack in Berlin,” says Hoy. “It’s usually a pretty shitty sausage covered in a spiced ketchup, curry powder, and you have it with hot chips or potato salad.” Kantine’s is a cut above, though, with The Curl Curl Butcher making spiced bratwursts especially. “Everyone has been saying this is the best curry sausage,” says Hoy. “Feedback from Germans has been: ‘Never had curry sausage like this, it’s very elevated’.”
On the snackier side is a buttery mix of house-smoked rainbow trout ferried by slices of house-made dark rye, topped with horseradish and pickled carrot. A meat-free option switches the fish with gherkin and yoghurt.
The pickle teller – “pickle plate” in German – is bright with pumpkin, fennel, beetroot, cauliflower and zucchini. And that house-made dark-rye bread (available on the house) also supports the cheese platter.
Then there are the grapes. Kantine 64’s list includes German-made drops and bottles full of Aussie-grown German grape varietals – like the sylvaner from the King Valley. “There’s only four vineyards in Australia that grow sylvaner, and it has just been flying off the shelves,” Hoy says. “People love it.”
Cocktails have a German bent – one dill Martini, bitte – and there are beers aplenty. To finish? A glass of German red and a germknodel, the plump steamed dumpling filled with plum compote, swimming in vanilla sauce with a shake of poppy seeds.
Kantine 64 is an injection of fresh energy into an already bustling block of Sydney. Directly opposite is the nighttime trifecta of Paradise, Piccolo Bar and Caravin, and the Macleay Street bounty is moments away. And while the newcomer’s only temporary, that’s part of the fun – no future appearances are locked in.
Kantine 64
Inside Bloom, 66–68 Kellett Street, Potts Point
Hours:
March 18 to April 5, 2026
Wed to Sun 5pm–late
@kantine_64
Dining and Cooking