Pig Mary Chippendale — Ester's tiny 12-seat sidebar for pork snacks and icy Martinis
Just around the corner from Ester, Mat Lindsay has finally given his celebrated Chippendale restaurant a sidebar. Pig Mary squeezes just 12 seats into a tiny room on Meagher Street, spread around the bar, along the window and at one small table, with a few more out on the footpath. The name tips its hat to Mary O'Shea, a 19th-century Chippendale local known as Pig Mary for scavenging offal and scraps from Ultimo's slaughterhouses to feed her pigs, and the menu takes the hint.
Head chef Pete Campbell, ex-Poly, runs a concise, pork-heavy list of drinking snacks with all of Ester's depth. Start with gildas on toasted potato bread with egg butter, or spiced pork scratchings with a zingy apple chamoy, then tackle a stack of sourdough-battered potato scallops dusted in Ester spice and dunked in Pig Mary Rose sauce. The centrepiece is a properly saucy bifana, with pork shoulder stewed with chorizo and paprika and piled into an AP potato roll with Turkish peppers, lardo and a swipe of American mustard. There's also Emilio's ham with a parmesan doughnut, and Ester's blistered cheddar pie carried straight over from the woodfired oven down the road.
Venue manager Kendyl Parr keeps the drinks just as tight. Order the icy house Martini, gin or vodka, or a beer with Picon on the side to spike it, and know that any bottle from Ester's list can be run up the street for you. It's walk-in only, and with seats this scarce, getting in early is the move.
Quick Bites
EAT: Bifana with pork shoulder, chorizo and smoky gravy in an AP potato roll, potato scallops with Pig Mary Rose sauce
DRINK: Icy house Martini, beer with a Picon spike
PLAY: Order any bottle off Ester's full wine list and Ester's cheddar pie, both ferried up from down the road
VIBE CHECK: A tiny, buzzy 12-seater with window perches, bar seats over the kitchen and a few tables on the footpath
