When you're the offspring of hospitality owners, there comes a time when you either commit to taking the reigns or branching out solo. At (as the name suggests), Roman Urosevski opted for the latter after slinging dough by his dad’s side at Sydney's since he was eight.
“Dad’s been there for 21 years and he always wanted me to take over,” Urosevski tells SBS Food, “But it’s funny because as soon as it came to the crunch, he wasn’t ready to let go of the reigns.”
Urosevski oversaw the daily operations of the (you know, the one that incites lunchtime crowds to queue for its 20 burek flavours?) before eventually acquiring the site from his dad with business partner and cafe operator, (, Ultimo). Today, its sign reads Son of a Baker, a tribute to Urosevski’s dad. It's also little brother to the bigger flagship cafe-bakery in San Souci.
“For me, my motivation was my dad, hence the name. I’ve branched off altogether, but I’ll never forget what he’s done for me.”
If you’re expecting to find traces of Alexander’s here, where buttermilk is the mate of choice to the Balkan stuffed pastries, then Son of a Baker’s slick, marble-heavy fit-out and flavoured lattes might come as a surprise.
Bakers set the alarm clock shockingly early in order to make bureks. Source: Son of a Baker
It’s kind of a lost trade,” Gorgè says of burek bakers. “Those who know how to do it are rare.
Urosevski has even modified his dad’s Macedonian burek recipe. The dough is still stretched until it’s virtually transparent (you can catch the bakers in action from the anti-social hour of 4:30am each day), but they’re using a mix of vegetable oil and coconut oil instead. It’s paved the way for vegan iterations of the more traditional cheese and spinach, or minced beef varieties.
“It’s kind of a lost trade,” Gorgè says of burek bakers. “Those who know how to do it are rare.”
So what does Urosevski’s dad think of this burek 2.0?
“He was supportive and he still is and he even comes in,” Urosevski says. “You know the old-school parents – they still want to oversee what you’re doing. And he thinks his way is better."
But one bite of the gossamer-thin, crisp pastry encasing everything from fresh local ricotta or passionfruit-soaked pulled pork, to vegan ratatouille or sweet potato and rosemary (a herby, slightly caramelised, crazy-tasty affair) and you’ll be on board with this old-meets-new-world approach. Even the (it’s like a mug of sweet buttered popcorn) is strangely addictive.
“We wanted to reach out to new cultures and also give [the menu] a modern twist,” Urosevski says of the cafe additions, which his business partner Gorgè has spearheaded.
Their savoury stock is king (100 burek fly out of the oven daily at both the Sans Souci cafe and Miranda kiosk) but there are plenty of sweets, too. Cherry and ricotta and apple cinnamon burek line the cabinet next to strudels, red velvet croissants, cronuts and cruffins.
The eat-in menu dials up the flash with and a very 'Grammable purple butterfly pancake stack shooting for more fine-dining heights than your average cafe-bakery.
Soon, Gorgè will be imparting some of his Egyptian background on a vegan falafel dish at the Sans Souci cafe, which is set to grace the winter menu in all its garlicky glory.
“Egyptians do [it with] a lot of garlic and that gives it a lot of punch,” Gorge says. When it comes to this street food, "they love those flavours".
301 The Grand Parade, Sans Souci, NSW
Daily 6am – 4pm
Level 1, Westfield Miranda, 600 Kingsway, Miranda, NSW
Daily 8am – 6pm
