A playfully riotous kaleidoscope of the world’s footpath cuisines brings a splash of international flavour to the South Coast.
April 3rd, 2013
Inspired by the unique pleasure of diving into a bowl of noodles, embarking on a brace of tacos or maneuvering a hot dog while perched on kindergarten-issue plastic stools, brothers and owners Stan and Aaron Crinis were determined to bring a taste of these magically humble experiences to Wollongong’s CBD. The result was Dagwood.
How to conceptualise an appropriate environment, however, was inherently challenging, as the city council may well have frowned upon swarms of diners clogging up the streets of its CBD.
The solution was to bring the street inside and create a pleasingly haphazard collection of benches, booths and nooks that would recreate the impromptu feel of less regulated cousins across Asia and Latin America. A 160-square-metre concrete shell affording 120 seats proved to be the perfect canvas for the project.
“We wanted to create enclaves or zones within the restaurant so that you would have a different experience each time depending on where you were situated, aiming to reflect the different culinary components one would experience eating in a street market or food fare” explains Mandy Edge, Director of the design studio responsible for the fit out.
Materially, the recycled brick paving and timber floor boards echo the rustic resourcefulness of street stalls and simple restaurants across the developing world, while crude elements such as steel cabinets with a burnished, antique finish to display wine are mixed with more refined surfaces such as a Carrera marble bar top and on ledges situated throughout the restaurant where patrons can lean provocatively as they munch and quaff.
Walls are covered in a variety of bright, bizarre and vintage posters, which paired with wall lights and exposed ceilings evoke gritty back-alley scenarios perfect for delicious and relaxed dining.
The net result is of a warm and cheerful space, varied enough to ensure successive visits promise the discovery of new and quirky details.
Edge Design Studio
mandyedge.com
Photography: Steve Back
steveback.com.au
Dagwood
facebook.com/dagwoodbk?fref=ts
INDESIGN is on instagram
Follow @indesignlive
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
In this candid interview, the culinary mastermind behind Singapore’s Nouri and Appetite talks about food as an act of human connection that transcends borders and accolades, the crucial role of technology in preserving its unifying power, and finding a kindred spirit in Gaggenau’s reverence for tradition and relentless pursuit of innovation.
How can design empower the individual in a workplace transforming from a place to an activity? Here, Design Director Joel Sampson reveals how prioritising human needs – including agency, privacy, pause and connection – and leveraging responsive spatial solutions like the Herman Miller Bay Work Pod is key to crafting engaging and radically inclusive hybrid environments.
It’s widely accepted that nature – the original, most accomplished design blueprint – cannot be improved upon. But the exclusive Crypton Leather range proves that it can undoubtedly be enhanced, augmented and extended, signalling a new era of limitless organic materiality.
Gaggenau’s understated appliance fuses a carefully calibrated aesthetic of deliberate subtraction with an intuitive dynamism of culinary fluidity, unveiling a delightfully unrestricted spectrum of high-performing creativity.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
A major urban renewal project has been proposed for Sydney’s inner harbour, with developer Landream revealing plans for Pyrmont Place precinct designed by BVN.
The very best of NSW architecture was celebrated in the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2025 NSW Architecture Awards in a gala celebration at Sydney’s ILUMINA.