Harry's Cafe de Wheels
Food service | |
Founded | 1936 |
---|---|
Founder | Harry "Tiger" Edwards |
Headquarters | , |
Products | Take Away – (pie cart) |
Website | www |
Harry's Cafe de Wheels is an iconic pie cart located on Cowper Wharf Road in Woolloomooloo, Sydney, Australia, near the Finger Wharf and Fleet Base East.
They are best known for their dish "Tiger Pie", an Australian meat pie topped with mashed potato, mushy peas and gravy; it was named after the pie cart's founder Harry "Tiger" Edwards.
Other Harry's Cafe de Wheels operate in
Description
Harry's Cafe de Wheels was a moveable food van, similar to those found at
The site is considered a Sydney icon and an institution in the local area. The significance of the location is reflected by its inclusion on the New South Wales National Trust register.
The 1945 version of Harry's Pie Cart, retired after 40 years of use, is now located in the Powerhouse Museum collection.[2]
Harry's pies are supplied from Hannah's Pies, its factory in the inner city suburb of Ultimo.
History
Harry "Tiger" Edwards opened the original caravan cafe, named simply Harry's, near the gates of the Woolloomooloo Naval Yard in 1936.[3] He served with the Second Australian Imperial Force in World War II, during which time the cafe was not operational. The cart re-opened upon his return from the war in 1945.[4]
The name Cafe de Wheels came about because of the requirement from the city council that mobile food caravans had to move a minimum of 12 inches (30 cm) each day. The cart has been moved to various locations on Cowper Wharf Road, mostly due to re-development work in the Woolloomooloo Bay area. Local legend tells that the name was temporarily changed to Cafe de Axle at one point when the wheels were stolen.[5]
As the years passed, 'Harry's Cafe de Wheels' gained new fame as a tourist attraction. A visit to the caravan became a 'must' for visiting celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Robert Mitchum and Marlene Dietrich. In 1974, Colonel Sanders stopped at Harry's and enjoyed the food so much that he ate three 'pies and peas' while leaning on his walking stick in front of the caravan. A picture of Sanders taken during the visit still hangs in the caravan today.[6]
Harry's specialises today in the same basic food that was popular back in the 1940s, such as pies and
Menu
The pies and hotdogs available on the menu include:
- The famous Tiger pie and its variations (Bacon and Cheese Tiger, Veggie Tiger)
- Pie and peas
- Seafood pie
- Hot dog with veggies
- Hot dog de wheels
- Chilli dog
In popular culture
- Australian singer Peter Blakeley named his 1989 album Harry's Cafe de Wheels with a photo on the cover.[7]
- The cafe was featured in the second season of the reality television show The Amazing Race in 2002 as the site of a Fast Forward challenge where one team had to eat two meat pies.[8] It was also featured on the first season of HaMerotz LaMillion, the Israeli version of The Amazing Race.[9]
- It was featured on the Sydney episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern on the Travel Channel.
- It was featured in season 2, episode 11 of television series The Bachelor, where contestant Laurina bemoaned receiving a "dirty street pie".[10]
References
- ^ "Locations". Harry' s Cafe De Wheels.
- ^ Harry's Cafe de Wheels, 1945 Pie Cart – Powerhouse Museum
- ^ "About Us | Pies & Hot Dogs in Sydney | Harry's". harryscafedewheels.com.au. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ "1945 – Harry' s Cafe De Wheels". harryscafedewheels.com.au. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
- ^ "1970s – Harry' s Cafe De Wheels". harryscafedewheels.com.au. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
- ^ a b "Harry's Cafe de Wheels rolls into China". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
- ^ "Peter Blakeley – Harry's Cafe De Wheels". Discogs. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ISBN 9781941631454.
- Channel 2.
- ^ The Bachelor sparks flood of support for iconic pie cart after Blake and Laurina's disaster date, Herald Sun, 5 September 2014
Other sources
- Harry's Cafe de Wheels website [1], Accessed July 2006.
- National Trust Register; Harry's Cafe de Wheels, Register Entry [2], Accessed July 2006.
- Burke, N; Cafe de Wheels and a danger to walkers; Daily Telegraph, 27 December 2003
- Jinman, R; Crash Courses; Sydney Morning Herald, 25 May 2004
External links
- Official website
- Powerhouse Museum – Harry's Cafe de Wheels, 1945
- Harry’s Café de Wheels National Trust – article explaining the significance of the structure (includes historic images including one of the late Colonel Sanders partaking of the spécialités d'hote).