A divine new specialty butcher has opened in the area, and they also serve scrumptious cooked food as well.
There’s something infectious about Ardi Edgu’s enthusiasm for his new home in Kirribilli. Just over four weeks after opening Ardi’s Block to Grill on Fitzroy Street, the butcher is already feeling the love from his community.
“I never expected this, to be honest,” Ardi says. “I thought it was going to be a bit of a slog. It was going to be hard.”
Instead, local businesses have been spreading the word, the local community centre is getting behind him and dinner is already busy.
“The florist down the road, I think she’s amazing. She told everybody, everybody, everybody. I didn’t even have to do anything,” he laughs. “I’m so loved. I’m not used to it.”
The move for the well-established and popular Ardi’s Block to Grill from Surry Hills came after eight years there, when Ardi’s lease ended. He had been trying to secure the Kirribilli shop for three years. Then, suddenly, it happened.
“I closed Surry Hills within a week. And then I was in here trading. Isn’t that amazing?” he says. “Everything happens for a reason.”
The shopfront itself is bright and inviting – and ‘butcher blue’. Walk into the store and it’s the rich, deep red colour of Ardi’s fresh meat that stands out, making supermarket meat look anaemic and dull.
Ardi breaks down the carcasses himself and makes his burger patties with just beef, salt and pepper.
“No preservatives. No onion powder. No garlic powder. None of that stuff,” he says.
Ardi started butchering at 11 or 12 in his parents’ Surry Hills shop, later working at David Jones and spending around 15 years with butcher Terry Wright. When Terry closed his shop after 65 years, Ardi realised he couldn’t walk away from a trade he had spent decades learning.
“I can’t go backwards in my knowledge,” he says. “All the stuff that I’ve learned in 30 years… I gave my life to this.”
The Block to Grill concept within the store grew from a simple problem – moving the whole carcass as a butcher. So Ardi started cooking the cuts that were harder to sell.
“I’m a butcher, so I design the menu – not a chef,” he says. “The menu is designed to help me survive as a butcher.”
But he clearly knows how to cook!
Burgers, steaks, steak rolls and the popular triple toastie are already drawing customers, with local schoolkids becoming regulars too.
Ardi knows the butcher side may take longer. “People have got to try it, break their habits,” he says. “But I’m okay to wait for this. This is a long game.”
An official opening is planned in the coming weeks, with a sausage sizzle featuring his house-made sausages and a proper welcome for the Kirribilli community. Stay tuned for the delicious details!
Story: Elissa Bramley
Ardi’s Block to Grill
📍 31 Fitzroy Street, Kirribilli NSW 2061
🌐 ardisblocktogrill.com
📸 Instagram: @ardisblocktogrill
