Since opening his first fruit shop over 20 years ago, Barry McDonald has been introducing Sydneysiders to the finest produce around. After cooking and serving in top Sydney restaurants, he ran a fruit and vegetable wholesaling operation with his brother Jamie, which offered the cream of Sydney’s chefs. Today, he has refined his wholesale list to Sydney’s top restaurants and has taken the rest of his business to the people.

The first Fratelli Fresh opened in newly gentrified Waterloo in 2004, a game-changing mix of fruit and vegetable market, Italian dry goods warehouse and Italian trattoria called Café Sopra. He stretched the Italian theme as far as it would go, even naming his Asian-born staff Giuseppe, Giancarlo and Geppetto. While there are now three locations, his store in Potts Point is the closest to his home and, possibly, his heart. “This area is unique” he says. “There are 26,000 people within a kilometre radius, and most of them love their food.” It seems he knows almost every one of them.

It can take an age for him to walk a block, as everyone stops to talk politics, business, heirloom tomatoes or football. A chronic early riser, he throws back four Vittoria coffees every morning (the ’hood is littered with charming cafés such as the closet-sized Toby’s Estate). On this particularly fine morning, it’s then straight up to the local King’s Cross organic food & farmers’ market huddled around the famous El Alamein fountain. In among the Turkish gozleme, French cheese and German bratwurst lies his target; Bowen’s egg and bacon roll – just a fried egg with plenty of crisp, thin-cut bacon jammed into a soft white bap. “It’s the great Australian hangover cure,” he says.

Then it’s back to Fratelli Fresh to oversee the delivery of a truckload of heirloom tomatoes from Dural, northwest of Sydney. “One of these and some buffalo mozzarella,” he says, “is all anyone should ever need.” Next door, veteran deli owner Mark Chittick runs Bottega del Vino, stocking locally brewed beers and a come-hither selection of New South Wales and Victorian wines. “I used to be a beer-and-packet-of-crisps man,” admits the New Zealand-born McDonald. “Now I’m a local Meredith sheep’s milk cheese and Curly Flat Pinot Noir kind of guy.”

Lunch today is at Fei Jai, a tiny Cantonese restaurant opened recently by Nicole Galloway and Peter Lew, nephew of legendary Melbourne restaurateur Gilbert Lau.
“I love eating here, it’s so light, clean and fresh,” says McDonald, tucking into steamed scallop and prawn dumplings and crisp-fried fish with sugar snap peas.

He often takes his wife Karen and daughter Gracie,14, to dinner at Sailors Thai, set up by David Thompson, the world’s first Michelin-starred Thai chef. Here curry puffs and som tum salad are regular orders.

He also rates the cosy, wine-strewn Fratelli Paradiso, and Lorraine Godsmark’s luscious date tarts and heavenly flourless chocolate cakes at Yellow. But tonight, it’s off home to cook wild mushroom risotto for family and friends – complete with an aromatic white truffle in his pocket as big as an apricot.