Harry's Cafe de Wheels

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Harry's Cafe de Wheels is a pie cart located in Woolloomooloo, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on Cowper Wharf Road, near the Finger Wharf and Fleet Base East of Garden Island Navy Base, opposite the Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel.

Two other 'Harry's Cafe de Wheels' operate in Wharf Road, Newcastle and Capitol Square, Haymarket, Sydney. Plans are underway to open another outlet in Liverpool in the near future.

1 Description
2 History
3 In Popular Culture
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Description

Harry's Pie Cart (side view)

Harry's Cafe de Wheels is a moveable food van, similar to those found at funfairs, with a hung awning. Despite being moved a number of times in its history, the van is permanently fixed at the current location on a masonry base. The caravan walls have been decorated with custom painted murals by Alan Puckett, a motoring art specialist. The inside walls of the cart are decorated with pictures and murals of famous visitors.

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.

Harry's pies are supplied from Hannah's Pies, its factory in the inner city suburb of Ultimo.

[edit] History

Harry "Tiger" Edwards opened the original caravan cafe, named simply Harry's, near the gates of the Woolloomooloo Naval Yard in 1938. He served with the AIF in World War II, during which time the cafe was not operational. The cart re-opened upon his return from the war in 1945.

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 by the city council five times over the past 55 years, and is now back at its original spot. Local legend tells that the name was temporarily changed to Cafe de Axel at one point when the wheels were stolen.

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.

Harry's specialises in the same basic food today as was popular back in the 1940s, pies and mushy peas (also known as a Pie floater). During the 1970s Harry's introduced hot dogs, mostly to appease the American sailors.

[edit] In Popular Culture

Australian singer Peter Blakeley named his 1990 album Harry's Cafe de Wheels with a photo on the cover.

The cafe was featured in the second installment of the reality television show The Amazing Race in 2002.

[edit] References

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; The Daily Telegraph, 27/12/2003.
Jinman, R; Crash Courses; The Sydney Morning Herald, 25/5/2004.