Sydney, Australia Converting Public Bathrooms Into Cafés

Australian toilets are going from loos to lattes. The city of Sydney is implementing a new policy called the Public Toilet Strategy to convert long-unused public toilets into restaurants and cafés. The Gardener's Lodge Café, which just opened in a 125-year-old public toilet in Victoria Park, serves common Aussie small plates like kangaroo pie, as well as a full coffee and tea menu.

"These buildings are very sturdy and can put up with a lot of alteration, so there's no need to demolish them if you can use them for another purpose,"  Murray Brown, adviser for the New South Wales chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects, told the Irish Times.

The city spent AUD $1.2 million ($1.11 million in American dollars) on the restoration for Gardener's Lodge, and will be spending AUD $850,000 more on converting unused public toilets to eateries around Sydney. 

Joanna Fantozzi is an Associate Editor with The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @JoannaFantozzi