Fratelli Fresh and Sake at Manly Wharf

Manly Wharf’s $9 million makeover is underway and when it’s completed, there will be two new second-storey restaurants on the site.

The big announcement is that the Rockpool Group’s Fratelli Fresh and Sake will open in August.

It’s big news because there was no opening date when the announcement was first made in 2016.

Manly Wharf will be the fifth Sake restaurant.

There will be number six in Paramatta’s Phillip Street precinct opening in 2020.

And for Fratelli Fresh, it will be the eighth location. Another is set to open in Darling Harbour in June.

The new venues will be added to Queen Chow which is opening this year to replace Papi Chulo. The busy Manly Wharf precinct is also the place for Hugos.

The new revamped venues will offer boast floor-to-ceiling harbour views and al fresco dining.

And they will have new lifts, a private staircase and a joint lobby.

The Neil Perry-led group, which was created when the Urban Purveyor Group acquired Rockpool, has been moving fast on expansion.

Right now, the group has 57 venues to its name.

And this year, just over the past 90 days alone, it has signed more than 15 new leases.

Its goal is to become Australia’s first $1 billion dining group by mid-2021.

Before this August, it expects to open 11 venues across Australia.

These will include Munich Brauhaus in Brisbane, six new Bavarian outposts across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

It’s also planning a new "premium" burger concept called Burger Project Black Label, which is slated to open in the Sydney CBD this May.

Another eight openings are expected before the end of the year, although that is yet to be announced.

Rockpool is also planning to open its first international site by mid 2020.

It is now looking at a number of locations including Los Angeles, Singapore and Shanghai.

Leon Getler 2nd May 2018.