Neil Perry’s Song Bird could be his swan song
Neil Perry will open his Chinese-inspired 240 seat, three-level venue Song Bird in Double Bay on Friday.
The restaurant inspired by Sydney’s Cantonese restaurants, could be the respected chef’s last.
“It’s my last restaurant, put that in your headline,” he told Good Food.
The $13 million venue, which Perry and wife Sam put $5.7 million of their own money into, has taken its toll. Construction of the venue, including basement bar Bobbies has been trying.
“If I don’t sleep at night, it’s because everything is on the line,” Perry stated on a site tour.
67-year-old Perry is hoping for similar success to Margaret’s and had a major hand in the design of the building, enlisting ACME and Caon Design Office to play to the strengths of the mid-century building.
“We could’ve bought a quarry in Italy for all the stone we’ve used across the four levels,” Perry told Good Food.
Perry’s aim was to remain respectful to the building.
In the kitchen, which will feature classic dishes such as pipis in XO sauce, and coral trout with ginger and shallots, is Australian-Chinese chef Mark Lee (ex-Rockpool and Margaret).
The menu will be akin to that of Perry’s short-lived venture Jade Temple, which closed in 2018.
Truffles will feature when in season, along with white asparagus. A cumin lamb dish will be an early outlier.
“A lot of memories [for Sydneysiders] are built around Chinese restaurants,” Perry said.
“Double Bay had this really rich history with Chinese restaurants, with Imperial Peking, and (late 20th-century venue) Cleveland, which I thought at the time was probably Sydney’s best Chinese restaurant. I’d love to see families in Song Bird on Sunday nights, creating their own traditions.”
Despite the cost of living crisis, Perry believes a long term view is required to be successful.
“There’s never an ideal time. Spice Temple opened during the GFC, [and] when we opened Rockpool in 1989, interest rates were 18 per cent. We paid $380,000 interest in the first year,” he said.
Song Bird could fill a void in Double Bay left by the closure of China Diner.
Open Wed 6pm-11pm, Thu-Sat noon-11pm, Sun noon-10pm
24 Bay Street, Double Bay, themargaretfamily.com/venue/songbird/
Jonathan Jackson, 28th August 2024
