Old Clare takes in Silvereye, Automata; Guillaume Brahimi opening another bistro, and more

Dave Mackintosh (Pei Modern, Lee Ho Fook, Rosa’s Cantina/Kitchen); Sam Christie (Longrain, Cho Cho San, Apollo) and Adam Garrisson, cohort and partner (Burnham Beeches) with chef Shannon Bennett. Like all restaurateurs looking at potential sites, they got all coy about their agendas, and besides, for now, they’re not the main game. The bigger deal is Singapore-based hotelier and restaurateur Peng Loh, on the cusp of launching his 64-room boutique Old Clare hotel with three potentially impressive restaurants. The good news? Silvereye and Automata (chefsSam Miller and Clayton Wells respectively, in partnership with Peng) are on track for a launch early next month. Both restaurants have been designed by Matt Darwon (aka Matt Machine), the NSW architect and custom motorcycle specialist, and even in their formative stages look terrific. Darwon/Machine doesn’t use drawings, so he’s limited in the contractors he can work with. “I’ve never worked with anybody like him,” says Peng, “but Matt is doing an amazing job with these restaurants.” While Silvereye riffs on the Old Clare’s art deco roots with earthy tones, fabrics and lots of timber, Automata features a very low-hung mezzanine and lots of steel. A light fitting made from an old World War II fighter plane’s piston engine has to be seen to be believed. The first (but surely not last) Jason Athertonrestaurant in Australia, Kensington Street Social, is running further behind schedule. Still but a shell, the three level-space (basement private dining room plus ground and mezzanine dining) is now due to open in November. Head chef-to-be Robert Daniels, an Aussie, has just jetted off to Dubai to help with the launch of the latest Atherton restaurant there before returning when he has a kitchen.

MELBOURNE: Karma? Coincidence? No sooner has crack Melbourne chef Ollie Gould finished up as head at Stokehouse Melbourne to go west to Perth’s new Shorehouse (First Bite, August 18) than replacement Ollie Hansford signs on. Hansford returns to the fold from a quick but impressive stint launching Brisbane’s Gauge. They’ll miss him (see last weekend’s Hot 50 in The Weekend Australian). Hansford was sous chef at Stokehouse Q before that, so he knows the culture. He begins late next month.

SYDNEY:Guillaume Brahimi (pictured) is staring down a big 2016. Not only is he opening a third Bistro Guillaume, in George Street, Sydney, but launching a private catering business too. It will be called Guillaume at Home, and the chef is looking for a commercial commissary kitchen from which to base the new business. Brahimi has his eyes on premises in the suburb of Alexandria. But it’s the third Bistro Guillaume, in the marble-lined lobby of the Suncorp building, demanding most of his attention right now. With a comprehensive set of plans in hand by Sydney architect Blainey North, Brahimi is looking at a substantial new business with seating for at least 140. With contributions from his landlord, Sydney property investment billionaire Tay Tee Peng, the chef estimates a budget of somewhere between $4 million and $5m will be required to get the doors open, probably next February. “It’s a typical commercial deal,” says Brahimi. “In the city these days you always get a hand.” Modelled on the well-established Bistro Guillaume template in Melbourne and Perth, the substantial CBD Sydney bistro, to be managed by Frenchman Damien Grossier, will do breakfast and feature a menu with many dishes for two. “Is it new cuisine? No. But is it a nicely cooked chicken with salad? It’s timeless stuff.” This will be Brahimi’s fourth restaurant. “Do I need one more restaurant?” asked Brahimi. “Not really. But you know I’m really loving it. Sydney people kept asking me, ‘Why don’t you do a bistro up here?’ and, you know, the lure of the CBD, it really is something. Sydney is my city. I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for the people of Sydney. We’ve got a wealth of great people but I either let my top guys go work for other people or create opportunities for them internally.” Expect white walls, hardwood flooring, lots of bronze and blues.

SYDNEY: A small restaurant with a truly massive reputation, 10 William Street, is losing its main man. Chef Dan Pepperell is to head up a new 150-seat venue in Sydney’s CBD, Hubert, that will open on the old Celestial Chinese restaurant site on Bligh Street. The new restaurant is a venture of the Swillhouse Group, best known for Baxter Inn, Frankie’s Pizza and Shady Pines. Hubert will be open in January.

SYDNEY: Pan Murray (Sydney-Melbourne) chef Mark Best has given his clearest indication yet that the use-by on his flagship fine diner Marque, in Sydney’s Surry Hills, may be nigh. “I think Marque is coming towards the end of its time up here,” Best told web-based video show Foraged. “I think we will probably move, in a different incarnation, so I’m looking to the future of myself as a chef, as a brand as well. In terms of dining in Sydney, 16 years is a long time. What do I do with that brand and how do I leverage that? What’s the next phase for us? Do I want to start a doughnut shop?” Search Foraged on Facebook for more interesting foodie video stuff.

GEELONG: Victoria’s second city is the new home of chef Glenn Laurie, a River Cafe (London) alumnus and author of some terrific Italian food when he was last cooking in restaurants at Richmond’s Royal Saxon. Laurie and Sicily-born Luciano Gandolfo have taken over the food at Centra, the reborn Carrington Hotel, in Yarra Street. The self-styled “eating and drinking public house” has been remodelled byTarryn Joyce, of Joyce Architects, responsible for the design of Prahran’s wildly successful The Smith.

MELBOURNE: Get out your alpenhorn. Melbourne cheesemonger Anthony Femiais planning a raclette bar and cheese shop — Maker & Monger — for the Prahran market. Femia (ex-Spring Street Grocer and one of Australia’s most knowledgeable affineurs) will test the waters with a pop-up cart before moving into a permanent space later in the year.

MELBOURNE: Chef Adam Liston is set to fly a Japanese flag over the dining room at Smith Street (Collingwood) pub The Gasometer when he opens Gas-Light Izakaya this week. It will be a logical extension of his food bar Northern Light, also in Smith Street. Gas-Light will focus on yakitori (skewers) and katsu (panko-crumbed and fried) cuisines.

Source: The Australian, John Lethlean, 25^th August 2015
Originally published as: Old Clare takes in Silvereye, Automata; Guillaume Brahimi opening another bistro, and more