Overview
Saint Peter has always been a Paddington restaurant. Josh and Julie Niland's seafood restaurant is on the move, but that fact won't change. Come winter, you'll just be heading to Underwood Street's Grand National Hotel instead as part of the pair's takeover of the venue.
It was back in 2022 that the Nilands announced that they were adding a bar to their nose-to-tail seafood favourite, and also a boutique hotel. Now, you can mark your diary: you'll be checking out Saint Peter's new digs from July 2024. There's no exact opening date so far, but reservations are open for August and September bookings in the spot that dates back to 1896 — and we're betting that they won't remain available for long.
The shift comes eight years after Saint Peter launched at 362 Oxford Street, and will see it sit on the ground floor of The Grand National. When it starts letting patrons into its spaces — it'll be able to seat 40 in its main area, 30 in the bar and 15 in its private dining room — the restaurant's opening will herald the launch of the first phase of the refurbished site's new lease on life. Eventually, you'll be able to stay on the premises thanks to 14 hotel rooms, although when that'll be on the agenda also hasn't yet been revealed.
There's plenty to get excited about just with Saint Peter 2.0, though. Expect a light-filled experience thanks to the skylight above the main dining room and open kitchen, and to get cosy in either booth and banquette seats while you're tucking in. The best spot in the house just might be the chef's table, which is custom-made, can seat six and gives you a front-row view of the kitchen action.
If you're celebrating an occasion in the private room, it'll sport a restored heritage fireplace, plus its own entrance via Elizabeth Street.
Before settling in for a meal, the bar will await — still at the front of the venue, and with a menu that heroes Australian rock oysters as curated by Josh and the Fish Butchery team. Once you've had pre-drinks and cocktails, you'll be greeted at the kitchen counter, then escorted to your table. Or, if you head by during the day, à la carte lunches will be on offer, serving up a menu that'll change daily.
Obviously, no matter what time you make a visit, you'll be eating in a restaurant that's as committed to whole-fish cooking as any restaurant can be — and, using a charcoal grill and rotisserie, to cooking fish in the same way as meat. Saint Peter's seafood will still be processed at Waterloo's Fish Butchery.
The new restaurant will also include a pastry kitchen, which'll come in particularly handy for breakfasts for guests staying onsite.
Drinks-wise, sommelier Houston Barakat is overseeing the beverage options, which includes an international wine list that goes big on drops from vineyards located by the ocean — and on premium Australian spirits as well.
"I don't want to lose what makes Saint Peter a special place, not only to eat and enjoy as a guest but also for me and our team to work," said Josh about the move.
"We are excited about the challenge ahead of not just moving into a beautiful home for Saint Peter but also expanding our expression of hospitality to a wonderful bar and boutique hotel," added Julie.
"We are working with some incredibly talented people to develop a world-class wine and cocktail offering. The luxury accommodation has been so beautifully designed that you will think you are in Paris — until you see the quintessentially Paddington rooftops and beautiful gum trees out your window," Julie continued.
With Studio Aquilo on design duties, the new Saint Peter is taking its look from juxtapositions, as inspired by the restaurant's culinary combinations. Think: stone and timber, brass hoods in the kitchen and a hanging gantry filled with season produce, and the skylight's natural light featuring the silhouette of greenery from the rooftop garden, for instance. Art from Aussie talents will fill the walls, and an aged-brass pendant light that'll have pride of place should remind you of a fish's backbone — fittingly.
Newtown Grafitti via Flickr
The interior of Saint Peter, by Nikki To.
Saint Peter will move from 362 Oxford Street, Paddington to The Grand National Hotel, 161 Underwood Street, Paddington, in July 2024 — we'll update you with an exact date when one is announced.
Images: Christopher Pearce.