Nomad Has Officially Moved Into Its New Digs After Its OG Restaurant Was Destroyed by Fire

It has popped up in the old Longrain digs while the original restaurant rebuilds.
Libby Curran
November 01, 2019

As it turns out, not even an electrical fire can keep Nomad down. Al and Rebecca Yazbek's acclaimed Surry Hills Mediterranean diner suffered extensive damage after a fire broke out in the restaurant's ceiling in early September, but the show's far from over.

While the Foster Street restaurant site undergoes a hefty rebuild and some much-needed repair work, Nomad will keep chugging along, albeit in a slightly different forma. It has popped up around the corner at 85 Commonwealth Street for a three-month residency.

This new space was previously home to modern Thai institution Longrain and most recently the much-hyped Orana in Residence pop-up, so it's safe to say Nomad is joining some pretty good company.

Nomad Up The Road — as the pop-up is called — takes the form of a sophisticated 140 seater, decked out with much of the original restaurant's artwork and furniture. It has front-row seating along the open kitchen, as well as roomy, group-friendly tables, and a private dining area for 24.

Petrina Tinslay

Chef Jacqui Challinor continues to head things up in the kitchen, but, without Nomad's famed woodfired oven, expect a few changes to the food. On the menu, long-standing favourites like the kingfish ceviche, duck mortadella and that creamy cannellini bean hummus join a slew of new inventions. Kingfish croquettes are served with XO sauce and finger lime, ricotta dumplings are saucy and topped with shiitakes and calamari gets an Argentinian twist with chimichurri and fried potatoes. To finish, there's the famed olive oil ice cream sandwich, as well as an orange blossom sundae and a black sesame and white chocolate doughnut.

Nomad Up The Road is open for lunch and dinner from Monday to Saturday, and its ever-popular bottomless rosé lunches have made the move over, too. For $75 a head, you get 90 minutes of endless glasses of rosé and a five-course menu. Nomad's Foster Street space will open with a suite of upgrades early in 2020.

Find Nomad Up The Road at 85 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills. It's open from Monday–Saturday midday–3pm and 5.30pm–midnight.

The OG Foster Street restaurant is slated to reopen in early 2020.

Images: Petrina Tinslay

Published on November 01, 2019 by Libby Curran
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