Overview
Sydney has had an influx of French dining establishments of late, welcoming Hubert, Bistrot Gavroche and Bistro Guillaume in the last year. And, come this May, Barangaroo will get its very own French restaurant, Eté. It will be headed by Sydney's Drew Bolton — executive chef of Brick Lane, Seadeck and, most notably, Vine Double Bay (of which he is also co-owner) — who will take seasonality to the next level.
The restaurant will hold true to Bolton's signature French-slanted, seasonal cooking — but at Eté, they'll be making seasonal changes to the interior design as well. "Not only does the food menu evolve with the seasons, but we want the aesthetics and general vibe to reflect that as well," says Bolton. "We want guests to feel really engaged with what we're trying to do — like they've stepped into another world and have escaped the city."
At Eté the menu will be more overtly French than at his existing venues. This specific request came from Barangaroo South developer Lendlease, who were looking to open an exclusively French restaurant in the space — and, naturally, the team at Vine came to mind. "We've always had French influence in our food but I would never have labelled Vine as a French restaurant," says Bolton. "With this project there's definitely a gap in the market down at Barangaroo to do something a little more French and we were stoked to be asked to take it on." They've nabbed prime corner real estate on the ground floor of Tower One, just below NOLA Smokehouse and Bar.
Like at Vine, they'll still be freshening up the French flavours with 100 percent seasonal and local produce, with the 20-dish menu constantly evolving. On the board right now is homemade charcuterie and seafood platters, while mains will include a whole chook cooked in a traditional, custom-made claypot in the restaurant's wood-fire oven. "It's a very traditional way of cooking and really imparts a lot of beautiful and interesting flavours to the meat," says Bolton.
The seasonal concept is running through to the wine list as well, with the selection focusing on specific regions in France during prime months. "We're opening just before winter so, to start, we're doing a wine list that is centred around the Rhone Valley, because its wine is particularly great in winter," says Bolton.
They're also using a Coravin, which, through a needle method, allows them to pour wine without pulling the cork or releasing any air seal from the bottle. "We'll have plenty of bottles that are a rare vintage and would be very expensive to buy the whole bottle, but you can come in here and taste one glass of a wine you may not be able to try any other way."
Eté is yet another restaurant to open in the Barangaroo dining precinct, which has most recently welcomed 12-Micron, NOLA and rooftop bar Untied.
Eté is set to open sometimes in May. We'll keep you updated for when an opening date is announced.