Overview
The Sydney Opera House is introducing an exciting addition to its myriad of renowned experiences. Joining one of Sydney's best restaurants in Bennelong, as well as the newly renovated Concert Hall, Opera Bar, House Canteen, the Utzon Room and a range of other tours, theatres and bars at the iconic harbourside venue, will be Midden by Mark Olive. Led by its namesake chef, this new restaurant will bring seasonal menus showcasing native ingredients to the space currently occupied by Portside.
Midden by Mark Olive will open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, plus high tea on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from Tuesday, July 4 in the Sydney Opera House's Western Foyer. A proud Bundjalung man, Olive will pull from thousands of years of First Nations cooking to create the produce-driven Midden menu.
Shell middens are areas defined by large collections of shells discarded from local residents eating crabs, oysters and other shellfish. Tubowgule, the traditional name for the area the Sydney Opera House now resides on, was once a midden of oysters pulled fresh from the neighbouring harbour.
"Middens were vibrant communal spaces with food at their core," says Olive. "Opening a restaurant at the Sydney Opera House on Tubowgule, Gadigal country is a dream come true. I could not be prouder to follow in the pioneering footsteps of leading Indigenous Australians like Rhoda Roberts, Justine Saunders and Stephen Page, who have brought incredible First Nations storytelling to this place over the past 50 years."
Expect to start your meal with Sydney rock oysters in a bush tomato and wattle-seed vinaigrette, and damper bread infused with native herbs and partnered with whipped eucalyptus butter. Other snacks and starters available at Midden include native thyme hummus; smoked kangaroo salad; lemon myrtle and pepperberry-cured salmon; and an Indigenous Australian platter featuring highlights from the grazing menu alongside regional cheeses, tandoori crocodile, marinated artichoke and Tasmanian mountain pepper leaf flatbread.
If you're still hungry after making your way through your entrées, there are heftier mains on offer including smoked blue gum barramundi, black olive pappardelle, braised wallaby shanks served with sweet potato rosti, and seared pork belly infused with the flavours of river mint and bush honey.
"The land on which the Opera House stands was a gathering place for ceremony and culture for thousands of years before the building itself was ever conceived, and I hope the menu we've created will give guests a real taste of that millennia-old history and maybe even inspire some to cook with our vibrant native ingredients at home too," Olive continued.
Reservations for the new waterfront restaurant are open now.
Midden by Mark Olive will open at the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday, July 4. It will be open 11.30am–2.30pm and 5–8.30pm Monday–Sunday, and will run high tea on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.