Kuro

Overview

This Kent Street locale is open for house-roasted coffees in the morning and wagyu and cocktails at night. Kuro is the restaurant, bar and cafe from executive chef and co-owner Taka Teramoto, who has spent time in the kitchens of Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris and Tokyo, including Restaurant Pages and Florilège.

At Kuro, Teramoto is joined by Head Chef Nobu Maruyama (Bar H) and together, they've created a menu fusing Aussie produce and Japanese techniques. For starters, expect wagyu tartare with Jerusalem artichoke chips and Japanese meatballs with furikake (an umami-rich seasoning).

Larger plates feature the likes of aged duck breast with black garlic, hapuka and charred beef tongue with shiso. Plus, a highly marbled cut of Rangers Valley beef is sure to please Sydney steak lovers and you can round out your meal with a matcha crème brûlée or some coconut mochi.

Alongside the 40-seat dining room, called Kuro Dining, is an eight-seat bar, where Tokyo bartenders Fumiaki Michishita and Yasushiro Kawakubo have created a Japanese-inspired (and absinthe-heavy) cocktail list. There's the Sober Experience (soba-infused Jameson and absinthe with kabosu and 'umami syrup') and the Green Hour (French gin, dry vermouth, absinthe, apple and champagne cordial). The Lava Flow of Mt. Fuji is a Japanese twist on a piña colada, made using brown sugar shochu and matcha, while The Last Wave pulls inspiration from Aussie beaches, combining Manly Spirits gin, Chartreuse and shrimp (yes, shrimp) and kombu bitters.

The bar also features heaps of Japanese spirits — including whisky, gin, sake and shochu — draught beer and a 120-bottle wine list courtesy of sommelier Wanaka Teramoto (116 Pages, Paris).

If you're in need of caffeine instead, stop by the brew bar on weekdays from 8am for single-origin, house-roasted coffee, teas, matcha lattes and breakfast pastries (including banana bread and chocolate brownies).

Designed by Potts Point's Henderson & Co, the space itself is also impressive — and the lighting particularly so. Fifty-six American oak light 'portals' spread across the walls create an ever-changing ambience throughout the day and into the night.

Other design elements include a copper-tiled bar, sandstone and brick walls, polished stone and marble tables and a massive, blossom-shaped capiz chandelier. Cracks in the existing concrete floors have been filled with gold — a nod to the Japanese pottery-fixing technique of kintsugi — and soft fabric screens create semi-private dining spaces throughout.

It may seem like Kuro already has a lot going on, but its most exciting offering is still to come later this year. Dubbed Teramoto by Kuro, it's a ten-person omakase personally served by chef Teramoto and sommelier Teramoto. You'll be seated at the kitchen-side counter, so you can watch the action while you feast.

Images: Megann Evans