House Made Hospitality has confirmed key staff, venue names and further details about its new multi-venue drinking and dining precinct within the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth 5-star luxury hotel, which is in the final stages of an expansive $60 million refurbishment.
At the north end of Sydney’s CBD in September on Phillip Street, the four venues – two bars and two restaurants – will each offer a distinctive experience under one roof at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth.
“We know this area of the Sydney CBD intimately and look forward to further enhancing the neighbourhood for locals and visitors,” House Made Hospitality director Justin Newton said.
“We want to bring old-world glamour back to hotel drinking and dining in Sydney and restore the reputation it had in decades past – much like the plans for the revitalised Sofitel Sydney Wentworth itself.”
Overseeing the culinary experience at the venues will be Elliott Pinn (ex-Sepia, House Made Hospitality – Lana, Martinez, Promenade Bondi Beach, Grana), Sofitel Precinct executive chef, restaurant and bars, alongside Christian Blair (ex-Annata, Rockpool Bar & Grill, Eau De Vie), Sofitel Precinct beverage manager, restaurant and bars. House Made Hospitality director Jason Williams will lead the cocktail program for all four venues. Karen Morris from Fender Katsalidis (The Darling) will steer the interior design team, establishing a unique aesthetic for each venue.
The offering
Tilda (Ground Floor on Phillip Street)
Led by Head Chef Nathanael Merchant (ex-Bentley, The Ledbury London), Tilda’s menu will centre on Australian seafood roasted in a charcoal oven. The luxe and lively 110-seater – which includes a 12-person private dining room – will serve fresh and dry-aged fish and shellfish, with sauces celebrating the seasons and local produce. Diners might expect dishes such as southern calamari with preserved lemon, ‘nduja and myrtle; Fraser Island spanner crab ravioli in roast potato dashi with saltbush and daikon; and butterflied WA king prawns with curry leaf and black lime and sorrel butter. The wine list, overseen by Tilda’s head sommelier, Paul Sadler (ex-Chophouse, Australian Venue Co), will likewise lean local, acting as a love letter to Australia’s most important winemakers, regions and grapes, with illustrious labels alongside more contemporary, progressive makers. Sprinkled throughout will be drops from the most storied old-world wine regions. The cocktail menu will comprise a tight selection of classics poured tableside and infused with local botanicals.
Bar Tilda (Ground Floor on Phillip Street)
Adjacent to Tilda will be the refined Bar Tilda, where signature cocktails will evoke the glamour and nostalgia of the 1960s – the era the hotel was launched – while a jazz band enhances the lively ambience reminiscent of 60s bars. Grounded by an extensive spirits collection and house-made ingredients, the 90-person bar will also have a 100-strong Australian whisky library housed in a handsome armoire. Guests will be invited to enjoy personalised whisky-tasting experiences and Australian whisky flights. Mid-century glamour is embodied in the bar’s signature Flora Martini, made tableside and poured into a bespoke glass. Other creations such as Dollars and Cents, a tropical drink featuring London dry gin, pineapple jam, pepper, macadamia, citrus, and lime oil commemorating Australia’s 1966 currency change, and Lost At Sea, a tribute to former prime minister Harold Holt who disappeared at a Victorian beach in 1967, blending botanical vodka, tea tree, orange, lemon salt, and green apple, marry storytelling with innovation.
Delta Rue (Level 5)
Ascend to the fifth floor for Delta Rue, a lavish and bustling restaurant with Vietnamese-French influences. Delta Rue will evoke the faded old-world elegance of Hanoi’s Old Quarter in the 1920s, with the 150-seat interior opening to a verdant terrace seating an additional 60 restaurant guests. While the champagne bar at the entrance of Delta Rue offering guests the opportunity to enjoy a glass of French bubbles before they are seated will be sure to dazzle diners, it’s the local produce that will be the star of the restaurant. The signature freshness of Vietnamese cuisine foregrounds a menu that might include banh khot with rare breed pork; banh xeo with sambal laut and Skull Island prawns; and Hanoi-style chargrilled pork neck skewers with pickled chilli, wasabi leaf and nuoc cham. French influence filters through the wine list, which stars wines from the regions of France that have led the way on the international wine scene. Expect drops from modern and storied French producers, as well as selections from winemakers around the world who have followed in their wake.
Wentworth Bar (Level 5)
The lush rooftop terrace Wentworth Bar is set to become one of Sydney’s most spectacular al fresco drinking destinations. This sprawling space, which also offers a glass and copper cover to protect from inclement weather, accommodates 250 guests and will pour fun and bright easy-drinking cocktails, including the lively The Odyssey (blanco tequila, ginger flower, Vietnamese mint, apple sherbet, blue magic, lime), and the fruity and fresh A Tropical Splash (orange blossom vodka, tonka bean, watermelon sorbet, lemon and champagne). Wentworth Bar will also be the first Sydney venue to make ‘cocktail explosions’, dramatic, large-scale cocktails serving up to 10 people, which were popularised at the NoMad Hotel in New York City. The Vietnamese influence of Delta Rue extends to the food menu of Wentworth Bar, where you can expect fresh, vibrant snacks and drinking food, while regular DJs enhance the lively atmosphere.
“The two restaurants are designed to complement each other, offering different dining experiences depending on whether you are in the mood for an elegant, seafood-focused meal or an energetic explosion of flavours at Delta Rue,” Elliott Pinn said. “Three years of operating venues in this part of the CBD has educated us on what local corporates and residents are after when they dine, which we’ve balanced with the style of restaurant that attracts destination diners and visitors to the city.”
These four venues from House Made Hospitality are central to Sofitel Sydney Wentworth’s vision to reignite the ’60s jetset glamour that infused the hotel when it opened, becoming Australia’s first international 5-star hotel and drawing royals, movie stars and dignitaries. The timeless, nostalgic elegance Tilda, Bar Tilda, Delta Rue and
Wentworth Bar will bring to the hotel will be an integral part of the rebirth of a Sydney icon, helping bring it into the 21st century.
“It might not be common for a hotel to work with a single hospitality operator across every food and beverage outlet in a precinct but by doing so, Sofitel Sydney Wentworth can ensure excellence and consistency across all four venues. Despite each destination offering a unique experience, each bears House Made Hospitality’s hallmarks of great food and good times in an electric environment,” said Newton.
House Made Hospitality’s stable of venues include Hinchcliff House, located in Sydney’s CBD and comprising cocktail bar Apollonia and restaurants Grana and Lana, Southeast Asian eating house Easy Tiger in Bondi, CBD pasta bar and deli Bar Mammoni, sandwich bunker This Way Canteen, Surry Hills pub The Carrington, beachside restaurant and bar Promenade Bondi Beach and southern French-inspired restaurant and rooftop terrace bar, Martinez.
In addition to these four venues opening within Sydney Sofitel Wentworth, House Made Hospitality will also open a restaurant, café and bar in the Wunderlich Lane development within Surry Hills Village later this year.
