After a several-year slowdown that we don’t need to go into, It’s been a big year for hospitality in Australia. We’ve said goodbye to a few of our favourite watering holes, diners and restaurants, and welcomed some worthy newcomers. A handful, however, stood out from the crowd.
Read on for the country’s most stunning restaurant openings for 2022.
Yugen
South Yarra/Melbourne
Resting right above the now infamous speciality tea destination Yugen Tea Bar, the South Yarra venue is now welcoming Yūgen, a brand new, two-level eatery with three unique spaces, each one evoking a sense of intimacy mixed with innovation and newness. On the mezzanine level, there’s a private, six-seater Omakase bar, where you’re invited to sit back as the chefs and choose a selection of dishes for you, including Kobujime, A5 Wagyu, and Engawa Sushi. Alternatively, if you really want to live it up, there’s a private Golden Orb, a dining area suspended from the ceiling.
Accessible only through the glass-walled elevator, diners can also find themselves underground in the 85-seat restaurant an industrious but welcoming space, decked out with warm lighting illuminating 6-metre concrete walls. The design by Architects EAT has an impressive quality to it with intricate lighting features and shelves displaying delicate terracotta vases and teapots adorning the walls.
Freyja
CBD
Taking on the culinary movement of Scandinavian cuisine, popularised by overseas institutions like Noma and Faviken, Freyja will be the newest addition to the Collins Street dining precinct. The name Freyja comes from the Norse goddess, who was responsible for beauty and love, residing inside the 130yo heritage-listed Olderfleet building, there’s a strong Scandinavian aesthetic with a collection of minimalist stylings including raw timbers and metallic flourishes with rich contrasting colours. Leading the charge in the kitchen are Jae Bang and Aaron Caccia who both hail from Michelin-starred diner, Re-Naa in Norway as well as Daniel Gordon, former head chef at Lee Ho Fook.
Together the collective team are developing a menu incorporating plenty of the traditional cooking methods of the Nordic region including fermenting, smoking, and pickling, the menu details are still being held tight but so far we've seen inclusions like smoked oysters served with buttermilk, juniper and Geraldton waxflower, and Great Ocean duck with Mostarda, roasted Parsnip and finger lime.
Casa Chow
Woolloongabba/Brisbane
Casa Chow comes to us from the duo behind Sasso Italiano, one of 2021’s standout openings in Brisbane and a fellow resident of up and coming foodie precinct, South City Square, so you can expect good things. Pegged as a high energy bar and restaurant, Casa Chow will be as much about the drinks as it is the food, with a DJ booth to provide a backdrop of Latin beats as you wine and dine.
Plenty of effort has gone into designing the jaw-dropping venue, which features a few Peruvian elements like colourful wooden shutters and patterned tiles. Hidden away behind the large central bar are plush blue booths lit by mismatched chandeliers and divided by sheer pink curtains, with high tables scattered throughout the rest of the space and cosy nooks here and there for anyone just dropping in for a drink. When the weather warms up (hopefully soon), a large outdoor area will provide even more seating, though you can already embrace the chill air if you’re suitably rugged up.
Lucy Luu
Mt Hawthorn/Perth
Perth’s dumpling queen herself, Miss Chow's, has expanded her empire with a whole new family-run dining experience popping up in Mount Hawthorn. The stunning locale is called Lucy Luu, a sleek bar and bites-style joint serving quality wine and gourmet South-East Asian delights infused with the finest WA produce in a striking setting. The menu is very much in good hands here, with Head Chef Aldren Teo at the helm. He's contributed to top-tier kitchens like Market Grounds and Emily Taylor, but told us taking on this role felt particularly special because it really connected him to home. He's excited to introduce Perth diners to the iconic sweet, salty and spicy flavours he grew up with and told us he's not holding anything back—so if it sounds spicy, expect it to be genuinely hot. On the share-style food menu, Chef Teo told us to look out for dishes like Wagyu Shanghai dumplings, Szechuan spiced beef tartare and an Asian-style burrata dressed in soy and yuzu. Throw on a few rounds of drinks and work your way through each one.
Kiln
Sydney
Sitting 18 storeys up with a spectacular and rare view across Surry Hills, Central Station, and the city—Kiln is Ace Hotel Sydney's rooftop dining destination. It's the hotel's crowning jewel, complete with retractable ceilings, glass walls, and chef Mitch Orr at the helm.
Enter via a back laneway, where hotel lobby elevators will teleport you to two spacious terraces, with the kitchen and glowing woodfired hearth as the centrepiece.
Here, Orr is flexing his genre-bending skills with fiery native ironbark and assorted fruitwoods to flame and smoke a neat list of fun but inventive dishes. On the menu are snacks like Jatz with smoked butter and anchovy and larger plates like grilled Abrolhos Island scallops with preserved lemon butter, and Marron with desert lime and long pepper.
Rafi
North Sydney
Behind the swanky new venue is Applejack Hospitality, who's also responsible for much-loved Sydney spots such as Bopp & Tone, The Butler, SoCal, and The Botanist. And now they're bringing us a 300-person drinking and dining behemoth—and one that's decked out with sunny terraces, a cocktail bar, a restaurant, a private dining room, a chef's table experience, and a central glasshouse structure called The Abor. Yes, it's big—and where you'll want to spend many summer arvos.
Hailing all the way from Peru, Rafi's Executive Head Chef Matias Cilloniz has created a menu that draws from our fair city's coastal elements and can be summed up in two words: "fresh" and "seasonal". Australia’s world-class produce finds its home in vibrant combinations made from sustainably sourced seafood and greens cooked over charcoal. Menu highlights include the glacier 51 toothfish with chickpea miso, fresh chickpeas and chilli; raw south coast tuna with cucumber, avocado and fresh yuzu; and dry-aged duck crowned with fresh plum and mustard leaves. Feeling adventurous? Better order the crispy potatoes with cultured cream, chives and sea urchin then (yes, really).
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Image credits: Supplied