The Hideaway

Bondi Junction is heading underground with new multi-million-dollar dining and nightlife destination, The Hideaway, opening this weekend. This after-dark restaurant, cocktail bar and live music venue is taking cues from New York’s late-night dining culture, bringing a little more occasion to Sydney’s east.

Opening inside a former basement space in Bondi Junction, The Hideaway isn’t exactly playing things safe. In a hospitality landscape increasingly leaning toward smaller footprints and pared-back concepts, the venue is making a bigger play—complete with chandeliers, luxe booths, Venetian plaster finishes and a grand staircase inspired by some of Sydney’s most iconic moodily lit dining rooms.

The space itself is split into two distinct experiences: a 60-seat dining room alongside a larger live music space. While guests can eat across both areas, the entertainment component is a major focus, with regular live music programming leaning heavily into jazz and blues. Add a 2am licence and suddenly dinner plans have the potential to go all night.

On the food front, former Bentley head chef James Tai and former One Penny Red chef and co-owner RJ Lines are leading the kitchen—bringing some serious credentials along with them. 

There menu has some big hitters from the jump. A dry-aged pork chop crumbed in its own crackling is an immediate must-order, while buttermilk fried chicken topped with Oscietra caviar pushes things a little further into luxury territory. Elsewhere you'll find lightly cured snapper with pickled grape and almonds, anchovy toast layered with Hideaway butter and marjoram, half live lobster folded through pasta, and a 1kg-plus Black Onyx rib eye on the bone for anyone arriving hungry.

There's also a dedicated wine cellar spanning Australian, New Zealand and international producers alongside a cocktail program—not to mention the roaming caviar trolley making laps around the room and tableside bombe Alaska service for anyone fully committing to the occasion.

As the city continues to lean toward more experience-led hospitality, The Hideaway is the next big name on the growing list of underground, New York-inspired dining offers in Sydney.

Image credit: The Hideaway | Supplied