The Palomar will join an award-winning cocktail and wine bar and bakery spot at the new 25hours Hotel The Olympia near Taylor Square.
When The Palomar opens in Sydney on Thursday, October 9, the transplanted London restaurant will walk a tricky tightrope by honouring the UK original while trying to satisfy the specific tastes of its adopted city. The restaurant also hopes to put some bounce back into a stretch of Oxford Street down on its dining luck.
Thomas Wielecki
Transplanted restaurants are notoriously difficult projects, inviting inevitable comparison with the original. Palomar’s local branch has a handy inclusion – its head chef Luke Davenport, a Sydneysider, worked at the London original early in his career. Davenport and culinary director Mitch Orr have curated an opening menu alongside the London team, with an ingredient mix of something borrowed and something new.
The original UK dessert menu is a case in point. “There was a lot of sweetness, potentially too much sweetness, which Sydney isn’t so keen about,” Davenport said. Fans of Palomar’s famed baklava ice-cream sandwich can relax — it’s on the menu. But Davenport and Orr have included new desserts, including a light tahini custard tart.
The Palomar is part of a three-prong venue launch from London-based Studio Paskin, with its award-winning cocktail and wine bar sibling The Mulwray and coffee and bakery concept Jacob the Angel also opening on Thursday. They are located inside the new 25hours Hotel The Olympia, at the Taylor Square end of Oxford Street.
What’s all the fuss about? The Palomar has held an esteemed Michelin Bib Gourmand award since it opened in Soho in 2014. The creation of DJ-turned-restaurateur Layo Paskin, and his sister, Zoe, The Palomar proved a quick success, named by Tatler as restaurant of the year. They’ve since added the Michelin-starred Evelyn’s Table to a stable that also includes London hotspot The Barbary.
Before the launch, the Paskins said The Palomar Sydney would be “informed” by the London original but inspired by the city it resides in. True to their word, the pair have given Davenport plenty of wiggle-room.
The chef tips the baby cucumber with herb tahini, an import from the London menu, to be an early favourite. Guests will also tuck into calamari with herb salsa and preserved lemon, coral trout crudo with blood orange, and whole flounder with brown butter infused with ras el hanout spice.
“When I worked at Palomar, I really loved the shifka [Balkan chillies] they used, and we’ve found our golden child,” Davenport said.
Although Davenport was on an early fine-dining trajectory — he worked at the famed Noma in Copenhagen and The Ledbury in London — his time at Palomar in 2016 left a lasting impression on him.
“If something was spicy, it was spicy. There was acid and heat,” Davenport said. “The biggest thing for me was the atmosphere. It wasn’t buttoned up. All the customers were having a great time, and the staff as well. Without a doubt, it’s the most fun I’ve ever had in a restaurant.”
The Palomar’s arrival has been welcomed by other hospitality operators on the strip, who have witnessed a tally of departures. Just last month, Mexican bar-eatery El Primo Sanchez relocated to Surry Hills. Giorgio De Maria, co-owner at Paski Vineria Popolare, on the next block from The Palomar, points to a string of closures – Kissuu restaurant and Cafe Freda’s included – and cites the departure of the Verona Cinema from Oxford Street last year as particularly tough on dining trade in the precinct.
De Maria hopes the arrival of the hotel and the Paskin venues will create a hub, attracting new customers and hotel guests to the area. “We’ve pretty much [had to survive] as a destination venue,” De Maria said.
Recreating that Palomar London magic in a Sydney hotel restaurant isn’t an easy assignment, but Layo Paskin and members of his UK team have been on site in recent weeks, playing with the lighting, training staff and helping with the menu. Davenport said the London team found time to explore Sydney’s dining, with Pellegrino 2000 in Surry Hills a favourite.
With a large window frontage on Oxford Street, and anywhere between 80-120 seats depending on how they configure the restaurant, Palomar Sydney is bigger that its big brother in London. “We have much more open space here,” Davenport said. But look closely at the mosaic tile inlays and restaurant’s colour palate, and there’s a nod to the original. “We’ve used the dark blue,” the chef said.
One of the local recruits, venue manager Lillia McCabe, has seen it all working on both sides of the kitchen pass at a roll call of Sydney restaurants, including The Wharf Restaurant at Walsh Bay, Claude’s and ACME. “Layo and Zoe and pretty impressive human beings — I’m in awe of how cool they are,” McCabe said.
While instilling the essence and “personal style” of the London original, McCabe said the Paskins were “happy for us to take it on and create something uniquely Sydney”. She’s pumped about what’s on offer: “It’s one of the most exciting menus I’ve seen in a long time.”
Open dinner Tue-Sat
7 Oxford Street, Paddington, thepalomar.com.au
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