The surprising hospitality hotspot rising in Sydney’s suburbs

The couple behind Surry Hills eating places Arthur and Jane are heading south to Gymea within the Sutherland Shire, the place they’re planning to open modern Italian-Australian restaurant Fior in late April.

Fior joins a rising hospitality scene within the Shire, strengthened over the previous 12 months by notable newcomers reminiscent of beachside Cronulla restaurant Bobbys, boutique Caringbah bakery Flour Espresso & Doughroom and brunch-to-dinner eatery Kin in Burraneer.

“It’s an rising market … with a brand new cohort of nice cooks and producers combining down south,” says Gymea native and head chef Tristan Rosier, who co-owns Fior with companion Bec Fanning.

The pair lengthy deliberate to open a 3rd venue, however discovered the inner-city market “massively over saturated, with everybody preventing for a restricted variety of purchasers”.

“We noticed an enormous alternative within the Shire – a lot of folks have moved to the world, and when they need a sure stage of restaurant expertise, they normally journey into the town,” Rossier says.

“We wish to deliver that to them and present folks what’s attainable right here.”

However don’t anticipate to see one other Arthur – Rosier and Fanning’s intimate, fine-dining restaurant with a multi-course set menu of contemporary Australian dishes reminiscent of saltbush and kangaroo tartare, ranging from $120 per particular person.

Quite, Fior goals to change into a enjoyable, neighbourhood assembly place with massive, family-friendly tables, a sharing menu of seasonal Italian classics, and a contact of tableside theatre (hiya, roaming gelato trolley).

It’s a big, 120-seat restaurant with a cool, modern Italian really feel – the sun-drenched area utterly reworked from its former life as Caruso’s Restaurant and Pizza Bar, which closed in March after 25 years of buying and selling. Interiors are designed by Luchretti Krelle, and have brushed stainless-steel, deep blues and lengthy oak bars.

The menu, created with former Arthur head chef Will Lawson, will characteristic round 20 antipasto objects, a choice of seafood and steak mains, and about six pasta dishes, reminiscent of cavolo nero pesto pasta. Egg pasta will probably be made recent in-house every day, with an extruder so giant it’s able to churning out 18 kilograms of pasta each hour.

By combining their dedication to utilizing (almost-exclusively) Australian produce with Italian delicacies, Rosier says the menu at Fior can “hit tremendous aggressive worth factors, because it’s comparatively extra inexpensive to place collectively”.

“Italian can also be very approachable, so we hope there’ll be one thing on the menu for everybody – whether or not you’re taking grandpa out for his eightieth birthday or having lunch with the women,” he says.

Diageo World Class Australian Bartender of the Yr for 2023, Eduardo Conde (El Primo Sanchez) has developed the drinks menu, creating Italian cocktails with an Australian twist. There’s additionally an 80-strong wine record championing Australian winemakers utilizing Italian varietals.

Fior will open for dinner seven days every week, and for lunch from Friday to Sunday.

756 Kingsway, Gymea, fiorrestaurant.com.au