Tapavino team to open Epula restaurant in Martin Place

Frank Dilernia believes Martin Place is the great untapped hospitality hub of the Sydney CBD, an area poised to finally be fully activated. The restaurateur and bar pioneer is so confident in the precinct, he’s joined a posse of operators undeterred by difficult trading conditions to invest in the famous strip.

Dilernia will open a restaurant on the corner of Pitt Street and Martin Place, in the historic GPO building. Every year Dilernia travels to Europe in search of inspiration for his Sydney stable of venues that include Circular Quay sherry bar Tapavino and CBD restaurant Balcon. “I love piazzas, they are the heart of cities and towns, and Martin Place is Sydney’s piazza,” Dilernia says.

When the restaurant opens in October, it’ll have a Latin name, Epula (which means dishes of food), but it’ll be a culinary nod to its location. “We’ll be using native Australian ingredients,” Dilernia says. He’s yet to announce the chef but has already recruited a former member of Copenhagen’s progressive Noma restaurant alumni to turn local produce into vinegars.

There’s little doubt the Martin Place precinct is in the midst of a boom.

Caterpillar Club opened late last year on its northern edge and is one of Sydney’s red-hot venues. After years of building, the scaffolding is about to come off a number of big developments, including 1 Elizabeth, part of the new Sydney Metro Martin Place development, which will be home to a fleet of new food operators, including Melbourne pastry mecca, Lune Croissanterie.

When Alejandro Saravia, the chef behind a number of Melbourne venues including Farmer’s Daughters, decided he wanted to spread his wings to Sydney, Martin Place topped his list. In March, Saravia will open a Latin American restaurant, Morena, in the GPO building.

The area ticked all the boxes for Saravia. Located on the doorstep of the financial district, it has a weekday city dining clientele while attracting tourists and shoppers. “1 Martin Place is a beautiful building with so much history and heritage,” the chef says.

Established and incoming operators also talk about the opportunity of bringing life to Martin Place while being respectful of its public spaces. Outdoor seating is part of the plans at Epula. At Morena, Saravia is also on board with taking the experience al fresco: “Our venue will have outdoor seating along the historic colonnade of the GPO building, but we will also look to have al fresco dining in Martin Place in the future – subject to council approval.”

After the false-start of the Olympics-era Banc restaurant and its sibling Wine Banc, operators believe there’s now more critical mass to the Martin Place movement, with restaurant openings pushing as far as Macquarie Street on the upper slopes of Martin Place.

A hospitality operator, who asks not to be named, is planning to open a bar near the 2022 arrivals Aalia restaurant and Kazan Dining. Damian Frazzica, the executive from real estate company CBRE that leased the Morena and Epula restaurant sites, says there’s also keen interest in the sprawling GPO basement where Prime restaurant and Sosumi previously traded.

Frazzica is understandably bullish about Martin Place’s mix of high-end luxury retailers and heritage buildings: “I really think it’ll be one of Sydney’s premium dining destinations.”