Story and photo by Ryan Gandiaga @ryangandiaga
Celebrity chef Kylie Kwong has recently been on a mission to bring attention to Sydney’s newest up-and-coming dining hub, Locomotive Street in South Eveleigh, as its ambassador.
“I feel so invigorated and inspired every single day, having the opportunity to work alongside and collaborate with SO many amazing specialists and trailblazers,” said Ms Kwong, who has posted a stream of comments highlighting developments on her Instagram page.
Previously known as the Australian Technology Park, South Eveleigh has been home to a number of heritage-listed former railway workshops that have been under development by Mirvac since 2016. With 10 new venues opening in the last month, including a gourmet supermarket, the project is now able to start showing its potential future for the area.
Some recent dining options to set up shop in the precinct include Steve Costi’s Famous Fish, Sushi Hon, Bekya Egyptian Spice, Fishbowl, Eat Fuh, Pepper Seeds Thai, ramen specialists Rara’s fourth establishment Rara Chan; and cafe Yoho Loco from the team behind Regiment in the CBD.
After asking some local workers what they thought of the new food venues opening up, the general reception towards the development has been positive. One office worker said that “there’s a good variety” and another diner who had made an effort to get their lunch there daily said “it’s a fantastic reinvigoration of the area”.
Although most venues are currently only operating to serve lunch to the masses of office workers in the area, future plans are being made to integrate more venues that will be open for dinner. Kwong is also planning to open her next restaurant there after the closure of her previous restaurant Billy Kwong in 2019.
Another headlining venue is the world’s first permanent no-waste bar, Re, that has just opened from Matt Whiley (pioneer of world’s 51st best bar Scout in London). Expect to see food that would otherwise end up in landfill repurposed for cocktails in a space that’s been built from recycled materials.
With all of these venues having opened or soon to open, the South Eveleigh precinct looks like it will shape up to be another great addition to the ever expanding Sydney dining scene and something locals can look forward to visiting in the coming months.
Great to see more foodie destinations in Sydney announced, especially as more companies establish or expand themselves in different areas of Sydney (for example, Commonwealth Bank call centre), therefore demand for hospitality increases