Chris Lucas’ latest venture, a three level contemporary Japanese restaurant called Kisumé, will swing open its doors on 15 May.
For the first week of service, the restaurant will be open for dinner service only, however from 22 May, it will be offering lunch and dinner seven days a week.
The venue will comprise a sushi bar and restaurant on the ground floor and basement levels, with the first floor housing Kuro Kisumé – a space made up of The Table, an omakase-style dining area seating 12 (opening in mid-June); two dining rooms and the Chablis Bar.
Chef K.S. Moon will lead the kitchen along with sushi masters (and brothers) Yosuke and Shimpei Hatanaka.
“Guests can expect dishes that draw on the purity and exacting nature of Japanese food but are uniquely Australian,” a statement announcing the opening reads.
Nearly 100 percent of the menu’s produce is from Australia and New Zealand.
Guests will be offered two food menus featuring a selection of raw and hot dishes. Highlights include tamago mushi with egg custard, prawn, shiitake mushroom, foie gras and sukiyaki foam; steamed king crab gyoza with quail egg and bonito vinaigrette; Ulladulla grilled mackerel with sesame ponzu; crispy wagyu truffles with truffle miso and mozzarella; and foie gras and beef tenderloin with yakiniku soy.
The sushi bar will offer specialty rolls and sashimi including Alaskan king crab with spring onion, flying fish row and soy paper.
Kisumé’s wine team is led by Philip Rich and includes group sommelier, Jonathon Ross, whose CV includes the world number one restaurant, New York’s Eleven Madison Park, as well as Kisumé general manager, Markus Tschuschnig.
The Kisumé Winewall is reminiscent of the wall Lucas introduced at The Botanical, South Yarra, and includes four separate glass cabinets devoted to Chablis, Pinot Noir, Riesling and rare Sake and Japanese Whisky.
The Chablis Bar, said to be Australia’s first, is made up of 80 Chablis by the bottle and has a regularly changing by-the-glass offering.
The restaurant will also offer single vineyard tap wines offering Australian drops, the first of which will be a Riesling from Henty and a Pinot Noir from the Mornington Peninsula.
It’s going to be a big year for Lucas, who’s also preparing to bring his hugely popular Chin Chin concept to Sydney in September. He’s also planning on launching a new Melbourne restaurant with Sepia’s Martin Benn and Vicki Wild in 2018.