Former head chef of Cafe Nice, Josh Niland, will open a seafood restaurant in Paddington, Sydney with business partner and wife, Julie Niland, a former pastry chef at Sixpenny and Marque.
With stints at Est, The Woods, and Fish Face also under his belt, Saint Peter will be Niland’s first solo venture.
“It’s something as a young chef that you always want to do. I guess I feel like everything just fell into place,” Niland told Hospitality.
“I feel like I’ve gained knowledge from working with people like Steve Hodges at Fish Face and Barry McDonald at Cafe Nice, which was the last part of what I wanted to learn in terms of being a business operator.”
The menu will showcase Australian seafood with staples like fish n chips alongside a daily changing offer of whole fish. All fish will be processed and dry filleted on site and stored in the custom designed coolroom, allowing Niland to explore new methods of dry ageing whole fish.
“It sounds cliched, but we will be changing it every day,” said Niland.
“Being a protein heavy menu means you have to have a lot of options for your waste. So we’ll be showing off a lot of offal as well, with the likes of John Dory liver on toast on the first menu.
“We’re trying to create an environment where we can focus on fish and keep it really simple – just fish, vegetables and then tarts for dessert.”
Diners can expect dishes like salt-roasted pumpkin with salt and vinegar seeds and scales; grilled broccolini with flathead roe yoghurt; and for dessert, a chocolate and artichoke tart.
In addition to dinners Tuesday-Sunday Saint Peter will offer an all day brunch menu on weekends, including oysters, a sea urchin crumpet, spanner crab omelette and charcoal grilled sardines on toast.
The wine will list will be entirely Australian with a focus on white varietals.
The 34-seat restaurant is expected to open on Oxford Street in September.
