Featuring: Alpha, Marrickville Metro, The Rice Pantry…

THERE’S beeen a swathe of modern Greek restaurant openings in Sydney over the past few months. Perama, the longtime Inner-West favourite helmed by noted chef David Tsirekas, returned to its original Petersham location and M.I.M by 1821 took up the spot vacated by Jamie’s Italian in Pitt Street. But the big fish, so to speak, was the re-opening of Alpha restaurant in the CBD following its 15-month closure for a multi-million-dollar revamp.
The chef is the redoubtable Peter Conistis, widely hailed as the pioneer of contemporary Greek cuisine in Sydney through his starring roles at Cosmos, Eleni’s and Omega. The stunning new fitout by Paul Papadopoulos of DS17 (Nour, Mama Mulan) truly matches Conistis’ talent. A fusion of modern and heritage styling, daylight floods in to highlight the crisply white walls, polished American oak and Thanet chairs. Original features such as exposed brick, vaulted ceilings and columns play well against the new open kitchen, marble bar and featured wine wall. Chic is the word from the minute you walk in the door.
The capacity has been reduced from 200 to 150, but many regulars of Alpha’s eight-year first iteration were out in force only a couple of weeks after reopening. Head chef James Roberts (China Doll, Est) is a superbly credentialed wingman for Conistis and aromas waft over diners from the kitchen’s charcoal-fuelled Jasper oven. The noise level has been tamped down by new soundproofing in the ceiling, but nothing can dampen the bonhomie of Alpha’s clientele. When we arrived, we noticed earlier diners were leaving with brown paper carry bags. “We’re Greek”, explained general manager Helena Karis, “we don’t let people go hungry and they can take any leftovers home”.
Over 90 per cent of the menu listings are new. We started with bone marrow served in the bone and topped with tabouli and a vegetarian version of keftedes, the traditional Greek meatballs. Forty per cent of the wine list is made up of Greek wines and many diners were going with the full Mediterranean flow.
Over his 25 year-plus career, Conistis has created signature dishes that his fans just won’t let him stray from – spanakopita (spinach and feta pie), slow-roasted lamb and scallop moussaka. I chose the spanakopita because it is the best in Sydney for taste and presentation and took a large chunk home to enjoy the next day.
If the open kitchen adds a touch of theatre, so does the serving of the lamb kleftiko. Lamb shoulder cooked in clay and paper with feta and herbs, one of the chefs brought the dish to our table and broke open the clay shell to allow the fragrant juices to do their work on arousing the tastebuds.
As fans of Rick Stein’s Mediterranean journeys on TV, where sea urchins pop up regularly during his wanderings, we ordered the sea urchin taramasalata. Once regarded as a pest in Australia, the so-called truffle of the sea really surged in popularity during the 2020 Covid lockdowns. Alpha’s version is a total taste sensation for plumpness and sweetness and not to be missed.
Other standouts on the menu include feta-brined chicken with tourlou tourlou, spit-roasted lamb and the mezze plate. Cocktails also feature strongly. A friend who had dropped by the week before recommended the Aphrodite Sour cocktail, a moreish blend of oak-aged Tsipouro, a relatively new take on the traditional Greek spirit distilled from pomace, Aperol, lemon juice, cider and strawberry shrub.
One dessert and two spoons were all we had room for, so we selected the galaktoboureko. A modern twist on the much-loved Greek custard pie, it was a deconstructed version with filo, coffee-infused creme and ice-cream. The updated version said it all about Alpha. It’s sophisticated and smart but with a lot of heart, from the service to the generous portions that a Greek yiayia would approve of.
Alpha, 238 Castlereagh Street, Sydney; go to www.238castlereagh.com.au.
Double Bay has again become a hotspot for new restaurant openings with the recent unveiling of Margaret, Neil Perry’s latest venue. Another new kid on the block is Sinaloa, a relaxed yet suave restaurant and bar with colourful tiles, fountains and an inviting hacienda courtyard. Named after the Mexican coastal region famed for its seafood, the chef is Mexico City-born, Axell Torres, who worked at Noma in Copenhagen and MereToro, the upscale Mexico City eatery in the city’s trendy Colonia Condesa neighbourhood, which made the top 50 restaurants in South America list in 2014 and 2015.

Just as Peter Conistis likes to emphasise Greek heritage with an updated approach and new techniques, so does Torres who also adds Asian and Australian ingredients to Mexican favourites.
The starters list features stracciatella and confit tomato tostada, stone-baked quesadilla and scallop agua chile – a spicy ceviche with cucumber, karkalla (the native Aussie succulent known as pigface), davidson plum and dashi.
Top of the main choices is wagyu birria – slow-cooked Sinaloa-style wagyu brisket. Vegetarians shouldn’t go past the black al pastor cauliflower with a Vegemite guajillo black al pastor glaze, hommus and mustard greens. There are three desserts and, as chocolate originated in Mexico, it’s hard not to pick the chocolate oaxagueno – spiced chocolate ganache, quandong, star anise, milk crumble and almond. Need another reason to drop by? Sinaloa offers more than 100 tequilas, mezcals and agave spirits, Mexican beers and wines.
Sinaloa, 37 Bay Street, Double Bay; visit sinaloasydney.com.au.
Marrickville Metro has seen the surrounding area undergo major gentrification over the past 15 years. The demographic trend really shows in the $140 million new dining precinct adjoining the venerable shopping centre. The walkway joining the old and new buildings has a neon sign – Get the Fork in Here – and the invitation is totally on the money.
Behind the facade of the former Smidmore Street warehouse, 12 new restaurants with diverse and edgy fitouts are drawing foodies to the latest Inner West food hub in droves. For starters there’s the Vietnamese-inspired diner and bar, The Rice Pantry, whose head chef is Bryan Zhu, the former MasterChef contestant.
The Grumpy Italian, with popular venues in Chiswick and Strathfield, has opened a third outlet in Marrickville. Karl’s Charcoal Chicken, a spin-off of the popular Hawa Charcoal Chicken, is also firing on all cylinders. As is Firestone, famed for its premium wagyu steaks. While Japanese food lovers have the choice of Motto Motto Japanese Kitchen and Izakaya Tori. If you closed your eyes, you would think you were in a smaller version of Chelsea Market in New York minus the adjoining television production facility.
Marrickville Metro, 20 Smidmore Street, Marrickville; visit marrickvillemetro.com.au.