Three new food and drink precincts have opened in Sydney in the last few months. One is housed in a three-storey historic building on Sussex Street, Prefecture 48. Another is Wunderlich Lane, a $500 million food and drink precinct in Redfern. The third is two-level Spicetown in Leichardt, with bars and restaurants.
This is on top of the other Sydney precincts that opened in the last couple years, like Quay Quarter and Tramsheds, and the new venues at Ivy Precinct. It can be a lot to keep track of, so here, I’m breaking down all the new and new-ish Sydney precincts to have on your radar, plus what they’re like and what venues they offer.
Wunderlich Lane
Opened in September 2024, $500-million Wunderlich Lane is a hospitality, lifestyle and beauty precinct where Surry Hills and Redfern meet. It houses The Eve hotel, retail including homewares store Saardé and beauty salon The Parlour Room, residences, office spaces and seven eateries and bars.
They include Island Radio, a South East-Asian restaurant with a menu inspired by dishes from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, Olympus, a Greek eatery by the same team as The Apollo and Cho Cho San, and Regina La Pizzeria, by the team of Lumi Dining and Lode Pies and Pastries who will cook in Australia’s first volcanic rock-using Fazzone oven.
Bar Julius is an eatery in The Eve’s lobby, run by the Liquid and Larder group who run Bistecca, The Gidley and The Rover. The hotel will also feature a Mexican restaurant on the rooftop next to its pool. In 2025, a bar atop Island Radio called Baptist Street Rec Club, a Gelato Messina and an expansion of eight-seater Surry Hills restaurant Raita Noda, called R By Raita Noda, will open.
Prefecture 48
Four years in the making, Prefecture 48, also called P48, opened on Sussex Street in October 2024. It has six dining options — four restaurants, a patisserie and a whisky bar — all housed in a heritage-listed, three-level Victorian warehouse.
The ground floor is home to patisserie Dear Florence, whisky bar Whisky Thief and robata-style restaurant Ibushi, while level one is taken up entirely by kaiseki-style restaurant Garaku, which will offer a theatrical dining experience and dishes that are an interpretation of the four seasons. An eight-seater omakase restaurant and modern-European eatery Five will be on the top floor.
Victoria Cross
Opened in August 2024, Victoria Cross dining precinct (Vic X, for short) is located above the metro stop in North Sydney with the same name. Its 15 eateries include Torotoro Ramen, Mary’s and Marrickville Pork Roll. Seven more venues are set to open in 2025. Once the precinct is complete, the precinct will be open 18 hours a day.
Spicetown Leichhardt
Spicetown Leichhardt took over two-storey Leichhardt Hotel in October 2024. Open Thursdays to Sundays, it features a ground floor filled with over 20 hawker-style vendors and top-floor Cosmos Bar that overlooks a food court below. Dine on Chinese, Greek, Korean, Malaysian, Turkish and Japanese foods. Opening times for the ground floor ‘night market’ and upstairs Cosmos Bar vary, so check the hours online before heading there.
Sydney Place
Sydney Place opened on George Street, a few streets back from Circular Quay, in May 2023. The precinct has around 15 eateries and bars, ranging from takeaway to fine dining. Jacksons on George is the largest among them, with three levels. The precinct also houses Korean restaurants Matkim and Sil Bi Jip, Japanese eatery Bar Besuto and coffee spots Toby’s Estate and Kingswood Coffee, among others.
Quay Quarter Lanes
Quay Quarter Lanes is part of the Quay Quarter precinct, which runs two city blocks. The Lanes hub has opened in stages, starting with four-storey Hinchcliff House, a former wool store space that now includes restaurants Grana, Lana and Apollonia.
Today, Quay Quarter Lanes has 22 diners, bars and retailers, including a Humble bakery, wine bar Tigra and Korean omakase diner Kobo. Other venues include salad café Side Room, French bistro Bouillon L’Entrecote and banh mi eatery Marrickville Pork Roll. Grab coffee at Skittle Lane and gelato at Zini Gelateria.
Ivy Precinct
The Ivy Precinct is over a decade old, but it’s had some new additions this year. In 2023, Jimmy’s Falafel opened in a bigger space and sandwich and pizza-by-the-slice shop Oti popped up in Palings Lane. Then in 2024, Jam Record Bar and Jimmy’s Rooftop were added to the precinct mix.
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