Kensington Street Social — Sydney, Australia

Michelin-starred British chef, Jason Atherton, launches his first Australian restaurant on a former brewery site in Sydney’s inner city Chippendale precinct. The lofty Kensington Street Social forms part of the recently opened Old Clare Hotel together with adjoining degustation restaurants, Automata and Silvereye. All were developed by Loh Lik Peng, director of Unlisted Collection, a global boutique hotel and restaurant group.
Open daily for breakfast through to dinner, modern Mediterranean share plates showcase raw, cured and cooked local produce with a fusion of indigenous Australian and Japanese flavours. Expect kangaroo, Wagyu beef and Moreton Bay bugs plus accents of lemon myrtle, wattle seed, wasabi and miso. The creaminess of Atherton’s slow-cooked hen’s egg mixed with chewy roasted corn and the sharp tang of crisp seaweed, Parmesan, sage crumbs and roasted chicken scratchings best demonstrates his sublime textural pairings.
Designed by Shanghai-based Neri&Hu and executed by architect Matt Darwon with GP2 Projects, the interior draws on the site’s industrial heritage. The stripped former brewery administration office walls reveal original tiling and brickwork, whilst two towering steel islands run the restaurant’s length. One frames an open kitchen and supports a mezzanine dining area directly above, the other, the bar. Clad in louvered panes of glass and mirror, they refract light entering through the soaring windows lining the laneway entrance, and reflect a multitude of hidden angles within.
Neri&Hu’s custom-built timber tables and chairs with bottle green and charcoal leather seating create natural warmth amid the concrete finishes, whilst sinuous brass light rods suspended over the tabletops, also custom-designed by Neri&Hu, add a golden patina to the restaurant’s brass accents. Dark amber and sea green glassware made from recycled bottles by Tevita Havea discreetly nod to the area’s beer-swilling lore.
INFORMATION
Website
ADDRESS
3 Kensington Street
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
A new concrete family house in Slovakia slots seamlessly into its naturally landscaped site
In Slovakia, Banánka family house by Paulíny Hovorka Architects is a generous contemporary sanctuary in the heart of a mature forest
-
‘Wundercar’ celebrates the ineffable aura of the Porsche 959, the first true hypercar
Curated by London creatives INK, ‘Wundercar’ is a London exhibition dedicated to the image and influence of Porsche’s seminal 959, a true icon of 1980s engineering
-
A scented ring? Wouters & Hendrix makes Hannelore Knuts’ dreams come true
Wouters & Hendrix collaborates with legacy model Hannelore Knuts on L’Issence, a collection of two scented rings. Here, Knuts tells Wallpaper* how they were made
-
Book a brutalist one-room wonder Down Under, the Vipp Tunnel in Tasmania
The Danish design brand's bookable showcases arrive in the southern hemisphere, thanks to the vision of Tasmanian architectural firm Room 11
-
Wallpaper* checks in at The Eve Hotel Sydney: a lush urban escape
A new Sydney hotel makes a bold and biophilic addition to a buzzing neighbourhood that’s on the up
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Lo Scoglio: an Australian vacation rental with regenerative principles
Tucked away in Byron Bay’s hinterland, an Italian-style farmhouse presents a sustainable approach to luxury
-
Five influential women hoteliers reflect on the changing face of hospitality
As women continue to gain ground in the hotel sector, despite still being underrepresented in senior positions, five female moguls share their experiences of the past and projections for the future
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Melbourne Place: ‘an alchemy of colour, texture and personality’
Designed by Kennedy Nolan, Melbourne Place is the Australian city’s newest independent hotel, oozing creativity and urban energy
-
All aboard the world’s most luxurious train journeys
Stay on track with our pick of the most luxurious train journeys around the world, whether in 1920s-style opulence or contemporary chic
-
Six hotels where you’ll find the winter sun this February
From intimate seaside inns to lush tropical resorts, here are six Wallpaper*-approved winter sun escapes
-
2025 getaways: where Wallpaper* editors will be travelling to this year
From the Japanese art islands of Naoshima and Teshima to the Malaysian tropical paradise of Langkawi, here’s where Wallpaper* editors plan to travel to in 2025