Chin Chin and GoGo restaurant - Sydney, Australia

Vivid pink glows from the doors of a towering late Federation-era warehouse that sat dormant on the border of Sydney’s Surry Hills for half a century.

Lower levels are now occupied by Chin Chin, the sister to The Lucas Group’s powerhouse modern Asian restaurant in Melbourne. Hop left of the foyer’s enormous neon bunny for drinks and snacks in the GoGo Bar where interior architect, George Livissianis, has created a den of contrasting textures that exude a slick fetish vault vibe.

Modular raw concrete block banquettes are offset with seductive black velvet and shimmers of mirror and chrome beneath exposed wooden beams, whilst dominant S&M images tease this mischievous theme further.

The yin to GoGo’s yang is the ethereal 160-seat restaurant where its open plan triangular geometry is flooded in natural light. Livissianis’ Duchampian touch strips the walls and wooden furnishings down to their functional and elemental beauty, whilst marbled liquorice stone counters anchor the room’s weightlessness. The drama is saved for the platters: stir-fries, complex curries and tender barbequeue and rotisserie meats studded with herbaceous licks of spice.