Scott Pickett’s Sorrento Restaurant Audrey’s Has Closed, Making Way for New Venue Ember

In March 2022, the now 150-year-old Continental Hotel – or the Conti, as it’s known – reopened after a years-long renovation that cost more than $100 million. Behind the limestone structure’s rebirth was publican Craig Shearer of Kickon Group (The Terminus Hotel, Pincho Disco).

Melbourne restaurateur Scott Pickett (Chancery Lane, Estelle, Longrain), joined to oversee the food and beverage offering across the Conti. The Promenade, Beer Garden and Conti Bar, all known for pub classics and pizzas, sit under his purview. But the crown jewel of the food and beverage offerings was Audrey’s, a fine-dining restaurant named for Pickett’s maternal grandmother.

The restaurant, with its seafood degustation menu, caviar bumps and spanner crab-topped crumpets, closed last month. “I’m incredibly proud that we built something Audrey would recognise and be proud of,” says Pickett. “Audrey’s legacy isn’t ending, it’s evolving.” Taking its place is Ember, a new restaurant that’s all about live fire-cooking.

Pickett will continue to oversee the food and beverage across the Conti. But the Ember kitchen will be led by chef and Kickon Group chief operating officer Jake Furst. The chef, who also oversees Cinder in The Terminus Hotel, started his career as an apprentice under Pickett and considers Pickett a mentor.

“It’s both humbling and exciting to be guiding this new chapter,” Furst says. “Audrey’s was refined and elegant, and it set a beautiful tone for The Conti. With Ember, we are creating a space that is truly built for our community, a restaurant that meets the need for a signature dining experience within the precinct while also feeling approachable enough for locals to enjoy regularly,” says Furst.”

His menu will hero dry-aged beef from farmers on the Peninsula and around Australia. Seafood, including whole fish cooked over coals and flame-kissed oysters, will also feature prominently, though the Audrey’s beverage list will be completely replaced.

Ember is expected to open at the Continental Hotel at 1–21 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento, in November.