Coming Soon: Khanh Nguyen Will Lead Bentley’s New Southeast Asian Grill

Two weeks after the announcement that they were closing Bentley Bar & Restaurant, Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt are here with more news: they’ve got two new venues opening in the CBD next month.

Soon, Ashe and Vespertine will join the Bentley Group stable, which brings together King Clarence, Eleven Barrack and Watermans, as well as the soon-to-close Bentley. The venues are within the same building, but they’re completely separate – different entrances, different formats.  First to open is Ashe, an 80-seat Southeast Asian grill led by King Clarence exec chef Khanh Nguyen (ex-Sunda, Aru).

The menu is guided by a clay oven and grill, and Nguyen is firing plates he describes as the “most personal expression” of his cooking to date. There’s a strong Vietnamese influence, led by his heritage, along with flavours from Thailand and Malaysia.

“The food that we’re doing there is still very, very approachable, but a little bit more elevated than what we’re doing at King Clarence,” says Savage. “The flavours are authentic, just with a modern interpretation – which you’ll see when you look at the cooking and the depth of flavour.”

Native Australian ingredients are folded through, too. “Flavours that you might not always come across in Thai or Vietnamese. says Savage. “But they feel very here and now, and that they belong.” There’s a crunchy, herby rice salad with kangaroo jerky and prawn sambal, and a har mok studded with little gems of finger lime. “It’s basically a coconut and curry custard which we top with spanner crab. For me, that’s a little standout must-have.”

We’re sure the exceptionally pretty shellfish platter will be a hit too, in a dining room that’s a bit moodier than the team’s other venues. Downstairs, this vibe is turned up even further at Vespertine.

“We’ve got the entire basement of 350 George Street,” says Hildebrandt. “[Vespertine] is off Angel Place – it sort of lends itself to a speakeasy. You go down some nondescript fire stairs and you walk into a beautiful underground bar with lots of sandstone and exposed brick – a real sense of heritage. It’s a big space, we’re going to get 150 people in there easily.”

Fit-out touches by longtime collaborator Pascale Gomes-McNabb include red velvet banquettes, red carpet underfoot and custom warm lighting. There are cosy nooks to sit in and there’s live music seven nights a week, powered by a “high-end” sound system and a 4am licence.

“Pascale’s been able to be very creative in this job, in the bar especially,” says Hildebrandt. “We want to create something unique to Sydney. We always try to be best in class in our restaurants – we push the envelope a little bit. And that DNA comes through into what Vespertine will be. We just want it to be a great place, a place where we would like to go as well.”

Soon you’ll find key lime Margaritas (nodding to the key lime pie at Eleven Barrack) on tap, along with a blood orange Americano. A signature Vesper is joined by an Amaro Sour and a Chartreuse slushie, along with a polished Bentley Group wine list.

Nguyen is overseeing the bar menu, where you’ll find the likes of a chicken sandwich, burger, beef tartare and prawn toast jazzed up with caesar salad dressing.

“We’ve been wanting a second space with Khanh for a while,” says Hildebrandt. “We’ve looked in Melbourne, we’ve looked in a few different places, and then this came up. And it’s perfect.”

Ashe and Vespertine open at 350 George Street, Sydney, in early July 2026. 

@ashe.restaurant
@barvespertine