House Made Hospitality is having a bumper year. Along with running a favoured clutch of CBD venues (like Lana and Martinez), as well as Easy Tiger and Promenade in Bondi, and preparing to open four (yes, four) spots in the revamped Sofitel Wentworth, the team’s venturing into Surry Hills via the new Wunderlich Lane precinct. Here there’s Island Radio, the “eating house and noodle bar” led by group exec chef Andrianto “Andy” Wirya (ex-Easy Tiger, Mr Wong), and Baptist Street Rec Club, an bright pub-meets-cocktail-bar for “drinks and hoopla”.
“The construction gods don’t love us,” House Made director Justin Newton tells Broadsheet, laughing. “The [Wunderlich Lane and Sofitel Wentworth] projects were meant to be about 12 months apart. One got delayed by a bit and one got delayed by a lot, and here we are.” So now it’s everything all at once.
In Surry Hills, across the two venues, the vibe is definitively more “party” than the rest of the group’s stable. Take Island Radio, where the floor’s blue, the menu spans a lot of Southeast Asia and there are moon-like orbs lighting up a dining room for 140, across communal tables and booths. A DJ will also play inside a recording booth, interacting with diners – radio-style. “There’s a feeling we’ve really pushed the boat out, haven’t gone as safe as we’ve done previously,” Newton says.
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SIGN UP“Andy is fantastic. He’s Indonesian, and he specialises in Southeast Asian cuisine. But most people think Thailand or Vietnam – he’s a bit more further south. The cuisines of the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. They’re all islands, which is where the name came from.”
Wirya’s menu runs from grilled pork sticky with calamansi and soy to sate padang skewers using LP’s smoked ox tongue. There’s babi guling with sambal matah (a spicy, zesty condiment) and ginger shallot bakmi, a noodle dish from Java.
“Potato Head [in Bali] is probably my favourite venue in the entire world,” Newton says of the team’s inspiration. “The quality of the food and beverage and the music – you can just feel something when you’re there. We were like, ‘How can we bring that feeling?’ That tropical futurism.”
Directly above Island Radio you’ll find “neighbourhood cocktail and wine tavern” Baptist Street Rec Club – where you’re promised “drinks and hoopla” till late. The wine list heroes local drops and there’ll be live music on weekends and room for 120.
Expect nods to the eccentricity of ’80s and ’90s Australiana, through a playful cocktail menu, ice-cold brews and the private party-ready Trophy Room.
Wunderlich Lane’s full offering spans boutique hotel The Eve, wellness spaces and boutique retail stores, and a line-up of dining rooms from some of Sydney’s faves.
Island Radio and Baptist Street Rec Club are expected to open on the corner of Baptist and Cleveland streets, Redfern, in late spring.
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