One of the first things chef Thomas Bromwich and his team made in the Ennui kitchen was kimchi paste. The bright, fermented organic wombok leaves are served alongside Sichuan-peppercorn-crusted wallaby rump on the restaurant’s new menu.

“It was such an important experience. The recipe belongs to our sous-chef’s family, and she showed us how they make kimchi, tasting with the smallest leaves of the cabbage,” Bromwich tells Broadsheet. “I knew we had to have it on the menu.”

Ennui, the two-storey wine bar and diner Bromwich opened with friends Samuel Woods and Peter Chan, represents the culmination of three accomplished hospitality careers. Between them, the trio have Love, Tilly Devine, Yellow, Hartsyard and Launceston’s Stillwater on their CVs, and their first restaurant draws on influences from past venues, experiences and family traditions.

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It’s evident in the silky, complex carrot XO burrata, a favourite from Bromwich’s tenure at Love, Tilly (where Woods also worked); and the shatteringly crisp, twice-fried chicken wings based on Woods’s mum’s Thai recipe; or the wallaby rump from Stillwater.

But the menu is also about creating something new: “a French-sounding menu that uses ingredients and techniques that don’t appear in French cooking.”

Take the prawn and snapper dumplings that riff on prawn mousseline. “Our version is piped and rolled like compound butter and sliced into scallop-sized rounds. We serve them with a fumet stock underpinned with dashi and a fragrant, prawn bisque spiced oil. A lot of techniques come together to make these dishes, but I don’t want to put limits on where we draw inspiration from. If it’s delicious, I would like to cook it.”

From the street, Ennui is striking – the heritage building stands out against the traffic, neon lights and bustle of Pitt Street. The sandstone structure was built in 1846, and over the years has been home to a presbyterian minister, a beehive maker, a blacksmith and a Thai grocer.

Downstairs has the feel of a cosy wine bar, the ideal place for a drink and snack before a theatre show. Upstairs is a comfortable, unpretentious dining room to take on multiple courses, Woods’s 300-bottle wine list and whisky expert Chan’s extensive collection.

The wine offering focuses on French classics, with drops from Australia, Germany and Italy, and plenty by the glass. “We’ve worked with natural wine for a long time and we love that world,” Bromwich says. “But there are also so many delicious wines that are not completely organic or biodynamic and are still made with love and care.”

The trio’s friendship goes back years, and the name Ennui is about their inspiration. “We want to use feelings of ennui as motivation to do something new. Ennui is what has driven us, and it’s funny to splatter the word on the front of the building.”

It’s going to be there for a while – the trio signed a 10-year lease, and Bromwich says they’re ready for the long game.

“All of us have worked in upper management in high-end restaurants, but at the end of the day, you’re working for someone else. It’s their ideas, their style of cooking, service. They have the final say. It’s terrifying in some ways, but we’re ready to take the next step and show the city we love so much what we can do.”

Ennui
461 Pitt Street, Haymarket

Hours:
Tue & Wed 5pm–late
Thu & Fri midday–late
Sat 5pm–late

ennuitpittstreet.com
@ennuipittstreet