Two Bronte Shops Become One With Fishnets, a Japanese Dining Room Led by an Ex-Sokyo Chef

When Table Manners hit Macpherson Street, it was a big win for Bronte – a finer spot for a drink and snacks, or a meal from a polished menu. Now owner Alex Cameron is going in again with Fishnets, which looks like another win for the beachy suburb.

The Japanese restaurant is 400 metres away, and slated to open next month on a site that joins two spaces. The wall separating the former office of an architect and a little pastry shop has come out, making room for 50 seats in the Fishnets dining room, four at the bar. It’s been in the works for a year, with the lease picked up mid-2025. The fit-out’s more involved than Table Manners, which was a “dress up a room that was already there” situation, Cameron says. “This was a shell, so it was a much harder process to build than we realised. It hasn’t been a full-service restaurant before.”

While the menu’s not strictly Japanese, the sushi is the hook. A tight nigiri menu will be led by Sanghyeop Kim, who was the head sushi chef at Sokyo for four years, leading its omakase counter, and at Nobu when it opened in Sydney.

Expect simple, precise, high quality sushi. “It’s what he does best,” Cameron says. “He does this amazing rice, with this signature vinegar through the mix. Then, obviously, great fish that we’re pretty lucky in Australia to have so many options for.”

It’s bolstered by a list of hot dishes Kim developed in collaboration with the team’s executive chef Luke Churchill. “It’s got some things where you’ll go ‘oh, that’s not traditional’, but that’s the point,” Cameron says. “Japanese with Aussie flavour – something that suits the Bronte coastal location.”

You have a drink and a few pieces of sushi, or settle in for a full meal starring both Japanese and local Wagyu. “The support [for Table Manners] from the local community has been pretty outrageous for me, more so than anywhere else I’ve worked. It can be a bit of anything to anyone, which is what I want for Fishnets as well – you can come dressy on a Friday, Saturday night, or you can bring your kids in and we’ll do an easy salmon, avo roll for them and you can do what you like.”

Fishnets is slated to open at Shop 1/118 Macpherson Street, Bronte, in April 2026. 

@fishnetsbronte