Fratelli Fresh Potts Point Site to Be Reborn as a “Balthazar-Style” French Brasserie

When Fratelli Fresh closed earlier this year it left a hole in Potts Point’s heart.

That is something Pelicano partner Andrew Becher is hoping to mend by introducing an entirely different concept to the space.

Becher recently took over the high-profile Macleay Street site and has plans to open a modern French brasserie in October. The restaurant’s concept (and name) is still very much on the drawing board but he can confirm the lease has been signed.

No chef or interior designer has pinned down yet but a spokesperson for Becher has told Broadsheet the opening will follow the great Gallic tradition of the causal, bustling brasserie.

“We want to create a casual, fun space, but we’re setting a very high benchmark for ourselves in the kitchen,” says the spokesperson. “Think Balthazar in New York,” she says, raising the bar about as high as it gets by referencing the world-class Parisian-style diners in New York and London. It has red banquettes, copper bars, gilded mirrors and overflowing seafood platters served on ice.

The new restaurant will be Becher’s first venture without his usual Pelicano partners.

According to his spokesperson, Becher is a long-time fan of Paris-style dining.

Although Missy French (Neil Perry’s daughter’s Parisian restaurant) closed a year after opening around the corner, the constant flow of people into nearby French-colonial venue Bistro Rex proves there’s definitely a taste for steak frites on Macleay Street.

The as-yet unnamed venue is slated to open in October 2018.

This article was updated on May 31.