Coming Soon: A Baba’s Place Head Chef To Open a Med-Leaning Dining Room With a Wraparound Verandah

Upstairs on the corner of Redfern and Elizabeth streets, the Lo Presti’s renovation is in full swing. The incoming restaurant arrives from Michael Lo Presti and Rachael Trewin, who have been working together on and off for the last decade.

“There’s always been the idea of us opening a place together,” says Lo Presti. “We’re close friends, we’ve lived together, we eat out a lot, we share a lot of similar views on things.” They bring a starry shared CV, too: Sixpenny, Baba’s Place, Automata, A1, Momofuku and South End.

“[Rachel’s] doing front of house, I’m doing back of house,” Lo Presti says. “Through the years, just eating and drinking, working in all those restaurants, we’ve just known what we value in a dining experience, what our priorities are – and that’s what we’re going to try and exhibit in the restaurant. Good, genuine, hospitable service. Remembering people, what they like to eat, drink, where you like to sit.”

Lo Presti was most recently head chef at Baba’s Place, while Trewin managed the Hot-Listed restaurant. Their new 50-seater will do fewer covers each service than Baba’s Place, but the looseness of the menu remains. “We are going to be mostly leaning towards Greek, but also broadly Mediterranean,” says Lo Presti. “Whatever I feel comfortable cooking is what’s going to make it on the menu. Not trying to rewrite the game, I’m just trying to make delicious food for people – just food that I want to eat regularly.” 

Expect the likes of crudités, marinated peppers and braised vegetables, plus grilled seafood and meatier mains (like a Portuguese-style pork chop with a clam, wine and coriander sauce). “There’s going to be a riff on the cucumber dish from [Baba’s],” says Lo Presti. “Well, just the sauces – that was the first thing I put on there and it’s been on ever since. That’s one I’m quite proud of.”

In the ’80s, Lo Presti’s Greek Italian dad Greg owned a cafe in the current Bar Reggio space – also called Lo Presti’s. “Him and his brother opened that. It was their first venture. From then on, my dad always had hospitality venues.” Greg found one of his sketches from his own Lo Presti’s era, which is now the Redfern restaurant’s logo.

The plan for Lo Presti’s is to be a more casually leaning restaurant. You’re welcome to pop in for a drink and a snack or have a weeknight dinner. The wraparound balcony will have tables as well as a standing area while you wait for your table – with an ace view over Redfern Oval.

Local pros have shaped the drinks list: South End’s Paul Guiney has curated the opening wine list, and Bar Demo’s Olly Churcher and Claudia “Beryl” Morgan have shaped the cocktails.

The Lo Presti’s duo are popping up at Bar Demo ahead of their winter opening, taking over the kitchen on Sunday June 28. From 4pm till 8pm, you’ll find snacky renditions of the dishes and flavours you’ll meet in Redfern, along with cocktails straight off the Lo Presti’s menu.

Lo Presti’s is slated to open at 1/34B Redfern Street, Redfern, in July 2026.

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