The Bentley Group is good at going big on vibes. Just look at Bentley, the relaunched Monopole, Yellow and King Clarence. The heritage buildings are staggering, the lights are low, the service is schmick. All of that’s bolstered by the co-owners’ expertise: Nick Hildebrandt’s precise wine lists and Brent Savage’s culinary eye. And at Eleven Barrack, the woodfired grill restaurant the pair opened yesterday in the CBD, the pace is maintained.
Behind a green elevator-style door waits a high-ceilinged space with vast marble columns and a grand piano. It was once the first Bank of Australia – most recently, it was restaurant Seta – but the Bentley boys, along with longtime design collaborator Pascale Gomes-McNabb, have made it their own. On first glance it looks like a polished restaurant geared towards the suits of the city – ready for power lunching and deal-making dinners. But there’s a gentle elegance woven through.
It’s old meets new: bespoke silk lanterns (by artist Moya Delany) float throughout the 100-seat space, a marble column is a flash of purple wrapped in concertinaed metal. The art is a refined jumble of photographs and paintings, while pieces scored on Marketplace – like an antique wooden sideboard whose doors open to reveal a classic television – are dotted throughout. There’s a 40-seat bar and room for 18 in the candlelit private dining room; a few tables are on the small terrace outside.
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SIGN UPAll of it is simply the backdrop for the restaurant’s lengthy menus. The food line-up leans into large Euro bistros and New York-style grills – think refined but approachable plates. “The food’s not particularly ambitious in terms of its innovation,” Savage tells Broadsheet. “The delivery is simple, but it’s beautifully executed.”
A woodfire Marrone grill inherited with the space is ready for a selection of proteins – pork tomahawks and Murray cod, Wagyu T-bones and bone-in sirloins. “It’s a beautiful piece of equipment that came in from Italy. It weighs about three tonnes, and it’s about the same price as a Ferrari. It was one of the big reasons we felt the … building had the makings of a great restaurant. It was part of the bones.”
The snacky start stars a silver goblet of fluffy ricotta dumplings, riffing on a classic Bentley dessert. “We used to do a sweet ricotta doughnut at the end of the original Bentley. I just flipped it on its head and made them very savoury – they work perfectly with the whipped cod roe or caviar.” A tight pasta section is a first for the group, with the striking girella setting the tone. One long piece of pasta is stuffed with lightly spiced confit duck leg, then topped with a comté sauce, spiced tomato oil and a glistening egg yolk. It’s all on the finer side, but without a lick of stuffiness.
Eleven Barrack opens as part of Sydney CBD’s reemergence. The International is wowing alongside the Seidler mushroom, Lune’s set up shop and there are plenty more coming. “Coming out of Covid, allowing people just to work three days a week and two days from home, that’s being clawed back slowly but very surely. The more corporates that we talk to, the more we realise people are actually back. It brings the city to life.”
Eventually, Eleven Barrack will add al fresco dining to the foot-traffic-only square outside, which are sure to be the most in-demand tables come spring.
Eleven Barrack
11 Barrack Street, Sydney
Hours:
Mon to Fri midday–3pm, 5pm–10pm
Sat & Sun 5pm–10pm