The Olympus Team’s 100-Seat Japanese Restaurant Hits a Redfern Rooftop Soon

The Apollo has been bringing people together for Greek feasts since 2012. The Potts Point restaurant was the first for duo Jonathan Barthelmess and Sam Christie, who’ve gone on to open a string of successful Sydney restaurants: nearby Cho Cho San, the Japanese spot loved by many (including Nigella), and Olympus, the Greek restaurant wrapping around a staggering bougainvillea on the ground floor of The Eve. It’s here, in Redfern, that Barthelmess is opening two new venues. There’ll be ground-floor Parisian restaurant Baptiste, but first comes 100-seat Japanese bar and dining room Tenjo.

The name means “ceiling” in Japanese, fitting for the rooftop space. When The Eve opened, it was where you’d find Lottie, the Mexican restaurant captained by chef Joe Valero. It was a shock when, just 18 months after opening, Liquid & Larder called final service for both Lottie and Bar Julius. The closure of the Wunderlich Lane venues followed the shutdown of the precinct’s Baptist Street Rec Club, which was replaced by Vitelli’s Upstairs earlier in the year. Olympus, though, has only strengthened since it opened in December 2024 – something the team is betting on replicating in its two new spaces. 

At Tenjo, just like at Cho Cho, there’s a mix of tables and bar seating – but if you grab a stool at Tenjo, you’ll have full view of the kitchen at work. Sushi E’s head chef Fredy Lim will be leading the team, serving a menu “grounded in traditional Japanese cooking,” Barthelmess said in a statement. Expect refined maki sushi, nigiri and sashimi, a considered list of tempura and yakitori dishes, as well as a dialled-in claypot rice.

A donabe is a Japanese clay pot used to cook soups, stews and, often, rice. The grains will end up fluffy, retaining some bite, with a deep-brown crust forming on the bottom of the earthenware dish. At Tenjo, the donabe gohan (claypot rice) will be cooked to order, served in its pot, with a seasonally changing selection of proteins and veggies. Leftover rice will be pressed into onigiri for you to take with you. The menu will extend to The Eve’s guest-exclusive pool, which shares the rooftop.

The team wants Tenjo to be as much a stop-in for a meal as it is for a drink and a snack. Long-time collaborator and award-winning bartender Matt Whiley is working on a 10-part cocktail list, which includes a yuzushu-and-rum slushie that’s ripe for a rooftop hang in summer. And Christie’s curated a considered saké and wine offering featuring Japanese wine producers. 

Tenjo will open on the rooftop of The Eve Hotel, 8 Baptist Street, Redfern, in November 2026.

@tenjosydney