On any given day you can see dog walkers, tourists, couriers, school groups and rollerbladers taking a north-south or east-west shortcut through Sydney’s Hyde Park. This rectangle of greenery has been a fixture on the fringes of contemporary Sydney since 1810 when Governor Macquarie proclaimed it to be a public park. Back then, what is now Hyde Park was known as The Common, a little-known fact the Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park has nodded to with the unveiling of its new restaurant, Sydney Common, which looks out across Macquarie Street to where the CBD and park meet. The proximity to the park heightens the feeling that the hotel restaurant is somewhat of an urban oasis.
Before being reinvented as Sydney Common, the venue was famed for its market-fresh seafood buffet, Feast. Both the restaurant and its offering were due for a refresh. Enter former Sepia chef Martin Benn who worked alongside talented chef Jamie Robertson to create a contemporary menu that has an obsessive interest in wood-fire cooking and an emphasis on Japanese flavours.
Restaurants in hotels can get a bad rap. But after dining at The Common three times over the course of six weeks, it seems the new installation has broken the mould. Sure, Benn has a strong fan base and his influence as a consultant on the opening of Sydney Common is evident with the focus on seasonal Australian produce and Japanese-inspired dishes. But Robertson has put his own stamp on things. After all, it’s he who is toiling over the Josper grill, which forms the centrepiece of the kitchen.
Diners at The Common have a front-row seat to the action as the up-and-coming chef, who has worked at Michelin-starred The Capital in London and Sydney’s Ester and The Bridge Room, gives the grill a good workout, arranging the food on the plates with a laser-like focus.
That attention to detail is evident with a pretty bowl of tuna crudo, an absolute textural triumph thanks to the addition of cubes of heirloom tomato jelly arranged in a puddle of buffalo yoghurt brightened with basil oil. This delicate dish is so good it should be here to stay. Grilled scallops are also a satisfying appetiser, arriving doused in an earthy n’duja vinaigrette and freckled with sesame salt, all of which works together beautifully with a glass of the elegant Renaissance VRM (Viognier Roussanne Marsanne) from Rutherglen Estate.
Sommelier Sebastian Brogren seems to delight in taking diners on a wild ride around the globe, talking us through the 260-strong wine list with vim and vigour. He also steps in between courses to run us through what he describes as “a classic wine list” brimming with top drops carefully sourced from Australia, France, Italy and Spain.
The historic Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park is one of the oldest and grandest hotel buildings in the city. While the fact it was built in 1930 ensures it has one foot in the past, the up-to-the-minute interiors by Mitchell & Eades also ensures it is in step with the present. This slick rendition of a hotel restaurant includes a wall of wine and dry-age cabinets filled with meat and seafood.
The dining room is a large open-plan space that includes a stunning Champagne bar fringed with banquettes and a private room that seats 16. It’s clean and contemporary with light flooding in from the restaurant’s atrium and large windows that run down the side of the hotel.
Back to the food. A pro tip from our waiter is to try the ribbon of hot-smoked beef tongue threaded onto skewers and blasted over the robata coals. It’s salty and lovely and offset with a zingy spring onion dressing.
Chef adds char to the wood-fire roasted half chook paired with a comforting panzanella sauce and roasted chicken jus which we dredge wodges of Baker Bleu bread through to mop up every last drop. We also do as som Brogren suggests and pair our shared main with a glass of Mt Pleasant Shiraz, a medium-bodied drop that exhibits true Hunter Valley terroir. While the salad of Sydney Common leaves sounds simple enough, the white radicchio and dressing adds a perfectly balanced punch of acidity.
Robertson hands over the reins to head pastry chef Aarti Dewan for dessert: a steamed goat’s milk pudding finished with a Japanese black sugar caramel and smoked tea. It’s a wondrous wobble with a silky smooth texture and whack of umami.
While Sydney Common certainly makes a case for Benn’s mentorship, the clever cooking and confidence in the kitchen is a tribute to Robertson who, at the end of the day, is charged with carrying it off.
Common? This hotel restaurant is anything but.
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