Destination dining is set to take on a whole new meaning when the Tramsheds opens for business on Thursday September 22. The heritage-listed Tramsheds on the Annandale/Glebe border have been gutted and renovated to a high sheen, filled with an all-star roster of restaurants and services, and the result is all the fun of the David Jones’ Food Hall in a space not unlike Carriageworks.
Don’t know what you want for dinner? No problem. Set your Google Maps for the Tramsheds (or jump on the Light Rail to Jubilee Park) and enter a dining emporium that has all the answers in one place. Post up on the pale blue leather seats around the bar at Bodega 1904 (yep, a new one for the Porteño team) for South American-inspired fare and kickass wine. Head round the corner where A Tavola’s Flour Eggs Water is making fresh pasta (if they’ve got the scarmorza filled pasta pockets with a light butter sauce, roasted cherry tomatoes, baby basil and smoked eggplant puree you should put it at the top of your list).
The same goes for the Osaka Trading Co, the second venue for the Tokyo Bird crew who snagged former Bar H chef Shota Sato for the project. He’s making beautiful, light, modern Japanese fare like grilled scallops in the shell from Northern Japan, dressed in sweet soy, butter, leek and chilli.
Sustainable fish eatery Fish and Co are the go for fish and chips, or some take-home treat like fish pate or cured salmon, Mama’s Buoi are doling out Vietnamese snacks and Belle’s Hot Chicken (who'll be a little late to the party, opening on Monday October 10) will be slinging fried chicken sandwiches and amazing natural wines. Less familiar faces are also kicking goals. Bekya is championing the street food of Egypt, including a power-carb serve of rice, lentils, macaroni, chickpeas, spicy tomato salsa and fired onions called Koshari, and Butcher and the Farmer is Jared Ingersoll’s new venture, doing beautiful meats for in-house eating.
If you’re more an early riser, Garçon is bringing French café vibes to the complex and using Little Marionette beans; there’s a gym, nail bar, barber, supermarket and a whole foods shop for locals; and Dust is a bakery that is milling their own wheat and getting back to basics when it comes to bread. For that person who is only in it for dessert, Gelato Messina has your back.
The food at the Tramsheds covers the globe, and most price brackets, which means everyone can get involved. Really, we suspect the problem is going to be making the final decision on where to eat, which just means you’ll have to visit again, which is kind of the point, really.