Indigenous restaurant Midden by Mark Olive is now open at The Sydney Opera House. Olive (aka 'the Black Olive') is a legendary Indigenous chef and Bundjalung man with more than 30 years of experience, who's renowned for his hit TV shows, including The Outback Café. A celebration of his Indigenous heritage, Olive’s Sydney restaurant joins the stellar line-up of Opera House bars and restaurants, including Bennelong, Opera Bar, House Canteen and the theatre bars. Dinner and a show, all under one glorious roof.
Operated by Doltone Hospitality Group, Midden by Mark Olive is located in the Western Foyers. The produce-driven menu showcases Aussie native ingredients like wattle seed, bush honey, saltbush and succulents.
Menu highlights include damper with native herbs and whipped eucalyptus butter; blue gum-smoked barramundi; wallaby shanks braised in bush tomato; and quandong-glazed chicken with warrigal greens.
“Opening a restaurant at the Sydney Opera House on Tubowgule, Gadigal country is a dream come true,” says Olive. “Of course, the land on which the Opera House stands was a gathering place for ceremony and culture for thousands of years before the building itself was ever conceived, and I hope the menu we’ve created will give guests a real taste of that millennia-old history, and maybe even inspire some to cook with our vibrant native ingredients at home, too.”
Sydney Opera House chief customer officer Jade McKellar says: “Midden by Mark Olive will be integral to the Opera House and all it stands for, and I can’t wait for our visitors and audiences to enjoy this unique food offering that celebrates our First Nations’ heritage.” We can’t wait, either.
