Clam Bar team’s Chinese restaurant opens in the CBD

Has a new late-night Golden Century alternative just dropped near Martin Place? Grandfathers, the highly anticipated Chinese restaurant and cocktail bar from the team behind Clam Bar, Neptune’s Grotto and Pellegrino 2000 has opened, making no secret of its late-night aspirations.

Grandfathers co-owner Andy Tyson says the team hasn’t set out to take Golden Century’s historic post-midnight eating mantle, but they do want to present a “late-night Sydney option” and will offer a supper service.

“We’ll just do dinner this week, and from next week we’ll be open until 1am. Then lunch [yum cha] the week after.”

Good Food revealed in April that Tyson and business partners Michael Clift and Dan Pepperell had secured the former site of chef David Thompson’s Long Chim restaurant, on the corner of Pitt Street and Angel Place in the CBD (close to Merivale’s Ivy precinct).

With its “black and red zig-zag carpet”, Tyson says Grandfathers is aiming for a “dark, moody” vibe. He doesn’t like cliched comparisons, but admits there’s a bit of a late-night New York feel to the space.

Food largely focuses on the regions of Guangdong and Sichuan. “We find Sichuan dishes can complement the classics of Cantonese cuisine in a variety of ways,” says Pepperell.

Alongside crisp-skinned pigeon, char siu pork, and scallop spring rolls, the opening menu lists “mouth numbing prawns” and “husband and wife salad”, with veal tongue and crispy tripe. Tyson says the “strange flavour cold cut chicken” (chicken, peanuts and red chilli oil) proved an early hit among those to sample the menu pre-opening.

The restaurant is named in honour of Clift’s Chinese grandfather, who inspired the chef’s career through his love of food. “I think China has the most diverse and historic cuisine in the world,” says Clift. “We consider it to be the mother of all cuisines.”

The 140-seat restaurant has many of the accoutrements of Chinese restaurants. But its seafood tanks are filled with tropical fish rather than anything edible such as lobsters or coral trout. Clift says they wanted the visual display without staff having to wrangle produce on the dining room floor. “There’s live seafood, just not on display,” says Tyson.

Diners can also expect a serious wine list. “We’ve got a distinct riesling focus … along with a ridiculous selection of icons by the glass,” he says. Meanwhile, the cocktail list features several riffs on classics, such as the “Sesame Sazerac”, “Five-Spice Manhattan” and “Green Melon Negroni”.

Lunch (from September 3), dinner and late-night supper (from August 28) daily

Corner of Pitt Street and Angel Place, Sydney, grandfathers.com