Former Vue de Monde chef scouting in Sydney

With fine dining on the nose in Paddington following the recent closure of Guillaume Brahimi's eponymous restaurant, the spotting this month of former Vue de Monde head chef Cory Campbell touring sites in the suburb has local foodies intrigued.

"I'd love to do a three hat restaurant in Sydney, but it is an expensive exercise. Dreams don't pay the bills, so what we do really depends on the site. We're looking and looking all over the place, and continue to look," the chef says.

Campbell and Jesse McTavish, who crafted a game changing daytime menu at Melbourne's Top Paddock, were going to open at The Pacific at Bondi Beach, but that deal fell over. The duo is dipping the toe in the Sydney market with private dinners in homes, with Campbell confident of a 2017 bricks and mortar venue launch.