Sydney CBD restaurant Arras to close

Home to a crab version of bread and butter pudding and a petit four selection so impressive it could have been created for a Hollywood film, the Sydney restaurant described as a grown-up version of Alice in Wonderland will serve its last customers on Saturday night.

Arras, on Clarence Street, has always marched to its own beat, with owner-chef Adam Humphrey, declaring it never followed food trends. Its whimsical interior, labour-intensive cuisine and linen-topped tables suggested Humphrey was happy to put his money (reports suggest a $2 million investment) where his mouth was.

''I'm an idealist. I didn't want to cook in a restaurant I didn't want to eat in or believe in,'' he says.

The chef is hopeful the sale of the restaurant is imminent but it isn't the buyers' intention to reopen it as Arras, and he has a contingency plan if that deal doesn't eventuate.

Arras Too - the bakery/cafe arm of the operation - will close at the same time. Humphrey and his chef wife, Lovaine, plan to relocate back to Britain before the end of the year.

Despite the awards and toques at Arras - it was recently awarded one hat by The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide - he says they are unlikely to open another restaurant but might develop their petits fours into a specialist business. He also plans to ship the restaurant's prized cheese trolley back to Yorkshire.

''I might put it in a corner and marvel at what once was.''