A Tavola's Eugenio Maiale eyes Billy Kwong site

A Tavola chef-owner Eugenio Maiale is gunning to open a new venue in the Surry Hills restaurant site currently housing Billy Kwong.

With Kylie Kwong announcing she'll relocate at the end of the year and join the restaurant throng flocking to Macleay Street, Potts Point, the future of Kwong's Crown Street digs has been a hotly debated subject.

Maiale confirmed his interest in the site, and although he says some details over the lease need to be ironed out before it is inked, Short Black hears a deal is imminent.

Maiale sounded optimistic: "It's going to be a very easygoing bar and eating house. Something completely different." It'd also be larger than the existing Billy Kwong footprint; Maiale says he has his eyes on a neighbouring property.

The chef has expanded his restaurant holdings in recent years, with his original A Tavola restaurant joined by a sibling at Bondi Beach. The Billy Kwong site has had interest from other Italian operators, with Maurice Terzini also spotted taking a tour.