Bowing out of The Woods

A couple of young guns drafted to open a restaurant at Sydney’s Four Seasons sounded like a match made in hotel heaven. But Bar H co-owner Hamish Ingham and his crew are calling time at The Woods, a restaurant new enough to still be under warranty, having opened late last year.

Ingham says their contract was for one year, with options to extend.

"We've decided not to continue, we're out of here at the end of the year," he says.

Ingham wouldn't be drawn on the reason for the looming exit, and the restaurant won strong reviews, although its 14.5 in the recently released Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide was slightly off the 15/20 it snared in Good Food just after it opened.

Ingham says they've put a strong team in place to carry the restaurant forward after they depart. A spokeswoman for Four Seasons added: "We're still in the early stages of deciding what we'll do, which may or may not involve bringing in another consultant chef."

Ingham and partner Rebecca Lines will devote more time to their Surry Hills restaurant, building a wine cellar-private room in the Bar H basement. There are also deals on the table to open Bar H in Asia.