Chef Paul Wilson quits Sydney restaurant Paladar to return to Melbourne

One of Sydney's most anticipated restaurant launches has found itself without its prized chef as its early-2015 opening date looms.

Paul Wilson told Good Food he "won't be the headline chef" at Paladar, returning instead to Melbourne to take up a consultancy role opening a nuevo Latino bar-eatery in Brunswick East.

Wilson's signature was a coup for Paladar, which was originally slated to open late November, but will now serve its first dish in February. Its high-wire food act of Latin flavours -- with influences from Aztec to Caribbean – was tailor-made for Wilson, a former chef of the year winner in Victoria who has also penned a cookbook on Mexican food.

A spokesman for Hotel Harry says an announcement on a new chef for the upstairs restaurant will be made in the New Year.

Wilson's Sydney involvement has also ended at Icebergs, where his 12-month contract as creative director has finished. "I really enjoyed my time with Maurice [Terzini]," he says.