Fresh food market to open at Entertainment Quarter, Sydney

A missing piece of the central Sydney food puzzle will be in place by late next year, with a daily produce market opening at the Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park. City markets are central to the experience at most of the world's great food capitals, and Sydney eat streets have been buzzing with rumours after a number of local producers and providores were sounded out by the EQ.

"Yes, there'll be a seven-day-a-week market here from the end of 2017," confirmed the EQ's asset manager Mark Slot. "It'll start with about 40 traders, building up to around 100." Slot is a member of a consortium, headed up by businessmen Gerry Harvey, Mark Carnegie and John Singleton, which purchased the EQ lease.

EQ management has toured some of the great markets of the world to research the sector, says Slot. "We've looked closely at a produce market in Tel Aviv, and we're really interested in the new Anthony Bourdain place opening in New York [where Victor Churchill is going in] and had a good look at one in Copenhagen that also runs cooking schools." The market will have a permanent home, with a decision pending on a couple of potential buildings near EQ's 2000-space car park.

"Half the food will be fresh, half will be cooked. We really see this as a cornerstone of the masterplan," Slot adds.