Just open: Little Jean, Double Bay

After 15 years running the bistro at The Golden Sheaf in Double Bay, chef Christopher Stockdale and partner Jeanette Woerner left on Sunday to open their own restaurant.

They didn't travel far. "About fifty yards," Stockdale says of the trek to Little Jean, which opens today next door to About Life on Kiaora Lane.

A couple of Sheaf favourites have followed, including the steak frites and beef fillet, but Stockdale says he also wants to explore new territory. On a busy night at the Sheaf they'd pump out as many as 700 meals, while Little Jean only holds 80 diners.

"I want to make my own haloumi [which will be served at breakfast with preserved lemon and shaved zucchini flowers]. And Emile Avramides, who worked at Gordon Ramsay's Maze and Cutler & Co in Melbourne, has joined as head chef, so he'll push things along … One of the reasons I've done this is to learn new stuff."

White subway tiles and copper light fittings feature at Little Jean giving it a clean, fresh look, while back at his old digs there are big clogs to fill. The Sheaf has answered with the appointment of Matthew Weller, the former head chef at Ananas and Swine & Co.

And there's further change at the stalwart Double Bay venue, with a renovation planned out the back of the pub, installing booths to make it more diner friendly.