Paleo and health foods move into Kings Cross

Where booze and drugs traditionally fuelled Kings Cross, a new posse is arriving in town pushing a diet of paleo and health foods.

English chef Tom Kime has chosen the Cross for his new restaurant, the Sydney branch of London-based Middle Eastern restaurant Ceru.

"About 95 per cent of the menu is gluten free. It will appeal to the paleo, vegetarian, staunch meat eater or straight foodie," he says.

Ceru will open on the ground floor of the Larmont hotel, on Kings Cross Road, in October.

Kime isn't alone. At the other end of Kings Cross chef Michael Moore has been circling a site near the El Alamein Fountain.

In a move that'd make the hard-living American restaurateur Bernie Houghton turn in his grave, just a few doors away from the Bourbon and Beefsteak venue he founded, Moore wants to open an eatery.

If it proceeds, the focus will be on the sort of healthy food that made Moore's Blood Sugar book a bestseller. Kime's Levant-inspired menu is just the start at Ceru.

"All the produce will be organic and free range with a focus on provenance of ingredients. The fish will be sustainable," Kime says.

And the wine list will focus on chemical-free wines.