Acre to open at sprawling site in Artarmon

Lucky old lower north shore. Building work has been spied on Reserve Road in Artarmon, at the massive site once linked to The Grounds. With the inner-city food behemoth parting ways with the project, a new DA was lodged and Good Food can reveal Acre Artarmon will open there in September.

It's the latest venture from the team behind Acre in Camperdown and a Melbourne spin-off that opened last year.

Designer Emilie Delalande, who worked on the interiors at Barangaroo House, has fashioned a space that will include a giant greenhouse.

Acre director Luke Heard says there will be a heavy emphasis on growing fruit at the new venue, near Royal North Shore Hospital, with strawberries a particular focus.

At 2000 square metres, it's really more like half an acre. But who's counting? There'll be plenty of bang for the buck.

"There'll be a chicken coop, and we're thinking of having quails. They'll cycle through some of the kitchen waste," he says.

Heard says they are keen to "create venues within a venue", so Acre Artarmon will have its own bakery, cafe, restaurant, children's playground and twilight gardening programs.

While most hospitality businesses are understandably cautious about expanding, Heard remains confident in the area and product and believes it represents "a rebirth and emergence out of this challenging time".