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Bar-restaurant Kings Cross Pavilion opens at former World Bar site

Scott Bolles
Scott Bolles

Kings Cross Pavilion has a bar-restaurant at front and nightclub behind.
Kings Cross Pavilion has a bar-restaurant at front and nightclub behind.Supplied

Home over the decades to Hugos, David Thompson's Darley Street Thai and pioneer Pulcinella, Sydney's Bayswater Road has long been a barometer for the city's hospo health.

Now, more than six months after reviving the long-time home of the Bayswater Brasserie on the strip as a Greek eatery, Eros, restaurateur Ussi Moniz Da Silva has turned his hand to the sprawling World Bar site up the hill.

The new name is Kings Cross Pavilion.

The restaurateur behind Bayswater Road's Eros is behind the new venue.
The restaurateur behind Bayswater Road's Eros is behind the new venue.Supplied
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As with Hugos Lounge across the road, The World Bar was a casualty of the lockout laws era. It closed in 2018, and subsequent attempts to reboot it were short-lived. Cali Club was in and out, then it had a spell as an arts hub, Fringe HQ.

The plan was to create a "beachy oasis, with pastels and light blue", the restaurateur says. A bar-restaurant is at the front and a nightclub behind.

The Kings Cross Pavilion moniker is telling. While the strip is technically Potts Point, it has always felt more of an extension of the Cross.

Sydney's Bayswater Road has long been a barometer for the city's hospo health.
Sydney's Bayswater Road has long been a barometer for the city's hospo health.Supplied

Moniz Da Silva, who studied accountancy before ditching it to start a business in nightclub events and concert tours, segued in recent years into restaurants. As well as Eros, he operates Sinaloa, a Mexican restaurant, in Double Bay.

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He also sunk $4 million into the interior of Meu Jardim, a CBD eatery with a waterfall and firepit, which opened in February 2020.

Despite the rolling lockdowns of subsequent years, the fine diner has survived, although it's about to ditch its French menu for Japanese.

The venue's neon-lit exterior.
The venue's neon-lit exterior.Supplied

Meu Jardim is closing mid-August for a quick refurbishment, reopening early September with some "cherry blossom" inclusions to warm up the space.

The executive chef from Sake [restaurant] will also join the venue, Moniz Da Silva says.

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It will also be renamed, with Fuji currently leading the shortlist.

Kings Cross Pavilion, 24 Bayswater Road, Potts Point, kingscrosspavilion.com.au

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Scott BollesScott Bolles writes the weekly Short Black column in Good Food.

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