Barangaroo's jewel Oncore by Clare Smyth to finally open

After a stop-start inception, Crown Sydney has announced that Oncore by Clare Smyth is finally set to open in mid-November. Originally scheduled for early 2021, the fine-diner hit a series of COVID-related snags, most recently pulling the pin on a July launch. It joins Woodcut, a'Mare, Nobu and Yoshii's Omakase to complete an ambitious suite of dining options for the hotel-casino, which is still awaiting its gaming license.

While Oncore won't see Smyth in town for the launch, the decorated chef – the first woman in the UK to win three Michelin stars for her Core restaurant in Notting Hill – has been intimately involved with the project, just her second solo venture.

"It's been two years' worth of work," says Smyth. "But we're ready to open this amazing restaurant, and it's something positive and something to really look forward to after such a horrible 18 months and such a tough time for everyone."

Where Core is renowned for its elegant and refined approach and ties to nature, Oncore will repeat the trick with an Australian edge, with a launch menu that makes local ingredients the focus of Core classics. "We really wanted to start off and give everyone a flavour of what we're all about," says Smyth. "Then the plan is that Oncore will really grow into its own and start to develop its own identity."

For now, there are hints. A dish in which peas and wasabi form a bed for just-set langoustine will here use marron and Tasmanian wasabi. Smyth's signature potato and roe dish, meanwhile, will see Yarra Valley trout roe and a plethora of other ingredients topping potatoes grown in Robertson by the Hill Family. "It's good to find people like that with so much passion," says Smyth. "Although these dishes are familiar to me, they're going to very much have their own identity and spirit just because the product is local."

Smyth also cites other examples: the Demeter Farm pearl barley that's served with asparagus and wild garlic; or the coral trout that replaces cod in a dish riffing on potted shrimp (here using Clarence River prawns) served with brown butter and house sourdough.

We just want to put our heads down and work really hard.

These plates will span two menus, one a seven-course tasting, the other a three-course with options in each section. Both are prefaced by snacks ranging from a crisp-smoked chicken wing to jellied eel to a pea and mint gougere. A chef's table experience will also be on offer.

While Smyth originally intended to be here for the launch, February looks more likely. But in her absence there's been an opportunity for New Zealand chef Alan Stuart to take charge. "I've known Alan for a long, long time, and I've worked with him over a couple of periods – at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay [where Smyth was chef patron], and then we've stayed in touch while he was at [New York City's] Eleven Madison Park, then went on to France again, and again when he came back to Core," says Smyth.

"He obviously knows the DNA of Core and exactly how we work. It reminds me of the sort of relationship with Gordon and I; all the years we worked together you just know exactly what's expected – you know the flavour, you know the identity."

That identity is one that extends to design, too. There are visual ties to Core with the kind of personal touches – cookbooks, kitchen paraphernalia – that are meant to bring a lived-in feel to a very non-residential setting. The 26th-floor dining room, featuring bespoke lighting and furniture made from jarrah and sheoak, has views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House, for example. ("The team are incredibly lucky and spoiled," Smith jokes.)

Apart from frequent calls with Stuart, Smyth has helped oversee a team of 35 chefs, and worked alongside restaurant manager Michael Stoddart (ex-Bennelong) to establish the right tone. "Core is very much an informal luxury, as Oncore will be," says Smyth. "We provide incredible service, but it's non-pretentious. It's fine dining, but it's in a relaxed way."

That doesn't mean it comes cheap, though; the full menu at Oncore will set you back $300, with three courses for $210. But for those who follow international fine-dining trends, they'll point to Smyth's Best Female Chef award from the World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2018, her time under Alain Ducasse, the 13 years under Gordon Ramsay and her high profile. It's also worth remembering that a meal at the last three-star UK restaurant to land in Australia, The Fat Duck in Melbourne, cost $525.

Wine, too, is a focus, with a largely Australian list featuring local landmarks (Smyth mentions a '75 Grange) along with classics from Bordeaux and Burgundy. "We've got some absolute crackers," she says. A full cocktail bar will also be on hand for anyone keen to admire the view; eventually the chef hopes it will serve its own set of snacks.

As for whether hats are on the agenda? "We just want to put our heads down and work really hard and become a part of Sydney and a part of the community," says Smyth. "When I opened Core, I didn't make any claims about what it would become – I never said 'I'm going to get Michelin stars or I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that'. I just put my head down and worked and listened to the people around me. And I want to do the same with Oncore." Here's hoping for a standing ovation.

Oncore by Clare Smyth will open on November 18, with bookings from Thursday November 4. Level 26, 1 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo, crownsydney.com.au/indulge/oncore-by-clare-smyth