The Devonshire set to close in Surry Hills

Light rail construction on Devonshire Street in Surry Hills has claimed another food victim.

Previously hatted Sydney restaurant The Devonshire is set to close on December 23. The home of the Devonshire tea crème brulee with scone ice-cream will follow The Book Kitchen, which shut in May after its turnover more than halved.

"The light rail has definitely impacted business. There's the parking issue, and the road is cut off every second day," says Jeremy Bentley, the one-time chef at The Square in London who opened The Devonshire seven years ago, chef Matt Kemp an early but now departed partner in the business.

The Devonshire, which held a coveted chef's hat for several years running, stuck hard with upmarket food and a degustation menu option when most of the Sydney restaurant market fled to the mid-market and sliders.

"The regulars are still coming, it's just harder to get the newer ones in with all the construction, so we've decided to call it day at the end of our lease next month," Bentley says.