Neil Perry to open bar-restaurant Next Door in Double Bay

The corner of Bay Street and Guilfoyle Avenue in Double Bay is quickly becoming the intersection of Neil and Perry, with the restaurateur-chef set to open a bar-eatery to add to Margaret restaurant and the joint-venture Baker Bleu bakery he opened there last week.

"It opens October 5, it'll be named Next Door because it's next door to Margaret and next door to the Baker Bleu," Perry tells Good Food.

Rumours of Perry's latest Double Bay play surfaced last week when Roxy's restaurant suddenly closed after receiving an offer to purchase the space.

Given the site's location, the veteran chef was the obvious candidate.

Next Door will initially operate as a pop-up, working with the existing Roxy's fitout, a renovation to follow next year. But Perry says the Next Door moniker is permanent.

Baker Bleu will operate a breakfast service in the space, Perry's mothership, Margaret, will influence it from midday, running into the night.

Perry says it'll be both a place for a drink before or after a meal at Margaret, as well as having a bar food menu. One of his signatures will underpin the bar menu: a Perry burger.

"It's a nice little corner," he says of the sun-drenched side of the intersection facing Guilfoyle Park.