Quay restaurant to temporarily close for major renovation

Three-hatted Sydney restaurant Quay will temporarily close its doors in March for three months to undergo a major renovation.

The renovation will include the restaurant, kitchen and menu as well as changes to service. The harbourside restaurant will also offer a tasting-menu-only experience for the first time.

"Quay has long been at the forefront of Australian dining", says John Fink, creative director of the Fink Group.

"[Executive chef] Peter Gilmore is at the peak of his creative abilities, and he is showing no signs of slowing down.

"Peter's creative skills are inspiring us to push Quay's fine dining experience to a next level. This is an opportunity to take a fresh look at how we do fine dining."

"After 16 years of Quay in its current form, this new incarnation will give me the opportunity to fulfil even greater aspirations for my food," says Peter Gilmore.

"This new chapter will facilitate a long held desire to take the diner on an even more personal dining experience. My aim is to create a more interactive journey representing my own culinary evolution."

Head chef Rob Kabboord shares the excitement. "I have been dying to share this with everyone and I will definitely stay with Quay through this exciting project. I couldn't re-imagine a restaurant with a better family," he said.

The menu reinvention will mean the end of some of Gilmore's most defining dishes, but will his signature Snow Egg dessert survive? "This is a time of change and I want to be looking forward," answers Gilmore. Take that as a probably not.

The restaurant will be rejigged to open up dining on the Harbour Bridge side and seating will be reduced with the introduction of 'intimate dining pockets'.

Quay's event spaces will also be transformed, with plans to add a dedicated open kitchen.

Reservations remain open until the doors close on March 19. A series of retrospective events with Gilmore will be announced in the lead up to the renovation.