Sydney's new restaurant action heading Wynyard way

The precinct behind Wynyard Station is shaping up as one of the hottest areas in Sydney for upcoming restaurant opening action. The sprawling Shell House opens later year, and Turkish-Australian cooking star Somer Sivrioglu is also opening a plant-heavy bar-restaurant in the redeveloped Menzies Hotel site late 2021.

The antenna-topped AWA complex is also getting some food love, with a Japanese restaurant to be named Midnight opening in its basement in November.

Paul Schulte and Andrew Taylor, co-founders of hospitality group The People, are behind Midnight. The Japanese izakaya will be overseen by Aussie chef Ben McRae, who has spent the better part of two decades working around the world, including Japan.

McRae has another string to his bow. "He's also a DJ," Shulte says. So, if diners play their cards right, they might get a little vinyl with their yuzu.

The People has been rapidly expanding its accommodation and hospitality model across Sydney. Schulte and Taylor were in the process of opening The Norfolk House and Hotel in Redfern when the latest lockdown struck, and we can reveal there is more to come. The group has nabbed The Strand Hotel in Darlinghurst.

A bistro is going in, and Schulte promises a few surprises: "Some of the rooms will have hidden bars."

The Strand will also open in November.