Chef Ben Sinfield and his partner Tania Ho met at Fergus Henderson's St. John restaurant in London, so it's apt there's a nod to St. John's famed roast bone marrow on the opening menu at their new restaurant, Banh Xeo Bar.
"We're come up with a roast bone marrow with lemongrass and chilli paste, grilled toast and a salad of Vietnamese herbs," Sinfield says.
With a name like Banh Xeo, you'd expect a few sizzling pancakes on the menu.
"Absolutely, we specialise in them," the chef says.
Sinfield, a former sous chef at two of Sydney's hottest restaurant arrivals, Ester and Fred's, has been playing with beef tongue recipes in the countdown to the opening on Friday, November 10 at The Cannery, in Rosebery.
Tania Ho adds they've been able to blend her Vietnamese background with Sinfield's pedigree at Banh Xeo Bar.
"We fine-tuned the pancakes at Paddo Markets. We wanted to start small, somewhere flexible where we were in touch with the customer," she says.
The 30-seat restaurant will operate for at least six months.
"We were offered a lease of six months or five years, we went for six months. We could be here for longer, if we don't stay here we'll be popping up somewhere else," Sinfield says.
Open Tue-Sun lunch, Fri-Sat dinner.
61-71 Mentmore Avenue, Rosebery, facebook.com/banhxeobar.
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