This new Mediterranean-inspired ‘rooftop oasis’ boasts postcard harbour views and sophisticated food

If the pandemic left Sydneysiders craving open spaces, the city has delivered with a production line of rooftop bars and outdoor hospitality spaces.

The latest, Martinez Terrace, has just opened at Quay Quarter Tower. “It can hold 160 people, half covered, half open to the sky,” says Scott Brown, a director at House Made Hospitality, owner of the sprawling new venue.

“We’ve got the climate for it, the weather, and Sydney loves a view,” Brown says, pointing between buildings at the Harbour Bridge and a berthed cruise ship.

Martinez Terrace adds to a growing collection of rooftop venues, which includes the Luchetti Krelle-designed Arturo’s Rooftop at the Woolly Bay Hotel, the rooftop at The Strand pub in William Street and Slims, a couple of blocks away.

Martinez Terrace is channelling the relaxed style of the south of France and the Mediterranean, with a strong food line-up.

As the operator of the two-year-old Grana and Lana restaurants across the road, House Made Hospitality knows the clientele of Circular Quay.

At Martinez Terrace, executive chef Alex Wong and head chef Andrea Sonnante have steered away from the richer style of French cooking often found across the city, opting for lighter food to match with house spritzes and Provence-style rosés.

“It’s a menu designed for Sydney’s balmy climate, perfect for eating by the harbour but with the sophistication of an inner-city restaurant,” Wong says.

You can grab a drink and snack on fresh East 33 rock oysters with champagne and pink peppercorn mignonette, chilled mussels with jus vert and smoked salmon roe, or grilled swordfish with gribiche salsa.

Baguette piled with shaved ham, fennel and mustard is one of four sandwich options, while steak frites and saffron tagliatelle with blue swimmer crab and fennel are among the more substantial dishes.

Designer Emilie Delalande from Etic (Barangaroo House) has crafted a “rooftop oasis” with plants, illuminated onyx tables and a nine-metre bar topped with blue tiles.

The September relaunch of Jacksons on George, a few blocks west of Martinez Terrace, has shown Sydneysiders want an al fresco experience that incorporates eating and drinking. “We’ve sold a lot of food up there,” Jacksons operator Maurice Terzini says of the opening weeks at the venue’s rooftop.

Terzini backs up the observation that CBD hospitality venues have become more popular on Thursdays since the onset of the pandemic.

“Thursdays are massive,” he says. “Australia is an outdoor country. We see that when the sun comes out, people knock off a little earlier, sit up there and take in the setting. You couldn’t be in any other city in the world.”

Martinez Terrace is open Mon-Sat 11.30am-late, ground floor lobby, Quay Quarter Tower, 50 Bridge Street, Sydney (express lift off Young Street), martinez.sydney