Sydney’s ‘biggest free agent chef’ swaps Rockpool Bar & Grill for premium pop-up in Marrickville

In a bumper week for Sydney’s inner-west dining scene, the city’s biggest free agent chef – recently departed Rockpool Bar & Grill culinary director Corey Costelloe – has chosen Marrickville for his next move.

Costelloe will open a restaurant in June, on the former site of Stix Cafe on Marrickville’s Chapel Street. The yet-to-be-named restaurant will be a joint venture between Costelloe and Stix founder, chef David Allison. It will initially open as a six-month pop-up, after which the duo will reassess its longer-term future.

He joins another big-name chef headed to the inner west, with Italian Australian Alessandro Pavoni acquiring the landmark post office building in Summer Hill, where he’ll open Postino Osteria in July.

Apart from the Marrickville site’s cool industrial interior, what else can Sydney diners expect from the incoming eatery? Costelloe, a heart-and-soul 15-year veteran from Rockpool Bar & Grill, will tap many of the premium produce suppliers he cultivated during his long stint at the city restaurant.

A whole cow is already on order with farmer David Blackmore. “We want to be a great neighbourhood bistro, cooking the food I like eating … fresh octopus, a great steak off the grill,” Costelloe says.

The menu will also tap the organic produce of Allison’s Stix Farm on the Hawkesbury. Costelloe quips his partner tried to retire last year, but has too much energy to stay out of the kitchen and is raring to get back on the tools.

Aside from being a fan of Marrickville’s community, Costelloe also admires the suburb’s food scene. “It has the best Greek, the best Vietnamese – heavy hitters in those categories. We hope we can add to it with a place you can get a really beautiful glass of wine [and great food].”

The venue’s eventual name will likely incorporate a play on its Chapel Street location. Cricket fan Costelloe even tried to bowl an underarm suggestion and slide the Chappell brothers into the suggestion box. The selectors didn’t approve, but a 70-seat restaurant named Trevor? It’d get a roar at Henson Park.