It’s been just over a year since a kitchen fire forced popular Surry Hills diner Nomad to depart its Foster Street space. Since then it’s endured a temporary venue change (due to the fire and associated insurance issues) and the coronavirus lockdown. But on November 3, Nomad finally returned home.

“Walking back into Foster Street is lovely. Everyone is so excited to be heading home for good,” head chef Jacqui Challinor tells Broadsheet.

To anyone who frequented Nomad pre-fire, the space will feel familiar. The light-wood furniture and pared-back decor remains, with the addition of banquette seating in hunter-green leather. The woodfired oven, charcoal grill and kitchen counter are also there – but now they’re twice the size.

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“When Nomad first opened [in 2013] it was only intended to be a 100-seat restaurant, but it steadily grew,” Challinor says. “The firepower we had wasn’t sufficient for the volume we were pumping out. Looking at it seven years later, seeing where we could improve things, we were able to create our dream kitchen.”

The 30-seat counter is the best spot in the house to witness Challinor’s return to charcoal. At Nomad’s temporary Commonwealth Street site (which once housed Longrain), cooking over fire wasn’t possible.

“It’s how I love to cook,” says Challinor. “Fire is an ingredient. It’s not just how we cook, it’s part of the dish itself. It brings so much complexity, flavour and interest.”

The menu has been totally reimagined, although some favourites remain. “The raw hiramasa kingfish we can’t touch, and the truffle-honey-pecorino zucchini flowers are staying.”

Over the fire, she’s doing a Murray cod with artichokes, anchovy and za’atar; a six-week dry-aged rib eye; smoked zucchini with feta; and wood-roasted eggplant. For dessert, there’s an olive-oil ice-cream sandwich with sesame, pistachio and honeycomb. There’s also a new deli and an extensive house-cured charcuterie selection, including smoked ocean trout basturma and date-glazed Wagyu tongue.

Nomad’s return to Foster Street isn’t just a renaissance for the venue, but for Challinor herself.

“I’m a completely different person to who I was six months ago. I had a pretty dark couple of months after Covid,” she says. “We’d just been through a lot with the fire emotionally, we had to move, I had personal things going on and it just all hit at once.

“Then having to stand down staff and tell people they had lost their source of income … that was the hardest day of my life. As a manager you’re trying to make sure your team is okay, trying to be strong for them, but you don’t have a lot of support for yourself. I had to switch off.”

During that time Challinor gave up drinking and meditated on an industry that she describes as “toxic and self-destructive”.

“I used to drink too much, and my biggest mission was to change my mindset from being a negative person,” she says “Quitting alcohol was life-transforming. I want others to know that it’s okay to say no to that expected hospitality lifestyle. These days I’m excited to get out of bed in the morning.”

Personally and professionally, Nomad’s reopening is a fitting way to close off a difficult chapter for Challinor.

“I’m so excited coming back to Foster Street and cooking over fire again. It’s given me so much inspiration pulling the menu together. After my break, I’ve had so many ideas that all of a sudden can be executed beautifully over the fire.”

Nomad

16 Foster Street, Surry Hills
(02) 9280 3395

Hours
Mon to Thu 6pm–late
Fri to Sun 12pm–late

nomadwine.com.au