After 20 years stunning drinkers and diners with great service, food, drinks (and of course, that view), Bondi institution Icebergs Dining Room and Bar took seven long months off for the ultimate rejuvenation. 20 years to the day since acclaimed restaurateur Maurice Terzini and his team opened the restaurant in 2002, the doors swung open again. And it's still just as good as it ever was.

The project was slated for September 2022 completion, but what started as a back-of-house restoration grew into a full makeover. Yet the space remains unmistakably Icebergs.

“We worked very hard to maintain the core DNA of Icebergs,” Terzini tells Broadsheet. “With 20 years of being on top of the ocean, we had 47 leaks by the last service, and everything was corroded. We needed to restore facilities for our guests and staff and take it into the next 20 years. We think of the project as a restoration more than a renovation.”

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Icebergs is a stalwart of Sydney’s dining scene, attracting locals and international guests to dine on a menu inspired by Terzini’s Italian heritage, in a structure built into the face of Bondi’s cliffs. Terzini worked with Rome-based architecture firm Lazzarini Pickering Architetti in both 2002 and 2022 to create an establishment that fits seamlessly with Bondi’s iconic views.

“The brief has always been to create an invisible restaurant. The experience of this era has in a way become truer to its original vision,” says Terzini.

Addressing the “invisibility” brief, the new space is sleek and unimposing, rendered in sea blues and greens that reflect the Pacific Ocean crashing beyond the windows and dramatic terrace. The space is familiar, but more contemporary: a new night-time light landscape replaces Icebergs’ former lighting scheme, there’s a 50-seat private dining room with uninterrupted views of the sea, and a seafood counter showcases the restaurant’s exquisite produce.

The indoor fit-out shifts with the seasons. During daylight saving the tables, topped with terracotta tiles handmade by artisans near Florence, will lighten the dining room. In the autumn and winter months, linen tablecloths provide a touch of weight and formality.

To match the refreshed space, head chef Alex Prichard has overhauled the menu, taking cues from classic Italian seaside dining that’s “true to where we are in Australia”. There are also dishes that nod to Terzini’s mum’s cooking, such as pizzelle, a wafer-like biscuit.

“Flavours Maurice’s mother would recognise, but food she would never cook, has always been the brief since opening in 2002,” Prichard says. “The N25 Oscietra Caviar, pizzelle and cultured cream is a great representation of this. We’ve never seen pizzelle in Australia, but after eating Maurice’s mother’s pizzelle at his house, we decided it had to be on the menu to showcase simple Italian cooking.”

A huge seafood counter is a physical representation of the incredible seafood and producers the venue works with – and the impressive seafood platter shows the quality off at its finest.

Wines, housed in a new custom-built, walk-in fridge, have been pared back from a list of 580 bottles to 280. The new focus is chilled reds, coastal vineyards and Italian varietals.

Back in May, Terzini ate his final meal in the old Icebergs with his children. It was emotional and frightening to fathom closing post-Covid after two extremely difficult years. Now that Icebergs’ return is imminent, he’s grateful.

“I see how fortunate I am. This opportunity doesn’t come around often. There are restaurants all over the world, but how many of them become institutions? To be custodian of a place like this, it’s a body of work. It’s about dedication,” he says.

Icebergs Dining Room and Bar
1 Notts Avenue, Bondi Beach
(02) 9365 9000

Hours:
Wed to Sat midday-midnight
Sun midday–10pm

idrb.com
@icebergsdiningroomandbar