After 16 years of independently running celebrated venues such as Bentley, Monopole, Yellow and Cirrus, Nick Hildebrandt and Brent Savage were happy.

“We were quite content with our four restaurants,” Hildebrandt tells Broadsheet. “But when Capella approached us to open a brasserie in their new Sydney hotel, it was too good an opportunity to knock back.”

In April Singapore-based Capella Hotels & Resorts opened its first Australian property in Sydney’s sandstone precinct, near Circular Quay. The restoration of the former Department of Education building is elegant, contemporary and faithful to the period details, and Hildebrandt and Savage’s 120-seat Brasserie 1930 fits perfectly in the luxury hotel.

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“The project was different for us. The site is Capella’s site, so we haven’t been involved in the design and build. That’s sort of refreshing because that part can be quite stressful. We could just focus on food and wine.”

The partners have taken the opportunity to flex their creativity and refinement with the food and wine offerings. In the open kitchen Savage and his team cure, smoke, ferment and preserve ingredients for dishes such as Wagyu rump cap and Blackmore rib eye steaks cooked over a dramatic charcoal grill; as well as Murray cod finished with pepperberry butter and chives; and raw paradise prawns served with fermented chilli and mayonnaise.

“Our signature dish is the duck, whole roasted, with the neck made into sausage and the breast dry-aged. Like much of the menu, it’s a dish to be shared. The hotel is in a heritage building, but it’s modern and contemporary, and we wanted the food to reflect that as well.”

Hildebrandt oversees the wine list, which has 400 bottles and will continue to grow. Like all Bentley Group venues, Hildebrandt planned the offering with balance in mind. “We have older and younger wines, iconic producers, natural producers. There’s a huge amount of wine available in Australia – ultimately we want a variety of flavours, textures and price points.”

The benefit of being part of the Bentley Group is Brasserie 1930 has access to extensive cellars. “Often when you open a new restaurant, you struggle to get allocations of rare wines, but we already have them.”

Like the rest of the hotel, the brasserie space is exquisite, with cathedral ceilings, black and white marble tile floors, sleek, minimalist tables and tall windows that frame vibrant palms outside. The attention to detail is everywhere, right down to the Brasserie 1930-stamped crockery. But Hildebrandt says it’s not meant to be intimidating. “It’s a really luxurious, beautiful space, but at the same time it doesn’t have the snobbiness of a fine-dining restaurant. It’s loud, fun and busy.”

On the eve of opening a fifth venue, Hildebrandt is reflective about his and Savage’s journey. “I feel good, a little bit tired. When we opened Bentley 16 years ago, we were doing everything ourselves: taking reservations, making drinks, running food, mopping the floors at the end of the night. We’ve grown so much and we’ve got a lot of great people working with and for us. We’re in a really happy place.”

Brasserie 1930
35/39 Bridge Street, Sydney
(Entry via 2-4 Farrer Place)
02 9071 5090

Hours
Tue to Sat 12pm–3pm, 6pm–10pm

capellahotels.com/brasserie1930