Last year, award-winning Japanese restaurant Tetsuya's announced it will close its doors in 2023, due to the redevelopment of its current location. But today, the restaurant announced it is extending its stay at the iconic Kent Street site for a little while longer. After 23 years at the CBD venue, it's digging in its heels for a few more months of service.
Sydneysiders will now be able to dine at Tetsuya's up until July 2024, almost a year extension on the original closure date of August 2023.
But it's not the end of the beloved eatery, according to owner-chef Tetsuya Wakuda. "The journey is simply evolving," he says. "We have an incredible team at Tetsuya's, and while all of us will fondly miss Kent Street, we are all looking forward to a new home."
Tetusya's earned global recognition for its degustation menu, which celebrates the Japanese practice of cooking with natural, seasonal flavours, augmented by French techniques. At Tetsuya's, Wakuda became famous for his vibrant signature dish, ocean trout with celery salad and roe, which was once labelled the "world's most photographed dish". Tetsuya's has been a regular fixture in Gourmet Traveller, most recently ranking number 35 in the 2020 Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide.
A pillar of the culinary community, Wakuda was awarded an Order of Australia in 2005 for outstanding service to the Australian community. In 2016, Wakuda was honoured by the Japanese government becoming the first internationally based Japanese chef to be recognised as a Master of Cuisine.
Originally from Hammatsu, a small town in Japan, Wakuda arrived in Sydney in 1982 at the age of 22 with very limited English. It was in Sydney, working under decorated chef Tony Bilson at Kinselas, that he first learned to combine French technique with Japanese flavour philosophy. Though it wouldn't be until 1989 that Wakuda opened Tetsuya's, then crowded into a small terrace house in Sydney's Rozelle, before relocating to Kent Street in 2000.
The building, which has heritage value and was designed to create a peaceful Japanese sanctuary in the city, was sold in 2019 to the Teoh family of Australian telecommunication company TPG for $53.5 million. The family also owns an adjoining site on Sussex Street, which will form part of the redevelopment.
Tetsuya's will close in July 2024. Reservations can be made via the Tetsuya's website.
Looking for some epic recipes by Tetsuya Wakuda? Click the links below
