Ben Greeno is the killer chef who left Momofuku Seiobo to head up the kitchen at the Paddington, producing Sydney's fanciest rotisserie chicken. Danielle Alvarez is the one cooking up a storm in the beautiful open kitchen of Fred's, only a few doors down Oxford Street. And now, with their powers combined, Greeno and Alvarez are tackling the Hotel Centennial.
The blue ribbon hotel had a very high-end makeover a few years back and was recently purchased by Merivale, who also added the Collaroy, the Alexandria Hotel, the Vic on the Park, and the Royal Hotel Bondi to their stable. The mega-hospo group have brought in their star chefs to remake the food offering, with Greeno working with new head chef James Evangelinos (from the Musket Room in NYC), and Alvarez collaborating on the dining room and bar menu.
They're going for a Southern European vibe with the food, so expect a whole lot of Mediterranean holiday flavours in the woodfired flatbread with minced lamb, merguez sausage, yoghurt and pickled chilis; or fennel, greens and garlic cream for veg-powered flavour.
The humble pub pasta is going to get a serious upgrade, and it's only natural that seafood (squid, clams, grilled whole fish, snapper fillets) features in a starring role on the menu. Happily, Greeno is also bringing whole roasted chickens to the new venue, to share table space with cote de bouef and steak frites. High class comfort food is definitely going to be the name of the game – they're cooking what you want to eat most days of the week, but will also happily go out for.
The new Hotel Centennial will open on Wed 13 Dec.
More in the mood for spice? Try one of Sydney's best Malaysian restaurants.