The capacious Crown Street site formerly known as Toko is now the home of Andrew Becher’s latest grand venture, Armorica. No stranger to dropping a casual few mill on a resplendent refit, this grandiose renewal is as tastefully opulent as one has come to expect from the self-confessed Francophile behind Potts Point’s fine-dining duo Franca and Parlar.
Once liberated from your coat, deftly hung in the foyer’s bespoke, European oak closet by your impossibly elegant host, you’ll be whisked through the magnificent dining room to your seats. Italian marble, tufted cherry leather, naval brass railings and gilded lamps atop each table – it’s entirely evident that not a single expense has been spared.
This lavish commitment to only the finest of things extends beyond the floor to the sweeping, open kitchen – the back wall of which is lined with exquisite scarlet tiles imported from Spain. At its heart is the custom-built, five-metre-long Josper grill (legendary in the world of charcoal gastronomy for bringing the age-old art of fire pit cooking to the world's contemporary kitchens).
It is here that executive chef Jose Saulog brings Armorica’s extensive menu spectacularly to life, as gleaming towers heaving with oysters, coral trout crudo, rock lobster and prawn cocktails are effortlessly plucked from the pass.
