New in food & wine in NSW Spring 2015

• Famed Bondi institution, MAMASAN, has opened the doors on a new Surry Hills outpost on Crown Street offering a unique tapas-style menu that creatively combines elements of Japanese and Taiwanese cooking. This four storey establishment features breathtaking decor including a light installation featuring 500 stems of illuminated japanese cherry blossoms and a sashimi bar made from an 80 year old wooden fishing boat 
• Sydney’s exciting bar scene has made a name for itself on the world stage with two spots featured in The World’s Best Bars 2015 list. Now in its fifth year, the global bar awards ceremony found Sydney’s Bulletin Place named 28th and The Baxter Inn at an impressive 6th, the highest ranking yet for an Australian bar
• Automata, the highly-anticipated first restaurant in the Old Clare Hotel and brainchild of ex-Momofuku Seiōbo sous chef Clayton Wells, has finally opened. This 60-seat warehouse style restaurant offers a frequently changing five-course menu and a beautifully paired wine list that heightens the flavour of every dish. This is the first in a series of new and exciting openings in the Chippendale precinct, so watch this space 
• The Ivy Pool Club will unveil a whole new look this month, transforming from LA Glitz to the Italian Riviera. The new styling will be echoed by a sophisticated new menu curated by Uccello’s David Lovett and pizza maestro Vincenzo Biondini
• La Renaissance Patisserie and Café in Sydney’s The Rocks has become the first patisserie in the southern hemisphere to be officially inducted into the prestigious Relais Desserts – the pâtisserie industry’s equivalent of receiving a Michelin Star. French-born Jean Michel Raynaud’s exquisite tiered cakes have secured the patisserie’s place as one of only 80 members of this exclusive association 
• This spring, two of Sydney’s best dumpling restaurants will move into the city centre: Tim Ho Wan and New Shanghai. The world’s cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant, Tim Ho Wan, will open three CBD locations before summer (two in Pitt Street Mall’s Westfield and one at 580 George Street) and city workers are already enjoying the crispy, pan-fried pork buns at New Shanghai’s Pitt Street Westfield store
• Bowling green turned neighbourhood café, bar and garden, The Greens North Sydney has recently introduced outdoor yoga classes and new seasonal menus to its ever-expanding list of offerings. Yogis now have the chance to bend and stretch while overlooking beautiful Sydney Harbour and follow their morning practice with a produce-driven, flavoursome, minimal-fuss meal for which The Greens has become known 
• In late October, Sydney ’s quaint Angel Hotel will open its refurbished level 3 as an intimate whisky bar named J&M. A tribute to the late hoteliers, husband and wife team John and Merivale Hemmes, J&M will create a unique, sensory whisky experience in the historic CBD hotel
• This November will see the launch of Oxford Street’s newest pub, The Paddington (formerly The Paddington Arms). Ben Greeno, formerly of Momofuku Seiobo, will lead the kitchen to offer a fun pub menu with a focus on dishes that can be shared amongst friends and Palmer & Co.’s Sam Egerton will ensure The Paddington’s cocktail bar becomes the new Oxford Street favourite
• Discover Sydney’s best coffee and cake on the Straight To The Source tour on 23 February, 2016. This behind-the-scenes tour will give cake-lovers exclusive access to Sydney’s BlackStar Pastry, home of Sydney’s most instagrammed cake, BlackStar’s Strawberry & Watermelon Cake and a private cupping session at one of Sydney’s leading boutique coffee roasters, The Little Marionette.