The Newport to make a splash
Just weeks after opening Merivale’s farm to table eatery Fred’s in Paddington, Merivale chief executive Justin Hemmes is already looking at another restaurant in the same area.
It’s already off the drawing board with the group already putting up hoardings on what was once a retail site, just two doors down from Fred’s on Oxford Street.
The Hemmes family knows the area well, it’s owned the site for decades.
The group has indicated while the site is classified as retail, there are plans to put another restaurant there.
It’s all part of its vision of creating what it will call the “Paddington precinct”.
Certainly a lot of work went into Fred’s courtesy of Justin and his sister Bettina, stylist Amanda Talbot, and designers Acme & Co.
And the same amount of attention will focus on the new restaurant.
There are plans to bring in talented chef Ben Greeno who has been working at Fred’s and who runs Merivale’s neighbouring pub, The Paddington.
Greeno has some pedigree, having worked previously at The Star’s popular and acclaimed Momofuku Seiobo.
Justin Hemmes has been at it now for years, having spent two years building Fred’s and the underground bar Charlie Parker’s. Both venues opened to critical acclaim in October.
Mr Hemmes is excited about the way the group has transformed a building site into a food destination.
“It has been the most incredible eight months, the venue has found its soul, its beating heart,” Mr Hemmes told the Daily Telegraph.
“It feels as though it has always been here, I love it and we’ve had wonderful response.”
The group is also looking to open the Queen Victoria Hotel, to be relaunched as Queens Hotel, with its new restaurant, Queen Chow — in Enmore. That will happen by mid-December.
It’s been a busy year, a hectic race against the clock to get everything ready on time.
“Fred’s and Charlie Parker’s has just opened and Enmore (The Queen Victoria) is opening late November,” he said.
by Leon Gettler, November 29th 2016
