Sydney's iconic Rockpool sites score Italian makeovers in $8m double play
Images: Grappa Ristorante e Bar/Facebook
Two of Sydney's most historically significant restaurant spaces are undergoing dramatic reinventions, with a pair of ambitious Italian ventures set to breathe new life into addresses that shaped the city's fine dining landscape.
The grander of the two projects sees hospitality group Sunday Co. — the team behind CBD stalwarts Morrison's and Whalebridge — invest $8 million into 11 Bridge Street, a heritage-listed address in the Burns Philp Building that once housed Neil Perry's acclaimed Rockpool fine diner. The site will reopen in August as Vito's, with Michael Fox, who was former chef de cuisine at Carbone Hong Kong and 2011 The Age Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year, leading the kitchen.
A second transformation is underway at 107–109 George Street in The Rocks, where restaurateur Charlie Colosi and his wife Virginie have taken over the original Rockpool site. An offshoot of their long-running Leichhardt institution Grappa is slated to open mid-April, following a two-year restoration of the storied space.
At Bridge Street, Sunday Co. managing director Brett Sergeant said the opportunity to secure the sprawling, largely dormant venue was one he couldn't pass up.
"I've loved that site forever," he told The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH).
Custom lanterns are being crafted in London, hand-blown Venetian glass will feature in rosette chandeliers, and a local leadlight specialist is producing three-metre-high coloured glass panels. A further $2 million has been allocated to joinery alone — all in service of a room that takes inspiration from the great dining rooms of mid-century New York.
"We want an old-school sense of grandeur when you walk in," Sergeant said. Acknowledging the scale of investment in a challenging market, he said the meticulous refit "says we're here for 25 years."
The 170-seat restaurant and bar will draw on American-Italian culinary traditions, with Fox already developing the menu. Highlights in testing include a scallop and prawn agnolotti and a scampi crudo, alongside a signature single meatball starter. New York-style pizza will be available after 10.30pm, and a substantial beef program will round out the offering — positioning Vito's alongside other recent Sydney arrivals navigating the intersection of Italian and American cuisines.
The George Street project carries its own weight of history. Home to Rockpool from 1989 to 2014 before serving as a training facility for William Blue College, the sandstone building is being stripped back to its raw 1850s bones. A previously concealed fireplace and original hardwood joists have been uncovered during the works, while architect Vince Squillace's redesign introduces a new open kitchen and a restored 1930s bar imported from Europe.
Colosi said the Grappa menu will lean into traditional Italian cooking, transplanting signatures from the Leichhardt original — which has operated continuously since 1999 — while introducing select new dishes, including snapper in rock salt.
Together, the two projects represent a significant moment of reinvention for Sydney's dining scene, reclaiming spaces that once defined an era of Australian fine dining and reimagining them for a new generation of diners.
Jonathan Jackson, 12th March 2026
