The revitalisation of Oxford Street is gaining pace with the arrival of Ame, whose menu takes inspiration from Nikkei cuisine. Chotto Matte also brings its brand of Japanese-Peruvian venues to Australia, launching in Bondi.
In a trend no one saw coming, two Peruvian-Japanese restaurants are opening in Sydney over the next couple of weeks. The first, 115-seat Ame, opens this week towards the CBD end of Oxford Street, followed by Chotto Matte in November, a 250-seat Nikkei restaurant in Bondi.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this style of food. Peruvian-Japanese fusion is closely related to Nikkei cuisine, the vibrant style of cooking that has travelled the globe largely thanks to luxury restaurant brand Nobu, and was born out of late 19th-century Japanese migration to Peru, combining elements of both cultures.
Ame opens this week at Darlinghurst’s Oxford & Foley development, on the corner of Oxford and Crown streets, in the centre of the once-thriving Oxford Street nighttime district.
“The story here is the revival of Oxford Street,” said Ibby Moubadder, co-founder at Esca, the hospitality group behind chef-hatted Sydney restaurants Nour and Aalia.
Esca has gone chips in on Oxford Street with its two-pronged hospitality centrepiece at the development: Ame and its back-lane music bar sibling, Loa.
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“We started on this project five years ago,” Moubadder said.
It hasn’t been smooth sailing at Oxford & Foley – they originally planned to open the restaurant several years ago, but the building developers were beset by delays.
Moubadder hasn’t cut any corners at Ame, with the 115-seat dining room brimming with luxe timber joinery. Considerable thought has also been put into protecting the historic features at the site, which previously housed retailer American Apparel and – back in the 1990s – the Remo General Store.
Wiring and electronics are enclosed and suspended from the ceiling, concealed behind layers of hanging curtains. “We’ve used colours from Peru,” Moubadder said. The original pillars and heritage plasterwork have been left untouched. A dumb waiter will ferry food from the Ame kitchen to Loa in the basement.
With its entrance on Foley Lane, Loa fills a bar vacuum created by the relocation last year of Shady Pines, which made way for the development of Soho House. The private club, which is opposite Loa, is expected to open in 2028, another step in the revitalisation of the laneway and precinct.
There’s still no word on the return of tenant Big Poppa’s, and while delays at Oxford & Foley saw Melbourne’s Lune Croissanterie jettison its Oxford Street plans and open elsewhere, Moubadder points to the hospitality outfits that have already launched at the development. Ice-cream chain Mapo is up and running, as is Paulie’s Pizza Pezzo, the New York-style slice start-up from Bourke Street Bakery co-founder Paul Allam. In July, Mecca Coffee joined the party.
Ame has hitched its menu wagon to Nikkei, which has its origins in Japanese migrants in Peru using Japanese cooking techniques together with local Peruvian produce. Executive chef Erik Ortolani oversees the Esca-owned Japanese venues Ito in Surry Hills and Joji in the CBD. Prior to the launch, he travelled to Peru for a deep-dive on all things Nikkei.
“I really wanted to have a reference, to understand the context and the flavour balance,” he said. Tuna nigiri acevichado is on his opening menu, as is a kombu brioche with corn and miso. Using a traditional duck rice dish as inspiration, Ortolani said he “took it somewhere else”. The result is a duck leg confit served with Japanese crispy rice.
Ortolani doesn’t want to preach a strict Nikkei doctrine to customers. It’s a view shared by Kurt Zdesar, who is bringing his Chotto Matte brand to Australia in November, opening a 250-seat Nikkei restaurant at Curlewis Street in Bondi.
Born in Sydney, Zdesar left Australia as a young teenager. A longtime European director at Nobu restaurants, he launched Chotto Matte in London in 2013, expanding to include branches in North America and the Middle East. “Opening in Australia is a dream,” he said. While remaining true to the core principles of Nikkei, Zdesar said Chotto Matte also offered customers alternatives that tweak over-the-top acidity elements, swapped out offal in some dishes and introduced flavoured butters.
“Fourteen years ago it [Nikkei] wasn’t spoken about globally,” Zdesar said.
Nikkei has also been a hit-and-miss cuisine in Sydney restaurants, with Nikkei Bar & Restaurant in Surry Hills and Walsh Bay’s Lima Nikkei both closing in 2024.
Peruvian chef Alejandro Saravia’s Morena restaurant at Martin Place has a sprinkling of Nikkei dishes, but takes a broader approach to Latin American food. He said it’s important to note there’s a difference between contemporary Japanese-Peruvian fusion and Nikkei, which has a history dating back to the late 19th century.
“Those first Japanese migrants working in the cotton fields couldn’t find ginger or wasabi, but they did find chilli,” he said.
With Ame and Chotto Matte opening in Sydney, Saravia is enthusiastic they’ll contribute to a wider understanding and culinary appeal. “Latin America is still niche; they are new flavours for a lot of people in Australia,” he said.
Open lunch Wed-Sun, dinner daily
GF.01 90 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, amesydney.com