The much-anticipated Clam Bar from the Pellegrino 2000 crew opens next week

After months of anticipation, Clam Bar finally has an opening date – and it lands next week.

Clam Bar is the latest venture from the team behind Bistrot 916 and Pellegrino 2000, two of Sydney’s most popular restaurants in Potts Point and Surry Hills, respectively. So no doubt bookings for the soon-to-open venue will be snapped up quickly.

For their newest venue, the team – Dan Pepperell, Mikey Clift and Andy Tyson – have taken over the former site of The Bridge Room in Sydney’s CBD. Taking cues from lauded New York steakhouses but with a sharper focus on seafood and quality Australian produce, the restaurant’s kitchen will be led by Dan Pepperell, joined by head chef Sam Galloway

There will be choose-your-own condiments – think house-made butters and sauces ranging from mustards to wasabi – as well as old-school American starters such as oysters Rockerfeller and prawn cocktails. Following recent trends, crustaceans and shellfish will be displayed on ice and there’ll also be large raw bar selection. You’ll likely find steak tartare, crab cakes, baked scampi casino-style, clam coconut ceviche and a spanner crab gratin also on the menu.

These bold entrees will be matched by mains including a cheeseburger, New York strip and porterhouse steaks, and whole grilled fish. The kitchen boasts a state-of-the-art Josper charcoal oven on which your steaks will be seared and your whole-cooked fish flipped, before being filleted table-side.

The old Bridge Room promises to be transformed into a ritzy New York dining room of yore, lit with Italian Murano glass sconces and Art Deco-style chandeliers. The charming space is split by plush booths and tables; while he walls will be adorned with works by Australian artists Laura Jones and Nadia Hernandez.

Clam Bar is set to open on Wednesday 3 May at 44 Bridge Street, Sydney. Bookings are now open via the website. Clam Bar will be open Monday – Saturday for lunch and dinner.

Author Jordan Kretchmer News Editor

A former ballet teacher turned writer, Jordan got her start in the media industry documenting Sydney’s music and nightlife scene, writing for Time Out Sydney, The Guardian and Broadsheet. She soon realised she preferred food to festivals and embarked on learning as much as she could about the hospitality industry. In 2019 she joined Gourmet Traveller as a writer, where she’s tasked with finding the hottest new restaurant openings, hotels worth checking in to and snacks worth seeking out. With a robust appetite for learning about the intricacies of food and how we use it as an expression of human culture, Jordan loves eating food as much as she does cooking it. She also loves a good chat about how to make the perfect sandwich, what’s the best chip or where to find the best seafood pasta on the planet.

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Author Cordelia Williamson Digital Editor

Cordelia is a leading food and travel journalist, with close to a decade of experience across digital and print media. After cutting her teeth at lifestyle brands such as Broadsheet, Concrete Playground and Urban List, Cordelia has landed a gig at the food and lifestyle magazine of her dreams, Gourmet Traveller. With a Bachelor of Arts in Communications (Creative Writing and Screen Studies) at the University of Technology, Sydney and years of hospitality work under her belt, she demonstrates her writing chops by covering her favourite restaurants, bars and travel destinations. As a digital specialist, she darts from writing to strategy to social media execution with ease, all while having a good time wining, dining and globetrotting. She also has a brew made in her honour — Yulli’s Brews’ Dolly Aldrin sour beer (deduce her character as you will).

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