Vito's opens in Sydney's Burns Philp Building after an $8 million fit-out
Sunday Co. says the room took 18 months to plan, design and build, and its kitchen is led by a former Carbone Hong Kong chef.
Vito's, an Italian-American restaurant from hospitality group Sunday Co., has opened inside the heritage-listed Burns Philp Building at 11 Bridge Street in Sydney. The 170-seat room brings the glamour of mid-century Manhattan to the city, and it follows an $8 million renovation.
The aim, as described at the opening, is a restaurant that feels like a longstanding New York institution, and one that will go the distance in Sydney. The project has been years in the making, with 18 months of planning, designing and building behind the final stretch.
Sunday Co. was founded in 2023 by Brett Sergeant, James Wicks and Iris Kleimann. Its Sydney portfolio already includes Whalebridge in Circular Quay and Morrison's Oyster Bar and Grill on George Street, but nothing in it matches the scale of the Vito's renovation.
Craig Madgwick of Design Madgwick designed the interior. He worked with the building's heritage architecture: six-foot chandeliers hang from 21-foot ceilings, and guests enter across a mosaic entranceway finished with 24k gold-leaf tiling.
The dining room uses red velvet, ox-blood leather, brass and marble to echo the lavish Italian-American restaurants of old New York. Booths, raised carpeted alcoves and a mezzanine look over the central dining floor, so the room works at several heights at once.
Local makers did much of the work. The joinery was built in regional New South Wales, while the tabletops are custom Queensland Maple, topped with American Maple burl veneer and set with brass inlay, a mix of Australian timber and imported finish.
The kitchen and the menu
Executive chef Michael Fox, formerly chef de cuisine at Carbone in Hong Kong, runs the kitchen. He leads a menu developed with group culinary director David Clarke, built around handmade pastas, wood-fired grills and classic Italian-American cooking.
The signature dish is a lasagne of ten layers. Pasta also appears as conchiglie with crab and green garlic butter, and the main course for the table is a 1kg Prime Angus porterhouse, served with a Marsala sauce.
Seafood has a large place on the list. Scampi and a scallop crudo with orange and capers are among the starters, and the mains include wild-caught Skull Island tiger prawns, King George whiting and John Dory.
Lauren Eldridge is behind the classic desserts. They include a ricotta and pistachio cannoli and a Tricoloure Bombe Alaska, the second of which is the kind of dish a New York red-sauce room would be expected to carry.
Drinks, late nights and opening hours
Group head sommelier Antoine Heurtier curated the 400-label wine list. A classic cocktail programme runs alongside it, and the source describes the whole drinks offering as equally considered as the food.
From 10.30pm the restaurant shifts into late-night mode. The kitchen then serves an 18-inch New York-style pizza, and a separate bar menu is available for guests who stay on after dinner.
Sergeant said the group set out to create a restaurant that feels as if it has always been there, and that the Bridge Street site was a major part of that. He called opening the doors an incredibly exciting moment.
He also called Vito's the most ambitious thing the group has done, and said he wants people to walk in knowing they are there to have fun and have a memorable experience.
Vito's trades seven days a week, serving lunch and dinner from 12pm until late. Walk-ins are welcome, and tables can also be booked in advance at the Bridge Street address.
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Images: (Image credit: Courtesy of Sunday Co.); Vito's
