Hunter St Hospitality precinct The Collective now open

Sydney welcomes a vibrant new hospitality precinct to The Rocks heritage district, with Hunter St Hospitality officially unveiling The Collective – a multi-level collection of bars and restaurants – today.

Following the closure of The Argyle last year, after 17 years as one of Sydney’s most notable clubs, the group is set to officially unveil the precinct with the addition of three new spaces, joining established restaurants Saké and The Cut Bar & Grill.

Set across a footprint of 1800sqm, The Collective will house intimate cocktail bar Tailor Room, alfresco bar and restaurant The Garden, and heritage restaurant The Dining Room complete with an upper level bar.

Frank Tucker, CEO of Hunter St Hospitality, says: “Hospitality precincts are having a moment in Sydney, and their appeal is only growing. With The Collective, we saw a chance to do something special – breathing new life into heritage spaces that deserve to be experienced, not just admired.

“There’s a lot to uncover once you step inside, and we hope it becomes a hidden gem for anyone looking to see a different side of the city,” he continued.

Tailor Room

Occupying just 24sqm at the entrance to The Collective, 20-seat cocktail bar Tailor Room was designed to encourage personal interaction and one-on-one experiences with bartenders, featuring a small number of velvet banquettes and front row seats around a red marble bar.

Spearheaded by The Collective’s Head of Bars, Mael Jego; Tailor Room Bar Manager, Benji Kinoial; and Hunter St Hospitality’s Beverage Director, Ali Toghani; the cocktail menu, Textures, features 10 signature cocktails, each uniquely expressing the feel of a different fabric.

Mael explains: “Tailor Room sits in a building with a history rooted in textiles and wool, so the name felt like a natural fit. That heritage inspired our first cocktail collection, Textures, which plays with the idea of flavour and mouthfeel in the same way fabric plays with form and texture.

“With such a small space, we’ve had to be creative not just in the way we use the room, but in how we build our drinks. We’ve spent over six months perfecting cocktails that are technically complex but streamlined in execution.”

Highlights from the Textures cocktail menu include Fur (rye whiskey, dry vermouth, nectarine, maple, fur tincture, milk and smoked jasmine foam), Denim (ginger vodka, curacao, denim tincture and vanilla) and Velvet (milk stout, mezcal, apricot, coconut and sparkling water).

Short but sweet, the bar menu includes a small selection of light snacks designed to complement the cocktails, including the Don Brocarte anchovy gilda, Tailor Room potato crisps and Kalamansi marshmallows.

The Dining Room

Continuing the warmth and sophistication of Tailor Room, The Dining Room is set in a restored 1881 wool store with sandstone walls and heritage pillars. Featuring a seafood bar at the back of the room and a wine room with capacity for 500 bottles, The Dining Room seats 100 guests downstairs and 125 upstairs.

Led by a trio of acclaimed chefs – Santiago Aristizabal, Andy Evans and Shimpei Hatanaka – alongside Executive Chef Mike Flood, the menu is shaped by indulgent dishes and high quality produce.

From the seafood bar guests can expect Moreton Bay bugs, seafood towers and three types of caviar served alongside a selection of protein, such as Berkshire pork chop and 1.5kf Wagyu MB9+ tomahawk, and cooked seafood dishes like grilled Eastern Rock lobster and octopus carpaccio.

Seasonality is at the core of the beverage program at The Dining Room, with each cocktail named after its key ingredients – think Rosella (tequila, rum, falernum, rosella, coconut, agave and verjus) and Strawberry (black pepper gin, strawberry aperitif, Americano Rosa and Campari).

Upstairs, standalone cocktail bar The Bar caters to a more laid-back experience, open from 4pm daily with a concise cocktail list of ten signature drinks, including three Martinis – Freeze Me In (gin, olive, dry vermouth and saline), Call Me Naughty (vodka, gin, spiced strawberry brine and sauternes) and Paris – Tokyo (duck fat-washed vodka, seaweed and white miso vermouth).

Frank added: “It’s important that the experience feels timeless. With The Rocks’ heritage as the backdrop, The Dining Room provides an elegant canvas that our chefs and beverage team have built on beautifully. We’ve assembled a remarkable team and what they’re creating here is truly special.”

The Garden

Rounding out the precinct, alfresco space The Garden sits within the courtyard of the heritage-listed buildings and offers a day-to-night drinking and dining experience.

Seating 100 guests among sandstone walls and greenery, The Garden offers a daytime retreat for breakfast and lunch and transitions into a social hub in the evening with retractable umbrellas revealing the night sky.

From the breakfast menu, indulgent dishes include crab omelette, steak and eggs and breakfast bruschetta, paired with breakfast cocktails such as the Mandarin Garibladi and a Bloody Mary. The Garden’s all-day menu features simple yet elevated dishes like fritto misto, king prawn roll, Wagyu cheeseburger and minute steak.

The Garden shares its cocktail menu with The Dining Room, and guests can also order from the The Dining Room’s full à la carte menu.

Here’s a preview of the contemporary drinking and dining space:

This story was first published by our sister publication Bars and Clubs.