The original harbourside home of Flying Fish restaurant is set to be born again. Sala restaurant will open there in October, a joint venture between chef Danny Russo and Flying Fish owner Con Dedes.
When Flying Fish moved to The Star in 2018, Chuuka – a mash-up of Japanese and Chinese – launched in the space in 2019, but never fully etched itself as a local dining staple. It closed last year.
Russo and Dedes will return to the site’s strengths, opening an Italian seafood restaurant in the historic waterfront space.
It’s a clever move, Sydney having lost many of its harbourside seafood restaurants. “We thought there was a gap in the market,” Russo says. “The whole idea is built around putting the best Australian seafood on the plate.”
Russo also revealed Sala’s head chef will be Michael Lewis. “He’s working at Ant restaurant in Italy,” says Russo. “He’ll be back in September, ready for the launch.”
Dishes will include a signature Russo has refined in a career that includes The Beresford and, in more recent years, restaurant consultancy. “We did a tasting and Danny’s squid ink tortellini on tomato sugo lives on in my mind,” adds Dedes. “It is going on the menu.”
Russo and Dedes, who have known each other 30 years, have spoken many times about opening a restaurant together. There was just too much serendipity this time around to pass up the opportunity to reboot a prized Sydney restaurant site.
