Ennui Sydney; Capitol Theatre bar; best bars Sydney; whisky bar Sydney

The 1846 sandstone building at 461 Pitt Street in Haymarket has at various times been home to a Presbyterian minister, an ironmonger and a colonial locksmith.

Now it’s about to get a run as a wine bar and restaurant, led by a promising team of Sydney hospitality’s gen next.

A DA lodged with the City of Sydney for the historic building reveals it will rise again as Ennui (pronounced on-wee) restaurant. But who’s behind Ennui?

Former Love Tilly Devine manager and sommelier Samuel Woods (currently with the Bentley Group) has teamed up with chef Tom Bromwich on the project. Bromwich has Hartsyard, Rising Sun Workshop, Love Tilly and Stillwater in Tassie on his CV.

Another partner, whisky specialist and collector Peter Chan, will curate a list of up to 300 interesting and rare examples of the spirit at Ennui.

‘Downstairs is a wine bar, the food tuned to go with the list. The sort of place you’d head before or after a show.’

Sommelier Samuel Woods

“It’s a heritage building, what we’re doing is in keeping with that and will pay respect to it,” Woods says.

“Upstairs will be the main dining room, with a focus on sustainable produce, using local where we can.

“Downstairs is a wine bar, the food tuned to go with the list. The sort of place you’d head before or after a show.”

Ennui is located next to the Capitol Theatre, which should help that pitch.

Haymarket is also in the midst of a commercial property boom, and up the hill a new clientele is headed into the area with the planned $1.4 billion Atlassian HQ next to Central Station.

Woods says they’ll take the Ennui show on the road, fine-tuning the menu at pop-ups around Sydney in the lead-in to the restaurant’s launch later this year.