New Japanese restaurant to open at Redfern's Wunderlich Lane

Short-lived Redfern venue Bar Julius will reopen as Baptiste restaurant, and its rooftop Mexican sibling, Lottie, will make a culinary U-turn to Japanese, with Tenjo – a 100-seat izakaya-inspired venue – launching in its place in November. Tenjo has recruited some top-line talent in its kitchen, nabbing Sushi E head chef Freddy Lim.

In July, Bar Julius and Lottie operator Liquid & Larder (which also runs CBD steakhouses The Gidley and Bistecca) announced it would cease to operate the venues at the end of August, telling the Herald the glitzy venues at The Eve Hotel had failed to hit financial targets, despite positive reviews and design awards for both of them. The venues were considered two of the hospitality jewels in the crown at the $500 million TOGA Group redevelopment of the old Redfern mall, now known as Wunderlich Lane.

The two venues are now in the hands of the team behind neighbouring outfit Olympus Dining, part of a stable of restaurants that includes The Apollo and Japanese restaurant Cho Cho San at Potts Point. Co-owner at The Apollo Restaurant Group Jonathan Barthelmess declined to comment on why Bar Julius and Lottie failed to secure enough traction. “I can only say we love the precinct.”

Indeed, Greek restaurant Olympus is the heavy-hitter crowd favourite, attracting large numbers of diners since its December 2024 opening. But the rooftop is better suited to the lightness of Japanese food, Barthelmess said. The outdoor space with a retractable glass roof (Tenjo is Japanese for ceiling), is next to The Eve’s rooftop pool. “It’s in our DNA,” Barthelmess said of the cuisine choice. “We’ve been doing Japanese [food] for 12 years at Cho Cho San.”

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“We wanted to create the kind of Japanese restaurant where you can eat in lots of different ways. You can sit at the counter for sushi and sashimi, order yakitori from the grill, tempura and donabe rice, or just come in for a drink and a few dishes,” Barthelmess said.

The donabe claypot rice is an idea he picked up on a visit to Japan. “I was served the first rice of the season. Claypot rice is something you don’t see much of here. We’ll be using the best type of rice, and you’ll be able to have it with chicken, wagyu, crab or fish.”

Bartender Matt Whiley has developed a cocktail list pairing Japanese fruit with classic cocktails. He’s also transplanting the yuzu slushie from Tenjo’s sister restaurant Yoko, in Brisbane. “It’s the bestselling drink at Yoko; we think it’ll do well upstairs.”

Lottie’s original designer, George Livissianis, will give the space a redesign with birch plywood, raw aluminium and translucent fabric in line with the Tenjo concept. Livissianis is also leading design changes to the old Bar Julius space.

Barthelmess confirmed Bar Julius would reopen as Baptiste, a play on the name of its street-level location on Baptist Street. Interestingly, Baptist was Liquid & Larder’s original working title for Bar Julius, but they pulled the pin on the moniker when another venue in the development, the now-closed Baptist Street Rec. Club, opened before them. (The latter was flipped to Vitelli’s Upstairs in just six days.)

“It’s definitely going to be a restaurant,” Barthelmess said of Baptiste, but he was otherwise tight-lipped on the concept. Tenjo and Baptiste will both launch in November.

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