{"id":76434,"date":"2026-08-20T07:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T07:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/76434\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T07:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T07:56:14","slug":"powerhouse-parramatta-opens-in-sydney-with-four-new-dining-venues-news-articles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/76434\/","title":{"rendered":"Powerhouse Parramatta\u00a0opens in Sydney with four new dining venues – News + Articles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Something big is happening in the west.\n <\/p>\n

The monolithic Powerhouse Parramatta is nearing completion, and the final institution will gift four new hospitality venues and a pioneering rooftop farm to the food-obsessed Greater Western Sydney community.<\/p>\n

Upon the official opening date on Saturday November 7, Sydney will get its first glimpse of the 18,000-square-metre, $915-million behemoth \u2013 which is the single most significant cultural infrastructure project in Australia since the Sydney Opera House. So it\u2019s fitting that the chef revealed as leading Powerhouse Parramatta\u2019s food and beverage operations has spent a large chunk of his career within eyeshot of the iconic Opera House sails.<\/p>\n

\"\"Simon Sandall at Boronia Kitchen.<\/p>\n

Related story: Five restaurants to try at the Sydney Fish Market<\/a><\/p>\n

Simon Sandall moved to Australia from London just over three decades ago, bringing with him experience at swanky locales such as The Ritz Club. Within a few years, he became Matt Moran\u2019s head chef at Aria, and later Group Executive Chef for the restaurateur\u2019s extensive stable of venues.\u00a0Most recently, Sandall has gained a loyal local following for his garden-to-plate Hunters Hill bistro Boronia Kitchen. Now, it\u2019s been announced that he will launch a total of four new venues inside the Powerhouse: the Restaurant, Caf\u00e9 and Wine Bar, as well as the Cinema Bar on the third floor.<\/p>\n

The energy around the project, he says, has been incredible. \u201cSeeing such a significant cultural institute come to life, it\u2019s pretty amazing. I did 21 New Year\u2019s Eves at the Sydney Opera House\u2026 so you know going from working in the first most amazing cultural building in the country to work on the the second most-significant building: it makes me proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Powerhouse Parramatta.Credit: Powerhouse studio<\/p>\n

Overlooking Parramatta River, Sandall\u2019s Restaurant will seat nearly 300 patrons over an indoor and outdoor space, designed by George Livissianis, the interior architect behind some of Sydney\u2019s most stunning dining rooms, including Olympus Dining<\/a> in Redfern. Furniture designer Adam Goodrum and Livissianis have both adopted stainless steel, aluminium, leather and cork across their designs; continuing the industrial feel established by the dramatic steel exoskeleton that wraps like a skin around the entire building.<\/p>\n

While the news of his appointment might be fresh to the public, Sandall has had to keep it quiet for years. He still won\u2019t be drawn on certain details quite yet, but will be inspired by the rich melange of Western Sydney to create something that feels accessible for the entire community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to have people \u2013 whether they\u2019re five-year-olds, or 95 years of age \u2013 both feel welcome, wow them and make them feel comfortable.\u201d The offering isn\u2019t going to be fine dining fare, or prices, but rather what he\u2019s calling \u201celevated casual\u201d. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to come in and have a three course meal. You can just grab a bowl of chips and share something if you like.\u201d<\/p>\n

The multicultural community will see itself reflected back in menus that celebrate Australia\u2019s many cultures and gastronomic influences. \u201cAustralian cuisine is very diverse, culturally,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ll be leaning on my amazing staff, because I\u2019ve got such a cultural diversity in my own business at Boronia: we\u2019ve got Nepalese, we\u2019ve got Taiwanese, we\u2019ve got English, we\u2019ve got Italians, we\u2019ve got French\u2026. And that\u2019s what Australia is made up of. Leaning on the warmth of different cultures, I think it will sit really well at the Powerhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Simon Sandall will continue to lead the beloved Boronia Kitchen.Credit: Leigh Griffiths<\/p>\n

Australian produce will of course also inform the offering. Sandall has already been working with the horticultural team leading The Powerhouse Rooftop Garden, which will be part of an education program teaching 10,000 young people per year through the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation. Sandall is tight lipped about what\u2019s growing up there, but can\u2019t wait to help share what\u2019s taking shape.<\/p>\n

34\/47 Phillip St, Parramatta will open on November 7, watch this space for more information on the food offering, powerhouse.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Something big is happening in the west. The monolithic Powerhouse Parramatta is nearing completion, and the final institution…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[55821,113334,3098,15362,113332,113333,101436,113338,247,113337,113335,113336],"class_list":["post-76434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sydney","tag-aria","tag-culinary-archives","tag-greater-western-sydney","tag-parramatta","tag-powerhouse","tag-powerhouse-museum","tag-powerhouse-parramatta","tag-simon-sandall","tag-sydney","tag-where-to-eat-in-greater-western-sydney","tag-where-to-eat-in-parramatta","tag-where-to-eat-in-western-sydney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}