Latest news with #ArtemusGroup
Time Out
04-07-2025
- Business
- Time Out
Manly Wharf has welcomed a brand-new seafood restaurant with a former Rockpool chef in charge
Can you feel it in the water? Big changes are happening at Manly Wharf. First up, Manly 's beloved-but-tired sunset haunt Wharf Bar was taken over by mega hospo group Artemus Group (the team responsible for Brisbane's Howard Smith Wharves) and transformed into Felons Manly – a pumping beer haven with 150+ more seats, a jazzed-up menu, lush plants and beers from Brisbane brewery Felons Brewing Co (we'd love to see a local tap one day!). Now, there's another hot newcomer: The Bavarian poured its final stein some months ago, and the waterfront spot is now home to Felons Seafood – a 300-seat seafood restaurant with indoor–outdoor spaces, views over Manly Cove and a menu created by two former Rockpool guns. 'We feel very fortunate to play a role in the ongoing revitalisation of Manly Wharf,' says Adam Flaskas, co-founder and director of Artemus Group. 'With Felons Seafood, our hope was to create something that feels true to Manly – a relaxed, welcoming space where people can enjoy fresh local seafood and take in the beauty of the harbour. It's a simple, coastal venue shaped by the warmth and spirit of the locals,' he adds. Head chef and Palawa man Luke Bourke has worked alongside Corey Costello (ex-Rockpool and current chef-owner of Marrickville's award-winning 20 Chapel) to create the menu. Expect quality Aussie produce, with the chefs hitting up local fishers and growers. Menu highlights include freshly shucked oysters with native kelp vinegar and cucumber mignonette; a prawn cocktail; an abalone schnitzel sandwich with salted chilli mayonnaise; a chilled seafood platter featuring king prawns, Sydney rock oysters, tuna tartare, honey bug cocktail and lemongrass pipis; and a showstopping Queensland mud crab with black pepper and curry leaf sauce. Feel like a classic fish and chips? Choose from a selection of market fish, served with house-made tartare sauce pimped up with pickled Warrigal greens and Felons IPA malt vinegar. For dessert, step back in time with a seasonal trifle plucked from your nan's cookbook – this winter, it's served with port wine–poached plums (yum). The drinks list is fun. Take Felons Super Cold Crisp Lager, for example. Poured at -2°C, the team reckons it's Australia's coldest lager – and with a lean malt profile, light bitterness and smooth finish, it's going to go down a treat come summer. We're also fond of the Salt and Vinegar Martini made with Oyster Shell Gin, caperberry brine and chardonnay vinegar; and a striking blue Yuzu Break with Four Pillars Fresh Yuzu Gin, blue curaçao and amaretto. Whites, rosé and fizz are mostly from Australia and designed to be matched with fresh seafood. Hello, Sunday sessions. Dean Romeo, brand director for Felons Brewing Co, says: 'This picturesque location is the perfect backdrop for what we see as a new spiritual home for Felons – a space that champions simplicity, fresh Australian seafood and our passion for great beer.' One prawn cocktail and Salt & Vinegar Martini, please. In the area? These are the top restaurants in Manly. Feel like fish and chips? These are our favourites.
Daily Mail
23-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Monday heartbreak as TWO hugely popular Sydney restaurants announce shock closure in a matter of days
Two of Sydney 's best-known waterfront dining spots are closing their doors for good - and it's not because of poor performance. Saké and El Camino Cantina, both located at the bustling Manly Wharf, will shut down on Monday, 30 June, marking a major shake-up in Sydney's hospitality scene. The decision to close the popular restaurants is part of a broader commercial strategy by hospitality powerhouse Hunter St. Hospitality, which also owns Rockpool Bar & Grill and The Bavarian. 'It was a commercial decision - [Manly Wharf owner Artemus Group] made a wonderful offer. We had 15 years left on the lease,' Hunter St. Hospitality CEO Frank Tucker told The Sydney Morning Herald. Tucker, who stepped into the top job last year, said the company is shifting its focus from chain expansion to cultivating 'unique venues'. He confirmed plans to open three new Japanese restaurants over the next year, though they are unlikely to operate under the Saké name. The closure follows the earlier exit of The Bavarian at Manly Wharf, a sister venue to the soon-to-close restaurants. When that lease expired earlier this year, property owner Artemus Group took over the site and transformed it into a seafood restaurant, Felons Seafood. The new venue is helmed by rising culinary star Luke Bourke, a Rockpool alumnus, and opened its doors last Friday. Artemus Group, which famously revitalised Brisbane's Howard Smith Wharves, has been pouring millions into Manly Wharf since acquiring the site for $110million last year. The hospitality heavyweight has already taken over venues including Manly Wharf Bar and Hugos Manly, the latter reportedly purchased for $20million. The closure of Saké and El Camino frees up even more space for Artemus to expand. While there's been speculation around the addition of a large function venue, no official plans have been confirmed. For now, one of the only remaining non-Artemus tenants on the wharf is Merivale's Queen Chow. Locals have expressed dismay at the closures, with many shocked to see two much-loved eateries disappear from the scenic harbourside strip. The news is yet another sign that Sydney's hospitality scene continues to evolve, with big players making bold moves.
The Age
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Age
Three former Rockpool chefs to lead new Manly wharf restaurant
When the Brisbane-based Artemus Group splashed out $110 million last year to buy Manly Wharf, it was just the start of a spending spree focused on acquiring and opening new venues at the wharf. Now Artemus is snapping up the city's hospitality talent, with up-and-coming chef Luke Bourke set to steer a new seafood restaurant opening at the wharf. Bourke, a Rockpool alumnus who won The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide young chef of the year for 2025, has been appointed head chef at Felons Seafood, which opens on Friday, June 20. It's a reunion of sorts for former senior Rockpool chefs Corey Costelloe, now culinary consultant with Artemus, and Graeme Hunt, who has also joined as culinary operations manager at the Felons Manly pub next door. Felons Brewing Co opened its first venue, at Brisbane's Howard Smith Wharves, in 2018.
Sydney Morning Herald
04-06-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Three former Rockpool chefs to lead new Manly wharf restaurant
When the Brisbane-based Artemus Group splashed out $110 million last year to buy Manly Wharf, it was just the start of a spending spree focused on acquiring and opening new venues at the wharf. Now Artemus is snapping up the city's hospitality talent, with up-and-coming chef Luke Bourke set to steer a new seafood restaurant opening at the wharf. Bourke, a Rockpool alumnus who won The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide young chef of the year for 2025, has been appointed head chef at Felons Seafood, which opens on Friday, June 20. It's a reunion of sorts for former senior Rockpool chefs Corey Costelloe, now culinary consultant with Artemus, and Graeme Hunt, who has also joined as culinary operations manager at the Felons Manly pub next door. Felons Brewing Co opened its first venue, at Brisbane's Howard Smith Wharves, in 2018.
News.com.au
22-04-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
How tired urban hubs are being given new life across Australia
Much like the kitsch gift shop at the exit of a theme park, Manly's Ferry Terminal sees millions of passengers walk past multiple drinking and dining options before crossing the Sydney suburb's famous Esplanade. The power of a captive audience, about six million commuters per year, propelled Artemus Group into a $120 million purchase and redevelopment of the famous wharf, from replacing the Manly Wharf Bar to Felons Brewing Co and converting the former Aldi supermarket into a microbrewery to supporting fellow tenants Hugo's, Betty's Burgers, Chat Thai, Max Brenner, Sake Restaurant and El Camino Cantina. Artemus bought Hugo's Manly but the restaurant will retain its management. 'We love to specialise in revitalising iconic waterfront precincts and transforming them into thriving community and cultural hubs,' Artemus CEO Luke Fraser said. 'Sydney's iconic Manly Wharf is our latest endeavour with unbound potential. MORE: Costco's huge $110m plan for Aussie store 'We're bringing that same passion to Manly Wharf as we look to create a safer, more lively and family-friendly precinct for the whole community to enjoy. 'We imagine Manly Wharf will continue to be a much celebrated and loved part of Sydney.' The Manly Wharf is just one of several examples of how underused urban spaces are being transformed into bustling hospitality hubs, such as the Howard Smith Wharves in Brisbane, Sydney's Cannery and Rising Sun Workshop. The 'same passion' Fraser is referring to is the work Artemus did at the heritage-listed Howard Smith Wharves in Brisbane's CBD on the Brisbane River. The precinct had largely been vacant since the 60s but Artemus Group's redeveloped site was opened in late 2018 as a dining and entertainment precinct, including Felons Brewery, drawing over 6 million visitors a year. 'In Brisbane, we're so proud to be the custodians of Howard Smith Wharves,' Fraser added. 'We wholeheartedly believe the river is one of Brisbane's superpowers and from the very beginning we had a vision of creating a space that celebrates the heritage of the wharves but also realises its beauty and potential for our local community to enjoy.' The $120 million Manly redevelopment is not just designed for tourists – the gift shoppers – its blend of convenience and dining experience caters to a market where the median rental price is $1800 per week. There are more than 100 office spaces for rent in Manly but that represents just 1.5 per cent of available 'stock' while Sydney's CBD and Greater is more than 14 per cent. In the Sydney city-fringe suburb of Rosebery, the former Rosella soup factory has been resurrected as a lifestyle precinct. VIVE Cooking School's founder and director, Jean-Luc Tan, is one of the original tenants. 'When we launched VIVE, the site was still a raw industrial shell,' he said. 'We saw that as an advantage: we came early enough in the development that the guys behind The Cannery were really supportive and were really behind our vision of their glass box kitchen.' Rosebery has shifted from a light industrial pocket to a mixed use lifestyle precinct. New apartments and the Green Square town centre have broadened the catchment and boosted evening trade. Surrounding streets now host boutique apartments and co working spaces, offices, bringing an all day audience rather than purely weekend traffic. The Rising Sun Workshop, in the Sydney suburb of Newtown, is a former hardware store-turned motorcycle workshop interwoven with a restaurant/bar that serves coffee and ramen. 'You can do more than just be a vendor of food and beverages,' co-owner Nick Smith said. 'Increasingly with the pressure on the hospitality industry you do need to think outside the square. If you can give your space a further reason for being, then you then you can be a neighbourhood Nexxus. 'You become a landmark because you're integral into the you're in you're in the weave of the neighbourhood. You're not just another sign on the door.' Finding the right property with the proper zones and space requirement took quite a bit of time, but while they were doing it, Smith had a ramen pop-up. 'When we moved in, we had a completely blank canvas there so I could cook whatever I wanted,' he said. 'Ramen was emerging at the time — so that was sort of on the foodie radar there was no Ramen in Newtown. It was a dish that I could build a very simple kitchen because when we did the pop-up, we basically did it with camping equipment.' Smith notes how the neighbourhood has changed in the time that they've been there. 'I've noticed a moved from daytime to night-time economy. There were more coffee offerings in Newtown eight years ago. Now, I'm seeing more corporate offices and real estate agencies opening so you're getting different types of diners. More professionals getting work lunches and having business meetings in the restaurant – before it was mainly youths,' he said. 'One of my businesses partners is looking to revitalise and re-establish the Newtown Chamber of commerce getting local businesses together. 'One business doesn't have a lot of lobby power, but together, as a collective voice, and as a precinct we can get local government's attention and keep Newtown moving forward.'
