There’s a new sibling on the way for chefs’ hatted Sydney restaurant The Apollo. The crew from the stalwart Potts Point eatery has nabbed the former site of Bourke Street Bakery and Paper Bird, across the road from the Macleay Street restaurant.

Unlike its big brother, it won’t be Greek. “It’ll be European,” says Jonathan Barthelmess, co-owner of The Apollo Group. The venue will serve pizza but it won’t be a pizza restaurant when it opens in the second half of 2024.

“We don’t have a name yet, but it’ll open seven days a week, lunch and dinner,” Barthelmess says.

Barthelmess and his business partner, Sam Christie, certainly have the track record for a cuisine pivot. Christie’s first big Sydney hit was pioneering Thai restaurant Longrain, which closed in Surry Hills in 2019.

The Greek-Australian restaurateur, who has Tetsuya’s on his CV, introduced Sydney to a new style of Thai food in designer warehouse surrounds.

The duo also operates popular Japanese restaurant, Cho Cho San. Barthelmess spearheaded their Brisbane expansion with the opening of Greca and Yoko restaurants. They have even taken Greek to the Japanese, opening Apollo in Tokyo in 2016.

Potts Point has long been fertile turf for the pair. The Apollo first opened there in 2012 on the corner of Macleay Street and Crick Avenue, now a short walk from Cho Cho San. The forthcoming venue will be on Crick Avenue.

“With all the development, there are more people moving into the area, and with that [more diversity] and more venues like small bars,” Christie says.

Only this month, veteran Icebergs restaurateur Maurice Terzini and his son, Sylvester, joined the party of new venues at Potts Point, with the opening of Snack Kitchen.

Christie says there are other changes to postcode 2011: “It’s a lot safer than it was when we moved in. The demographic has definitely changed.”