Sydney’s world-renowned pioneer of sustainable seafood, chef Josh Niland, is taking his polished culinary show to Singapore, opening the signature restaurant in the city’s soon-to-open Edition Hotel.

“We don’t have a name yet,” the owner-chef at Paddington’s twin Good Food Guide-hatted Saint Peter restaurant says. Niland says the “seafood-focused steakhouse” will open by November at the latest.

The chef is both cognisant of and flattered by the coals to Newcastle idea of the move. Singapore prides itself on its seafood, and in many ways chilli crab defines the city-state as a culinary destination. “I’ll leave (chilli crab) to the experts. If I had it on the menu I’d probably be run out of town!”

“I hope we can contribute to everyone trying to do a bit better with fish”

Josh Niland

What he is keen to adopt is Singapore’s use of spice, and to explore its position at the heart of south-east Asia and the produce at its doorstep. Niland will also transplant the sustainable and waste-reduction practices he’s honed in Sydney, where Niland and wife Julie’s empire has expanded to include a spin-off, The Fish Butchery, which has outlets in Paddington and Waterloo.

“I hope we can contribute to everyone trying to do a bit better with fish,” Niland says of the menu which will also carry some meat and vegetable dishes.

The Singapore project appealed to chef on a number of levels. Edition Hotels is the dream child of US entrepreneur Ian Schrager, who pioneered the boutique hotel category. “I was attracted to the creative aspect of the role,” says Niland, who will divide his time between Sydney and Singapore as well as transplanting some of his local team.

“I also liked the idea of cooking somewhere we have the opportunity to feed a greater number of people in the world,” he says of the restaurant’s location.

He won’t be the only Aussie culinary act in town, Perth-born chef David Pynt has gathered Michelin stars at Burnt Ends, and chef Tetsuya Wakuda has a small stable of restaurants in the city.

Wakuda has used Singapore as a launch pad into the US market and Dubai. Is somewhere like New York on the cards for a restaurant down the track? “Why not?” Niland says.