Sydney’s new $500 million dining precinct will deliver its second restaurant launch in a week, with Olympus opening at Redfern’s Wunderlich Lane on Thursday, December 5.

South-East Asian party restaurant Island Radio recently kicked off the precinct’s opening fiesta, now Olympus – spin-off taverna from the crew at Potts Point’s hatted Apollo – is coming in hot with a giant retracting smart roof, a transplanted 50-year-old tree, and serious skill in the kitchen.

Head chef Ozge Kalvo (formerly of Baba’s Place and Ester) is one of the rising stars of Sydney food, talent-spotted cooking at a pop-up attended by Olympus co-owner and chef Jonathan Barthelmess. Kalvo has a deft hand with Greek classics, despite her Turkish background.

“When I called my Dad to tell him I got the job, I said ‘It’s Greek, don’t be angry with me,’” she says. (Unbeknownst to Kalvo at the time, two of her father’s grandparents were Greek.)

While Olympus is focused on classic Greek taverna food, Kalvo has still snuck a couple of Turkish ingredients into some dishes.“Turkish pepper paste and pomegranate molasses are in there,” she says.

Otherwise it’s traditional Greek turf, Kalvo using the last days before the restaurant’s launch to master the craft of assembling spanakopita to order (before a spell in the wood-fire oven), and fine-tuning the syrup for loukoumades doughnuts. She’s tipping the semolina cake to stamp itself as the signature dessert, and fried lambs’ brains, stuffed zucchinis and king prawn saganaki will also feature.

Meanwhile, drinks guru Matt Whiley (formerly of zero-waste bar Re at South Everleigh) is on cocktail duty with Ouzo Coladas and the “Karpouzi Slushie” made with Aperol, watermelon and vodka. Co-owner Sam Christie and head sommelier Zoe Brunton will pour classic Greek varietals next to Old and New World producers.

Barthelmess says they’ve tried to create the sort of tavern in Sydney “you dream of finding at the heart of a bustling Greek village”. But while the food might lean-in on tradition, the glass roof is high-tech.

If it rains, it automatically shuts, he says. Humidity too high? The roof opens and lets in fresh air. “The object is to keep it open as much as possible, but if it gets too noisy, it’ll close”. A 50-year-old bougainvillea was also trucked in from Bowral as a centrepiece and lowered into the courtyard by crane.

Barthelmess is confident the Wunderlich Lane is going to transform the east-side of Redfern. Indeed, the openings will keep on rolling over summer, with the crew from Pyrmont’s two-hatted LuMi launching Regina La Pizzeria at the precinct before Christmas. A 15-seat omakase, R by Raita Noda, will follow in January, plus a rooftop restaurant from the group in charge of Bistecca and The Gidley in the CBD.

Wunderlich Lane, 2 Baptist Street, Redfern; olympusdining.com.au

Lunch Wed-Sun; dinner daily