If North Sydney was ever a true dining powerhouse, you'd have to go back a long way to pinpoint exactly when. Malcolm Fraser was prime minister and the local advertising agencies were making the most of the tax-deductible business meals of the day. But hold your chef's hats. The action is warming up again on the north side of the bridge.

In September, a new 300-seat restaurant and bar from the Applejack team, RAFI, will open at 99 Mount Street.

And, buoyed by its success with Loulou at Lavender Bay, Etymon Projects has two restaurant openings planned for North Sydney, one of them a high-end grill on Denison Street with aspirations to introduce something on par with Stokehouse Melbourne for the suburb.

So, what's changed for an area once derided as the Kowloon of Sydney dining? After years in the doldrums, new development and the influx of tech and media companies saw the first gentle waves of hospitality progress roll in just before the pandemic. The crew from The Grounds opened Lobby Boy, Devon took a taste of Surry Hills across the bridge, and the 220-seat Glorietta opened with an Alexander and Co interior.

Etymon Projects chief executive Lisa Hobbs explains development and new businesses are just part of the equation. "There's an influx of residential developments, with a lot of downsizers, and they want a restaurant downstairs. North Sydney is also close to communities like Mosman," she says.

Hobbs also points to the new Sydney metro train line, which will link North Sydney with Barangaroo and beyond from early 2024. Next year Etymon's high-end grill will open at 1 Denison Street, followed by a sprawling cluster of venues at 168 Walker Street, including a providore, bakery, LA-inspired all-day diner and Japanese eatery 12 months later.

Diners will get their first taste of the new wave this September, when RAFI opens. The restaurant-bar, designed by Luchetti Krelle, will have some serious firepower in the kitchen: Patrick Friesen (ex head chef Queen Chow Manly) will oversee it as Applejack's culinary chief, while RAFI's executive head chef, Matias Cilloniz, joins via Central restaurant in Peru, which nabbed second spot last week at the World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards.

RAFI takes its name from the initials of the children of Applejack owners Ben Carroll and Hamish Watts. The team, which also operates Bopp & Tone in the city and The Butler at Potts Point, didn't take much convincing to sign a deal to open RAFI.

"Born and bred in the north, North Sydney was where I fell in love with hospitality, so the area has special significance for me," Carroll says. "With RAFI, we want to put North Sydney back on the centre stage."