It's lights out in Collingwood for Adam Liston, who has teamed up with Hotel Windsor owners the Halim Group on an ambitious CBD project.

Liston's brand of modern Japanese-Korean-Chinese cooking has earned him plenty of fans since he opened Northern Light in Smith Street in early 2014. Having outgrown the small, casual bar-eatery, he's sold it to a Bangkok-based hospitality group.

Northern Light will close in late March after a flurry of greatest-hits dinners.

Liston and his head chef Joel Baylon will fire up in the CBD in late April with a pop-up serving yakitori and other modern Asian dishes, while the permanent restaurant is built around them. The Halim Group has been negotiating on the site, at the top of Bourke Street, for two-and-half years.

The yet-to-be named eatery is expected to seat 150 people with several small private rooms, says Adi Halim of the Halim Group.