Rozelle-Balmain used to be the precinct Sydney turned to for the latest food trends. Now, after a period of restaurant closures and relocations, there are promising flickers of a returning zeitgeist glow to the suburb.

The flood of incoming 2023 food action includes a new French bistro next door to the Sackville Hotel, the Darling Street pub where Damien Pignolet’s Bistro Deux once traded. The bistro, which opens in October, will have a separate entrance.

Solotel CEO Elliot Solomon describes the yet-to-be-named venue as a relaxed neighbourhood French bistro.

“We want to bring back fond memories of dining on the streets of Paris, with warm service and an authentic French approach to relaxed dining,” he says.

Up the road, in the sprawling site next to the building where Tetsuya Wakuda etched a new chapter on Australian dining before relocating to Sydney’s CBD, Fabbrica Bread Shop will open inside Maloneys Grocer.

Buoyed by the successful launch of Fabbrica Pasta Bar at Balmain’s Exchange Hotel earlier this year, the Fabbrica mothership will double down on the Rozelle-Balmain area with its bread shop spin-off.

What started as a pop-up bakery that took over the Fabbrica Pasta Shop in the Sydney CBD during the pandemic lockdowns will become a permanent destination for its baked goods, sausage rolls and banoffee tarts.

Why are operators pouring back into Rozelle-Balmain, a precinct that looked to be one-way traffic outwards just 18 months ago with the closures of Efendy, One Ford Street and stalwart Blue Ginger?

Restaurateur Michael Fegent points to the area’s key demographics and food-savvy clientele. “There’s also the trend toward eating and drinking locally,” Fegent says.

Fegent, owner of Tequlia Mockingbird in Paddington and Esteban in the CBD, has invested heavily in Balmain, buying the building where Efendy traded. He’ll open an Argentinian restaurant there in late 2023.

He also points to promising signs from Inner West Council, which is exploring turning Darling Street into a special entertainment precinct with later outdoor closing times.

In an area famed for its historic pubs, all eyes have been on the fastidious restoration of the Dry Dock Hotel, undertaken by owner Peninsula Hospitality.

When it opens in late 2023, the pub’s dining room will fix its gaze on modern European cuisine with French roots. And it has the pedigree to pull it off, having nabbed former Felix co-head chef Ben Sitton to head the kitchen.

Peninsula’s James Ingram points to Balmain’s rich history of dining and entertaining. He believes there’s an opportunity for high-quality, food and beverage-led venues that “embrace and enhance the local lifestyle”.

“We’re excited to be a part of the hospitality resurgence that is already happening in the area,” he says.