Representing the best in Sydney dining, Ross and Sunny Lusted will return with new venture,
Woodcut
Sydney dining’s award-winning couple, Ross and Sunny Lusted, are set to open their latest restaurant, Woodcut, in Sydney’s most exciting new dining precinct at
Crown Sydney which opens December 2020.
Woodcut will provide Sydneysiders with a unique dining experience that celebrates Australian produce and cooking with wood, charcoal and steam. This concept was inspired by Ross and Sunny’s travels and the memories evoked by meals cooked in a slow wood burning oven or over an open fire,
and the earthy flavours it creates.
Authenticity and simple flavours will be celebrated at Woodcut. Diners can expect dishes prepared in wood and charcoal grills, wood ovens and steam kettles. “This earthy and sensory cooking method will be at the heart of the Woodcut experience. Imagine whole John Dory in a cast iron pan straight from the wood oven, Queensland mud crab cooked in steam kettles or the rich and earthy flavours of duck slow cooked in clay pots,” says Woodcut chef and owner Ross Lusted.
While still in the process of finalising their highly anticipated menu, the duo has confirmed that the menu will change daily. Local produce will also play a star role, including Bruny Island mussels, Fraser Island spanner crabs, O’Connor beef, Maremma wild raised ducks, Camden Valley veal and
Malfroy’s honey from the Blue Mountains.
From the moment guests enter the restaurant, they will be drawn to an experiential and ever-changing display of produce hand-picked by the chefs. The vertical salad wall will include vegetables and herbs, which chefs will pick directly from as they prepare their dishes.
“Diners will be able to watch chefs delicately smoke Blue Mountains pine mushrooms over ash or sit at the seafood counter where you might learn how to shuck a sea urchin while enjoying raw and cooked local seafood on ice. One of my greatest joys is watching our chefs and guests interact,”
Lusted adds.
According to Sunny Lusted, one of the most important aspects of dining is the experience itself. “We want guests to feel excited by the environment and theatre of our three open kitchens; each centred on their own cooking method and anchored by counter dining where guests will have a front row seat to “the show”. Woodcut is a restaurant we feel both Sydneysiders and travellers will gravitate to and claim as their own.”
Ross Lusted is a chef, restaurateur, and sculptor and has a lifelong passion for ceramics, art, design and architecture. Lusted is celebrated as one of the most original chefs in Australia and has been honoured as Chef of the Year by Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food Guide and The Australian’s Hottest Chef in Australia. Sunny Lusted has two decades of experience in the luxury hotel and resort business, and over the past decade also as an acclaimed Sydney restaurateur.
The duo most recently owned and operated The Bridge Room from 2011 to 2019, one of Sydney’s most acclaimed and loved restaurants. Under their direction, The Bridge Room attracted a myriad of accolades including Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food Guide Restaurant of the Year and The Australian’s Hottest Restaurant in Australia award, in addition to being named on virtually every top 100 restaurant list around the country since opening.
According to Crown Sydney’s Chief Operating Officer, Peter Crinis, the husband and wife team encapsulates the fresh innovation at the heart of the Sydney food scene. “Ross and Sunny’s return to Sydney’s dining scene is something many local foodies have no doubt been anticipating, and we are proud that they’ll be calling Crown Sydney home,” says Crinis. “Ross has made an impact on the food culture of this city over the years. Woodcut bolsters the line-up we have in store for Sydneysiders at Crown Sydney.”
As Sydney’s first luxury resort in Barangaroo, Crown Sydney will provide the ultimate in curated dining experiences. Visitors and Sydneysiders alike will have access to an unprecedented array of luxurious offerings all overlooking one of the world’s most enviable views when Crown Sydney opens its doors in December 2020. The Barangaroo property will include 349 hotel rooms and suites, luxury residential apartments, 14 signature restaurants and bars, premium retail outlets, pool and spa
facilities and more.