New Paddy’s Market Sydney food outlets revealed

The team behind the multi-million dollar renovation of Paddy’s Markets in Haymarket have revealed key details of the project, insisting the business will be an accessible and affordable mixed food market when it opens in January.

Construction of the historic market begins next week after Sydney Markets Limited won a bitter battle in the NSW Supreme Court against “exhibitors”, who were forced to move in-house to make way for it.

With the final hurdle cleared, Doltone Hospitality Group, which is spearheading the food district, has revealed that fresh produce will be at the heart of the project. A butcher, grocery, charcuterie, fishmonger and cheese stand will be among the 47 new outlets. “There will also be tons of spices (for sale),” says Peter Melick, Doltone’s head of strategic growth and concepts.

“We want to please everyone, you can also have a margarita and a lobster roll.”

Peter Melick, Doltone

These restaurants will open alongside dine-in and takeaway venues offering everything from Cypriot barbecue to canned drinks from a themed bar. Melick says accessibility is a cornerstone of the project, and it will be a site where Sydneysiders can buy pizza by the slice, sit at a dumpling bar, eat Lebanese street food or sit at an Italian sandwich bar.

Melick says the combination of the two is key to a successful market. Doltone has studied Adelaide Central Market and Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market, as well as markets in the United States. “Our general manager, Joseph Murray, has done a lot of research on European markets,” Melick says.

“It’s a market, we didn’t want to go into food court mode. It has to be flexible, so we can eat on site in our pasta bar, but also buy pasta sauce to take away.”

Melick says the project will include a large retail space, including Asian food. “We want to cater to everyone, so you can get a margarita and a lobster roll,” he says. A partnership with an as-yet-unnamed chef is also in the works.

Haymarket dates back to the 1800s, its food lineage diluted by the relocation of wholesale fruit and vegetable operations to Flemington in 1975. Once the epicentre of Sydney’s fresh produce, it has seen a steady increase in the number of second-hand dealers and specialist traders, although some food operators remain.

Melick declined to discuss the cost of the interior design, designed by Loop Creative, which is estimated to be about $12 million. He said the history of the site played a role in the design brief.

“We wanted it to be a tribute to what happened there in the past. Initially, we wanted to capture the 1950s, with the Lebanese, Italian and Greek immigration. But its history goes back much further, and its location (next to Chinatown) is also important to us to capture what’s happening in Sydney now,” he explains.