A who's who of Sydney restaurants has been spotted on a quiet stretch of Bourke Street in Redfern in the past week, running a tape measure over the site that once housed a piece of Sydney culinary history.
The Russian Coachman Restaurant operated out of the convict-built cottage, closing its doors about four years ago. The site has been under renovation ever since.
Agent Michael Vranic, from Oxford Commercial, says the renovation was painstaking.
"It is heritage, so they had to match tiles with those made 180 years ago. The warehouse behind it and the above ground pool the restaurant used as a lobster tank have been turned into residential, but the [150] seat restaurant remains," he says.
And no, not one of the parties jostling for the site is planning to reboot it with a Russian menu.
