Ante hero

Sometimes, it feels like Sydney restaurants and bars fall from the sky like hailstones: fast and clattering and looking and tasting a bit like all the others. That’s why Ante was such a ray of summer sunshine when it opened its doors in Sydney’s Newtown in December 2021. Here was a beautifully considered space that wasn’t trying to tick any boxes or slot into any trends; it was simply the culmination of years of work and the deep passions of its two owners, Matt Young and Jemma Whiteman. 

Those passions are sake, music and the food that goes with both. Sake, because Young wanted a place to showcase the range of the small-scale, artisan sakes that he was already importing via his primary business, Black Market Sake. Music, because he’d been collecting vinyl since he was a teenager and was intrigued by the idea of adopting a few things from Japanese listening bar culture (although he points out that listening bars in Japan are more likely to serve beer and whisky than sake, but we’re talking about passions here, not precedents). And food, which Whiteman – armed with years of experience honed at Billy Kwong, Pinbone and others – approaches with wood, coals, and one of the finest pairing palates around.

The best place to sit when you arrive at Ante is at the bar, where you can drink in Young’s full collection of records, arranged in sharp, slim clusters like technicolour barcodes – everything from jazz to hiphop to soul. Whether you’re a sake neophyte or a sake sensei, the team is always pleased to talk you through the options; perhaps it’s a glass of Ine Mankai, made by a female brewer from ancient red rice, or an ice-cold Gibson. When you pick from the shareable plates you’ll find they all have depth and grace; octopus gets a murmur of smoke from its almond sauce, while the shiitake pasta – a staple – is a sophisticated symphony of umami. Together, it all just works.

But Young and Whiteman weren’t always sure it would. One of the risks when you step away from the hail of hospitality trends is the worry that customers won’t join you on the other side. It’s something they considered when they agreed that Ante would serve only sake, cocktails and a few beers from its very inception – and no wine. “Jemma and I said if the sake doesn’t really work, Plan B will kick in and we’ll add wine,” says Young. “But we’ve never had to do that. I guess that’s an indication that people were really willing to jump in.” It seems Ante was exactly the port in the storm we’d been waiting for.