Merivale will open Good Luck Restaurant Lounge on 24 April in the historic Burns Philp & Co building on Bridge Street in Sydney CBD.

CEO Justin Hemmes’ vision for the venue is for it to feel like you’ve walked into a time capsule and stepped out into the 1970s underground dining in New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

“It’s been a long time coming and a labour of love for over three years,” Hemmes said.

“I wanted to create a sensory experience that takes people on a journey of delight and wonder, and our guests will be the judge on the success of that.”

Good Luck showcases Executive Chef Mike Eggert’s Asian-inflected fare, alongside a wine list curated by ex-Geranium sommelier Jacqueline Doucette, and genre-bending cocktails from Merivale’s Group Creative Cocktail Lead, James Irvine.

Irvine’s launch cocktail list includes creations inspired by the flavours of the kitchen, think the Good Luck Colada with coconut and cardamom, or Laat Jam, a riff on a spicy margarita,

If guests care for some theatre, he suggests the Matcha Kit Kat with vodka, green tea, white chocolate and coconut created tableside for a bit of fun.

The main dining room is framed by three large fish tanks with live seafood, two wine rooms, private and semi-private dining rooms, and a bar.

Sommelier Jacqueline Doucette, formerly of Geranium in Copenhagen, has built a wine list ‘with heaps of variety and something for everyone’ so expect to find Syrah from Yarra Valley alongside Vouvray from the Loire or a South African Chenin.

Good Luck, coined by Eggert, is an ode to the Good Luck Pinbone pop-up that he ran in 2017 before joining Merivale to open Totti’s Bondi, and is a concept that Hemmes and Eggert have worked together on for almost three years.

Menu highlights capitalise on the four-metre charcoal grill at the forefront of the restaurant, such as fire-roasted prawns in tomato miso with chicken skin and cereal crunch, or there’s fish and prawn sausage with lime and cucumber, smoked soy-poached chicken in shiso dressing and housemade egg noodles with Japanese whitebait and shishito peppers.

Eggert said “The first things guests will see as they enter Good Luck is a massive woodfire hearth alongside three super charged woks. Smoky, woodfired flavours with a lot of fresh herbs, citrus and chilli dominate the menu, as well as ingredients and inspiration from Japan.

“Does the cuisine have a name? All I know is that it will be heaps of fun and our guests will tell us what they think it is.”