Esca Group Opens 115-Seat Nikkei Restaurant Amé on Oxford Street

Esca Group will open Amé, a 115-seat Nikkei restaurant, at 90 Oxford Street in Darlinghurst this Thursday. The project has taken five years to reach the floor.

The venue sits on the ground floor of a heritage-listed building within the Oxford & Foley precinct, which now also holds Mecca Coffee and Aenza. Soho House is set to open next door in 2028.

Executive Chef Erik Ortolani leads the kitchen. He already runs the kitchens at Esca's Japanese-Italian restaurant Itō and Japanese rooftop bar Jōji. Before designing the menu, Ortolani traveled to Peru, working through markets, cevicherías, tabernas and leading restaurants to study the cuisine at its source.

What is on the menu?

The menu pairs Peruvian flavor with Japanese technique, built around Australian seafood and produce. Dishes announced for opening include:

• Tuna nigiri acevichado, a Peruvian-inspired nigiri
• Spanner crab causa croquette, a Japanese korokke blended with a Peruvian causa
• Arroz con pato, Peru's duck rice prepared as an okoge in a cast iron pan with ginger dashi and aji ponzu
• Murray cod with inaka miso and spring peas
• Dark chocolate and lucuma mousse
• Citrus financier with yuzu curd and passionfruit granita

Ortolani frames the fusion as a matter of balance. "What interests me about Nikkei is the way these two distinct cuisines come together, and the balance between the precision of Japanese food and the boldness of Peruvian cooking," he said.

He added: "At Amé, I've taken that foundation and worked with the exceptional seafood and produce we have here in Australia to create something that feels true to both influences."

Who is behind the concept?

Ibby Moubadder, co-founder and creative director of Esca Group, calls Amé the group's most ambitious project to date. "Nikkei is still incredibly underrepresented in Australia, and we're excited to interpret it through a Sydney lens on one of Oxford Street's most renowned corners," Moubadder said.

He also positioned the opening as part of the street's broader story: "Amé is a venue and an experience that we hope will contribute to the next chapter of a street that has played such an important part of Sydney's story."

Architect Matt Darwon, a longtime Esca collaborator, designed the space. It carries nods to the group's wider portfolio, including timber tables with chrome accents and kimono-inspired uniforms.

The beverage program sits with Jerom Morris, previously of Gwen by Curtis Stone in Los Angeles and Accomplice Bar. Cocktails draw on staple ingredients from Japan and Peru, and include the Spice Crown, a curried pineapple daiquiri; the Aji Canopy, capsicum-infused Beefeater with gentian, Cocchi Americano and elderflower; and The Pink Rabbit, a strawberry milk punch with gin and Chartreuse, finished with freshly charged shishito.

When can diners go?

Opening hours are limited at launch. Amé will serve dinner only on Mondays and Tuesdays, from 5.30pm to 9pm. Wednesday to Sunday it adds lunch, running 12pm to 2.30pm, with dinner again from 5.30pm to 9pm.

Nikkei cuisine traces to 1899, when Japanese migrants settled in Peru and adapted their cooking to local ingredients. Esca is betting that a 126-year-old culinary tradition, still rare in Australia, can anchor its most ambitious venue on one of Sydney's most prominent corners.