WELCOME TO MONOPOLE
Monopole is a classic French restaurant with a contemporary flair, located in the heart of Sydney’s CBD. The refined space features velvet curtains, vintage wine fair posters and soft antique lighting. The wines, apéritifs, and digestifs are heavily French and the menu is brought to life through contemporary cooking techniques.
Expect vol-au-vent filled with sommerlad chicken, balmain bug and sweetcorn, to duck à l'orange with crisp skin and a delicate orange-scented glaze.
Unfussy and not bound to tradition, there is plenty to enjoy in this exciting package.
OPEN TUE TO FRI FOR LUNCH FROM 12 PM UNTIL 3 PM
OPEN TUES TO SAT FOR DINNER FROM 5 PM
20 CURTIN PLACE, SYDNEY, NSW, 2000
PH (02) 8080 9144
INFO@MONOPOLESYDNEY.COM.AU
Our Menus
Our Story
Monopole is a French term meaning ‘one wine, one vineyard, one producer’ – a monopoly.
Chef Brent Savage and sommelier Nick Hildebrandt, the hospitality duo behind some of Sydney’s best-known restaurants, opened Monopole Potts Point in December 2012. Following the success of Bentley, they wanted to experiment with a more casual wine bar concept, offering a compelling selection of wine and cocktails, matched with delicious, wine-friendly food. After 8 fantastic years in Potts Point, Nick and Brent announced Monopole would be re-locating to a new home in the heart of Sydney’s CBD in late 2020.
Co-owner and sommelier Hildebrandt said: “We’ve been wanting to move Monopole to the CBD for a while and were offered a great site that is ideally suited to the evolution of Monopole. When we first opened, we loved that locals would drop in regularly for a glass of wine and snacks. This is a big part of Monopole’s identity, which we look forward to introducing to the CBD.”
After many years of incorporating all things French through both the food and wine selection, Monopole became a French restaurant at the beginning of 2024. A new-look dining room, a menu of classic French dishes executed through the Bentley Restaurant Group lens, and an even greater focus on French wine, aperitifs and digestifs.
A highlight since day one is the wine list. Carefully compiled by Nick Hildebrandt, one of Australia’s most influential sommeliers, Monopole’s wine program includes more than 800 wines highlighting French wine producers. Many are rare or made in limited quantities and exclusive to Monopole. On any visit you’ll find more than 25 wines pouring by the glass, perfect if you’re keen to sample a few different wines. In its first year of opening, Monopole was awarded ‘Wine List of the Year’ in both The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide and Gourmet Traveller’s Australian Restaurant Guide, and has gone on to win many awards since.
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2024
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2025 – 2 Hats
Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards – Three Wine Glasses
Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards – Best Wine List in New South Wales
Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards – Best Wine Bar List in Australia (The Fiona MacDonald Award)
2023
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide - 2 Hats
2022
Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards - Wine Bar of the Year
Inclusion in the Delicious 100
“Hildebrandt’s exuberant wine list encompasses hundreds of rare and cult drops – particularly French and Australian labels – including 30-plus a day by the glass or carafe”.
2020
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2020 - 2 Hats
Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant Guide – 3 Wine Glasses, Top 100 (#46)
Delicious Top 100. (#51)
2019
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2019 – 2 Hats
“A wine-fuelled magnet for date-nighters, terroir lovers and Potts Points sophisticates”
Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant Guide – 2 Stars, 3 Wine Glasses, Top 100 (#42)
2018
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2018 – 2 Hats
“Perennially buzzing bar and restaurant for terroir-championing wines and civilised good times”
Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant Guide – 2 Stars, 3 Wine Glasses, Top 100 (#46)
2017
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2017 – 2 Hats
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2017 – ‘Wine List of the Year’ Award
Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant Guide – 2 Stars, 3 Wine Glasses, Top 100 (#46)
2016
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2016 – 1 Hat
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2016 – ‘Best Bar’ Award
Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant Guide – 2 Stars, 3 Wine Glasses, Top 100 (#52)
One of Sydney’s Top 50 Bars 2016 – Good Food
2015
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2015 – ‘Chef of the Year’ Brent Savage
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2015 – 1 Hat
Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide – ‘Sommelier of the Year’ Nick Hildebrandt
Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide – 1 star, 3 Wine Glasses
Australian Gourmet Traveller Top 100 (#57)
Australia’s Top 25 Bars 2015 (Good Food)
2014
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2014 – 1 Hat
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2014 – Wine List of the Year
Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2014 – Finalist, Best New Restaurant
Australian Gourmet Traveller – Wine List of the Year
Australian Gourmet Traveller – Top 100 (51)
Australia’s Wine List of the Year – 3-Glass Rating (Very Highly Recommended)
Time Out Sydney Bar – Winner ‘Best Wine Bar’; Highly Commended ‘Best Fit Out’
2013
Belle Coco Republic Interior Design – Best Hospitality (Pascale Gomes-McNabb)