Bentley Restaurant Group’s two-hat restaurant Watermans at Barangaroo has undergone significant changes less than a year after its launch in late 2025. Chef Darryl Martin left due to differing business perspectives and personal health issues affecting his wife, while the restaurant shifted from an eastern Mediterranean menu to modern Greek cuisine. The owners, Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt, view this change as a positive evolution aimed at enhancing Watermans' focus and quality.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Less than a year after its launch in Barangaroo, Watermans, a two-hat restaurant operated by the Bentley Restaurant Group, has lost its star executive chef, Darryl Martin. Martin's departure is attributed to both personal and professional reasons, including his wife's diagnosis of a neurological disorder and differing business perspectives with the group. The restaurant, initially known for its broadly eastern Mediterranean cuisine inspired by Martin’s previous Marrickville establishment, Barzaari, has now shifted towards modern Greek dining, as reflected in the updated website menu. With recent additions such as Ashe and Vespertine, the Bentley Restaurant Group aims to recalibrate its hospitality offerings, viewing this change at Watermans as a positive evolution leading to an elevated dining experience.
Written for “Restaurant Chef Departure” on 2026-10-09,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Less than a year after Bentley Restaurant Group launched Watermans at Barangaroo, the two-hat restaurant has lost its star executive chef and shifted away from its broadly eastern Mediterranean food brief.
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restaurant → launch → brief
Chef Darryl Martin cited diverging business perspectives and family health challenges as reasons behind his departure, while the Watermans website now references the restaurant as modern Greek dining, with a new menu to match.
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website → cite → menu
Gone are Martin’s signature eastern Med dishes that found voice at now-closed Marrickville restaurant Barzaari before the chef was plucked to front the high-profile Barangaroo start-up.
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chef → go → up
Martin said his decision to leave was due to a “combination of personal and professional considerations”, including his wife’s recent health issues, which resulted in the diagnosis of a neurological disorder.
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which → say → disorder
“This disorder has left my wife no longer able to work, drive or safely be left alone at times,” he said.
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he → leave → times
“This has put ... pressure on our financial stability, requiring me to look at additional revenue streams.
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This → put → streams
“That, combined with different perspectives on direction and vision at Watermans, which I truly respect, I felt the time was right for me to pursue a different path.
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me → combine → path
I have a great deal of respect for everyone involved and look back on my time there positively.”
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I → have → time
Bentley Restaurant Group owners Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt described the decision to change the menu as a natural move.
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Savage → describe → move
“There was already a heavy Greek influence on the menu, and moving to an all-Greek offering is not a huge change,” they said in a statement.
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they → be → statement
“We see this as a positive evolution, and believe the new menu will be more focused, more elevated and Watermans will be a better restaurant for it.
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Watermans → see → it
At the time of Watermans’ launch in late 2025, Savage and Hildebrandt signalled they were fans of Martin’s cooking at Barzaari.
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they → signal → Barzaari
Hildebrandt said the combination of Martin’s flavours with Savage’s finesse and plating had created some early kitchen alchemy.
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combination → say → alchemy
Savage and Hildebrandt are seasoned operators at Barangaroo, having previously operated the award-winning seafood restaurant Cirrus, just a few steps away from Watermans, from 2016 until their lease ran out in 2024.
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lease → operate → 2024
As Bentley Restaurant Group has grown – it recently added Ashe, a contemporary South-East Asian grill, and bar sibling Vespertine, both in Sydney’s CBD – to a group that includes Eleven Barrack, King Clarence and Watermans.
The duo has also been quick to recalibrate the hospitality group.
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duo → grow → group
In 2025, they sold the plant-based Yellow to the restaurant’s long-serving head chef, Sander Nooij, and his business partner.
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they → sell → chef
Later in the year, they closed Monopole restaurant and stepped away from Brasserie 1930 at Capella Sydney hotel.
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they → close → hotel
In August, Bentley Restaurant + Bar closed.
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Restaurant → close → August
The two described the new strategy as “pruning and preparing for growth” by focusing on restaurants they have full control over, and venues of a certain scale and size.
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they → describe → scale
As for Watermans, Martin said he was grateful for the opportunity and proud of what the venue achieved, “particularly earning two hats and being recognised among Australia’s Top 100 restaurants”.
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venue → say → restaurants
The chef said he was already working on consultancy projects and working towards “opportunities that won’t be considered until the new year”.
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that → say → year
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