Luke Papalia will take charge of the kitchen at Baptiste in Redfern, where rotisserie chicken, steak frites and French bistro cooking will anchor an all-day menu
Luke Papalia is moving from Olympus to lead Baptiste, a new 80-seat French bistro opening in Redfern this November.
The move gives Luke a different kitchen brief within the same Wunderlich Lane precinct, with Baptiste built around classic French bistro cooking and an all-day service running from 7am until late.
Luke, who has also worked at Pilu at Freshwater and Norma’s Deli, will lead a menu with rotisserie chicken at its centre, alongside butcher’s cut steak frites, poached marron and tuna steak au poivre.
Rotisserie at the centre of the kitchen
Baptiste is not looking to reinvent French bistro food.
Instead, the menu will lean into recognisable dishes, with the rotisserie forming one of the focal points of the kitchen.
Alongside the chicken and larger plates will be fresh goat’s cheese with chive oil and herbs, onion and olive tart, ham and cornichons, and Niçoise, Caesar and Lyonnaise salads.
A dedicated oyster station at the bar will add another element to the operation, serving fresh oysters alongside crudités and house-made tuna conserves.
The brief is French bistro cooking with a lighter touch, with classics carrying through to desserts including crème caramel, profiteroles and rum baba.
Apollo Group co-founder Jonathan Barthelmess said the idea was to create a restaurant that people in the surrounding neighbourhood could use regularly.
“We wanted to create the kind of place we wanted in the neighbourhood, so we built it,” Jonathan said.
An all-day brief for the kitchen
One of the more interesting parts of Baptiste is the breadth of its trading day.
The restaurant will open seven days a week from 7am until late, moving from morning coffee into lunch, afternoon oysters, dinner and late-night dining.
It means Baptiste has been conceived differently from a restaurant operating predominantly around lunch and dinner services, with the food needing to work across multiple parts of the day.
The oyster station and bar offering give the restaurant room for shorter visits, while the rotisserie and larger bistro dishes provide the backbone for a full meal.
A new entrance directly from Baptist Street and pavement seating are also intended to make Baptiste feel connected to Redfern rather than operate simply as a restaurant within The EVE Hotel.
Three different kitchens in Redfern
Baptiste will become the third venue from the group around the Wunderlich Lane precinct.
Luke moves across from Olympus, while Fredy Lim will lead Tenjo, the new rooftop izakaya opening at The EVE Hotel in November.
The three restaurants bring three different kitchen identities to the precinct: Greek cooking at Olympus, Japanese cooking at Tenjo and French bistro food at Baptiste.
For Luke, Baptiste represents the next of those kitchens to take shape, with the rotisserie, oysters and familiar French dishes forming the foundations of the menu.
Baptiste will open at The EVE Hotel, 8 Baptist Street, Redfern, in November 2026. An exact opening date is yet to be announced.
