Glass Brasserie

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Lively Brasserie at the Heart of George Street

On Level 2 of 488 George Street, Glass Brasserie looks out over the Queen Victoria Building and brings a distinctly convivial energy to the Sydney CBD. The room operates as both a full-service restaurant and a wine bar — the latter open for walk-ins throughout the week — making it equally suited to a working lunch, a leisurely dinner, or simply a glass poured from one of the city's most impressive collections.

The Kitchen, Led by Natalie Murphy

Head Chef Natalie Murphy's story is inseparable from Glass Brasserie itself. She joined the kitchen at 19 and spent a decade honing her craft here before stepping into the lead role. Her philosophy is straightforward: source the best local and seasonal produce, then prepare it with enough restraint to let the ingredients speak. Each week she visits local markets personally to select what will drive the ever-changing menu. The result is Australian contemporary cooking built on share-style plates — food designed, in her own words, to create "opportunities for cherished memories and deeper connections."

Sustainability is woven into daily operations. The restaurant maintains its own beehive, with honey and honeycomb from the hive contributing directly to the menu — a small but telling detail about how seriously the team takes its connection to what it serves.

A Wine Collection Two Decades in the Making

The floor-to-ceiling wine wall — housing over 3,500 carefully curated bottles — is one of the most striking features of the dining room. Behind it stands Head Sommelier Mauro Bortolato, originally from a family with small vineyards in the Italian countryside, who has been at Glass since 2005 and has spent decades travelling through France, Spain, Italy, California and Australia in pursuit of exceptional drops. That depth of expertise earned Glass Brasserie the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence in 2022, a recognition that reflects not just the breadth of the list but the knowledge required to build and maintain it.

The Room and the Team

Restaurant Manager Andrea Brandi, who grew up immersed in Italian hospitality in San Benedetto del Tronto before moving to Australia in 2014, oversees the floor with the kind of attentive, unfussy service that lets the food and wine take centre stage. The Mediterranean sensibility that both Brandi and Bortolato bring sits comfortably alongside Murphy's produce-driven Australian contemporary cooking — a combination that gives Glass Brasserie its particular character among Sydney's fine dining options.