LuMi

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

Seasons, stories, and small lights

Lumi — Italian for small lights — gives this Pyrmont restaurant both its name and its guiding spirit. Since opening in September 2014, LuMi has occupied a glass-fronted room atop Wharf 10 on Pirrama Road, its walls framing a sweep of Sydney Harbour and the glittering city skyline beyond. The setting is minimal yet warm: pendant lights draw the eye toward the open kitchen, where a parade of chefs turns cooking into quiet theatre.

The philosophy behind the food

Chef Federico Zanellato shapes every plate around a single, clearly stated conviction: "We cook with an Italian heart and with a Japanese mind." His formative years across Italy, Japan, and kitchens worldwide produced a cuisine that is neither fusion nor novelty — it is a disciplined, imaginative dialogue between two culinary traditions. The result is modern Italian-Japanese food driven by seasonality and, above all, by flavour: textural, layered, surprising yet grounded.

That approach has attracted serious recognition. LuMi holds two Chef's Hats from the SMH Good Food Guide, was named Gambero Rosso's Best Italian Restaurant in the World in 2019 — the same guide that awards the restaurant its current three-fork rating — and has appeared in The World's 50 Best Discovery list. Zanellato was also named Citi Chef of the Year by the Good Food Guide in 2017.

Two ways to experience the menu

The kitchen offers two tasting formats. The Tasting Menu ($265 per person) moves through multiple courses of seasonal ingredients in unexpected combinations. The Omakase Menu ($350 per person) gives Zanellato fuller creative latitude: intricate, bold, and constantly evolving. A complete vegetarian menu is available, and most dietary requirements can be accommodated when noted at booking.

The beverage program is as considered as the food. The wine list leans on Italian heritage while ranging across the world, and sake, umeshu, and signature cocktails reflect the same philosophy of harmony. Wine pairing is $195; sake pairing $150.

The atmosphere

Evenings at LuMi are unhurried. Service is warm and thoughtful, conversation moves easily, and the harbour reflections shift through the glass walls as the night deepens. It is the kind of place where the meal and the setting reinforce each other — precise Japanese-influenced technique on the plate, and a room that glows with something genuinely intimate.