Automata

Automata is a fine dining restaurant at 5 Kensington Street in Chippendale, Sydney, New South Wales — part of the Old Clare Hotel precinct, a hospitality development that transformed a former brewery building into one of the city's most architecturally distinctive dining destinations. The restaurant is the work of chef Clayton Wells, a cook whose training lineage includes the kitchens of Tetsuya's in Sydney and Quay, as well as time abroad at Noma in Copenhagen — a background that informs the kitchen's precision without defining its character.

Automata's approach is ingredient-led and emphatically contemporary Australian: the set menu format rotates with the seasons and the supply of what wells and his team believe is performing best on any given week. The kitchen does not pursue novelty for its own sake — the food reads as confident and restrained, with dishes that have been edited down to their essential elements rather than built up with unnecessary garnishes. Bread and cultured butter, both made in-house, signal the kitchen's intentions from the first course.

The set menu, priced at AUD $145 per person, runs across multiple courses and represents the only way to dine here — there is no abbreviated à la carte option. A thoughtfully curated wine list, assembled by a team that clearly enjoys the process, covers Australian natural producers alongside selections from France, Italy, and beyond. The wine pairing option is available for those who prefer to leave the matching to the room.

The dining room is industrial in its bones — exposed concrete, steel, and timber — but warmed by considered lighting and a relaxed service culture that avoids the stiffness sometimes associated with tasting-menu restaurants at this price point. The room holds a relatively small number of covers, which keeps noise levels manageable and allows the kitchen to maintain focus. Bookings are recommended and typically needed several days to a week in advance.