Amuro’s regulars have been asking for a venue like Aenza. Somewhere led by owner and chef Joy Liu, with the same considered, personal approach to hospitality – but with wine. This winter, they get it. “[We’ve had the] plan for over a year,” Liu says, of the soon-to-open Japanese wine bar in Darlinghurst. “At Amuro, we had pretty good feedback – we were overwhelmed with the love of our customers. But we are quite restricted by the size of the place … Amuro is tiny,
and we’re trying to create a big enough saké list so we really can’t have wine. That’s not very practical – I have no storage, no coolroom, no nothing … there’s so many things we want to do but we couldn’t.” One of those things is wine. “We always got this question: ‘Do you serve any wine?’ And not only local wine, ‘Do you have any Japanese wine?’ even.” When Aenza opens – with Amuro’s venue manager Aki Ueda on board, too – it’ll be
wine aplenty. An 80-bottle wine list will join the boutique offering of saké and other Japanese spirits, in a 50-seater space in the new Oxford & Foley development. Conveniently, the sibling venues are just a one-minute walk apart – so you could start your night with Amuro’s new saké flight before dining at Aenza. Menu specifics are still being sorted out, but expect a longer list of izakaya staples like Japanese fried chicken. “This one’s going to be different. Karaage is something you can find
everywhere, but every shop does it differently. This one will have a dry sweet-and-sour five-spice dusted on the skin. And the batter will be in between tempura and the traditional karaage.” Woks will be hot and the house sashimi will include both Aussie and Japanese seafood. “[Aenza] will be more Japanese-influenced rather than authentic Japanese – and it will have a little bit of an Australian twist.” Aenza is a made-up word, combining “en” (harmony or connection in Japanese) and “za” (which means seat, and
is often used in theatre names). The capital-A at the start ties the venues together. “The idea is we bring people together with food, and then our customer can come and enjoy the show,” says Liu. “Almost like you’re going to a movie or the theatre. It’s all about experience.” That translates to the row of bar seats overlooking the long open kitchen. “It just really brings back of house to the front of stage … That’s what I’m really trying to do. Right now,
you go to the restaurant and you don’t really see the chefs. You don’t have the opportunity to talk with them, and they you don’t know how the food is presented. You know, at Aenza and Amuro, we have no secrets – everything is right in front of your face. But it’s not high-end omakase – we are a more casual set-up. I really want to put my chefs and my team under the spotlight, and give them the credit.” Aenza is slated to open
at Shop 7, 90 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, in July 2026. @aenza.au
Aenza, Amuro, Japanese wine bar, Darlinghurst, Oxford Street, July 2026, saké, karaage, sashimi, Oxford & Foley, Joy Liu, Aki Ueda