Halifax Street will soon welcome a new restaurant from an Adelaide hospitality dream team: Quentin Whittle and Paul Tripodi from Stone's Throw, and Peel Street's Ben McLeod.

Something of an Adelaide hospo supergroup is set to takeover 72 Halifax Street, as chef Quentin Whittle, venue manager Paul Tripodi, both formerly of Stone’s Throw, and Ben McLeod from Peel St, bring Herringbone to the CBD outskirts locale.

Slated for opening in early September, the 80-ish-seat eatery will thematically riff on its sartorial namesake, and be a weaving together of “people, culture, food, warmth, hospitality, community – all in one spot, one restaurant,” says Quentin.

“We don’t have a fixed address of what we’re going to cook, [but] it’s always going to be delivered with a good ethos. We’re always going to stick to all those core fundamentals that people know us for already – seasonal, sourcing ethically, sustainably.

“In terms of the food concept, we’re going to listen to who’s out there on the street, and really listen to them and make sure we look after them, and then go from there.”

This customer-first approach will influence the menu, with focus on catering to the residential and professional clientele around them.

“Quentin’s food is the sort of food you can come back for a couple of times a week,” Ben says.

“I think there’s a market for a place that’s return visits, good food, good hospitality, had a good time when you were there. A venue where you walk out and you go ‘That was damn good, let’s go back soon.’”

The group is firm though, Herringbone will not be an amalgamation of the venues in the trio’s history, but a blending of their individual talents into something entirely new.

“It will work differently to what we had in the past, but all of those ideas and what we brought to those venues, how we made them strong, we’ll do here as its own thing,” Paul says.

The collaboration has built up from a friendship that started 10 years ago, when Quentin and Ben worked in neighbouring Kardachi venues, The Melting Pot and Melt in Hyde Park. The two became friends, with Quentin occasionally popping up in the kitchen at Ben’s following venture, Aquacaf, and Ben frequenting Quentin’s Colonel Light café, The Stranded Store.

The precedent of a great working relationship was set, and as the discussions continued over the years, a partnership simply became a matter of timing.

Quentin and Paul’s tenure at Stone’s Throw came to an end, the former Panacea site came onto the market, and Ben pitched the idea.

For Quentin, the project is about more than a change of scenery; opening Herringbone means achieving the ultimate goal many chefs share – particularly those who have come up through the café scene and operated as part of a larger restaurant group. It is gaining complete control of a concept, from tables and chairs to the plated produce, and is essentially a transition from chef to restaurateur.

“Even the whole time while I was at Stone’s Throw, I was still 100 per cent dedicated to that role, but you’re always thinking and looking, because that’s your dream,” he says.

“If you’ve got that in you, that’s where you want to be, you can’t ever be anywhere else, pretty much.”

Herringbone is set to open early September, with many of the finer details still yet to be ironed out (Ben suggests trade will likely be five days for lunch and dinner). Stay tuned to their social media for updates.