Chippendale’s A1 Canteen Is Closing

The all-day Sydney eatery popularised the “king of sandwiches”, the muffuletta, and made us fall in love with curried scramble eggs.

Head chef of Chippendale all-day diner A1 Canteen, Clayton Wells, has today confirmed the eatery will close on October 9. Wells took to Instagram to talk about the closure, citing the fallout from Covid-19 as the main reason.

“It goes without saying that this year has been challenging for everyone in our industry,” he wrote. “Due to our current lease being up for renewal and the ongoing impact from Covid-19, we as a business are simply unable to justify extending our lease in such a volatile climate for cafes and restaurants.”

Wells says that while the decision to close the diner was a difficult one, it will “create space for new iterations and exciting projects when the climate is right. Part of running a restaurant is adapting to change, and we’ll be using this time to really focus on our diners at Automata and new experiences to come.”

A1 Canteen opened in June 2018, bringing an elevated cafe-style dining experience to Chippendale. It became an Instagram hit early on with its muffuletta sandwich, an Italian-style New Orleans staple that takes two days to build. The menu is packed with other freshly conceived classics such as silky scrambled eggs with a dash of curry powder, served with sausages from LP’s Quality Meats, and an array of salads and sandwiches that, despite the venue’s name, were far superior to any you’d find at a school canteen.

Wells has confirmed that Automata is still going strong, as it celebrates its fifth birthday this week.