EAST

Inner East

10 William St

ITALIAN 15/20 Late-night natural-wine clubhouse

This chic hole-in-the-wall is often full with drinks nerds sniffing rarities from their heroes of the natural-wine world: Jean-Francois Ganevat, Sami-Odi, Paolo Bea – all the hits are here and a charming service team lead by Jasmin Natterer can help navigate the daily-changing pours by the glass. You can now book a table in advance (huzzah!) and new chef Francesco Ruggiero has stuck to 10 Bill’s seasonally-driven, wine-friendly brief. Spindly spaghetti chitarra is rich with lamb ragu slowcooked until it becomes more round and smooth than a Koons balloon sculpture; zucchini flowers are lightly fried and covered in a blizzard of parmigiano. There’s focaccia, there’s salumi, but the sleeper hit is a light and delicate farinata pancake, draped with anchovies and piled high with mascarpone and herbs. Fold each quarter like a floppy pizza and order another glass of something orange and alive. 10 William Street, Paddington, 10williamst.com.au

L Fri-Sat D Mon-Sat $$

Alberto’s Lounge

ITALIAN 15.5/20 Sydney’s favourite back-alley tratt

Now here’s all the ingredients for a good time. Warm wood, tiny tables and a quaint vibe, with alley-side views featuring a striking monochromatic mural by artist Allie Webb. Since moving up the ranks to head chef, the talented Elizabeth Mitchell has put together a menu that’s robust, genuine and easy to love. Like crisp, spiced cotechino sausage for instance, luscious and textural, classically paired with braised puy lentils. Or the excellent house-made pasta – dramatic linguine al nero comes tossed with a generous jumble of king prawns, tomato and rich saffron butter. Rustic dishes such as smoky, charred quail, served atop soft polenta and grilled grapes signal a deft hand on the grill section and will have you reaching for the wine list, eclectic and captivating for its size. Barolo or Barbaresco? New-wave Sicily or Friuli? Amaro and zeppole doughnuts to finish? Sì. What’s not to love? 17-19 Alberta Street, Surry Hills, swillhouse.com

L Thu-Sun D daily $$ Above: Alberto’s Lounge. Below: farinata pancake with anchovy at 10 William St.

GREEK 15/20 Creativity meets Greek tradition in industrial-chic surrounds

There’s something very appealing about a busy restaurant full of happy staff. Maybe it’s because they’re clad all in Mykonos-white that there’s such a relaxed (but still on-message) vibe. On the menu, perennial stars continue to please: real-deal taramasalata, fluffy pita, and incredible baked lamb shoulder with lemon and Greek yoghurt. Then there’s the snap peas under grated almonds and fresh horseradish, and highly satisfying swordfish marinated in koji, cooked over charcoal to a perfect blush and finished with coriander and cumin. Okra is sweet, earthy and tender, enhanced with cherry tomatoes, hazelnuts, pepper and chilli. Spanakorizo is simply al dente rice reinforced with spinach, tomato and crisp sage, and for sweets, avgolemono pie is like a deconstructed lemon-meringue only better, with a crunchy crumble. A versatile wine list completes the easy charm at this modern classic. 44 Macleay Street, Potts Point, theapollo.com.au L Fri-Sun D daily $$

Arthur

CONTEMPORARY 15/20 Stylish corner for a set menu

Tristan Rosier sure serves some good-looking food over five courses at this quietly stunning little restaurant that’s all marble, leather, warm-lighting and radiant timber. Check the chickpea miso tart, with tiny balls of bright-orange pumpkin sitting pretty in an impossibly crisp shell. Or the knotted croissantchannelling wholemeal sourdough, asking to be spread with cultured butter and shiny pearls of trout roe. Fleet-footed staff replace bespoke cutlery between courses and recommend wine pairings from an all-domestic list. A skin contact arneis for grilled Moreton Bay bug brushed with carrot juice and humming with (slightly too much) bergamot, perhaps, and David Franz shiraz for the submissive beef-onbeef surprise of muntrie-sharpened short rib covered by thin-sliced wagyu and fresh horseradish. A tiny apple cake with chestnut cream might end the night: practically tailor-made for caskstrength Tasmanian whisky. The next generation of Modern Australian. 544 Bourke Street, Surry Hills, arthurrestaurant.com

L Fri-Sun D Wed-Sun $$$

Bar Grazie

ITALIAN Wine-lined upscale trattoria

With its wood-panelled and semi-subterranean space lined with (mostly Italian) bottles, Bar Grazie channels all our favourite Italian restaurant experiences into one. This is Barry McDonald’s 19th venue and the serial restaurateur has enlisted Jarrard Martin to rattle the pans. Vitello tonnato is true to its Piedmontese roots, the finely sliced veal coated with tuna mayonnaise and capers, nicely balanced with acidity. Heirloom tomatoes populate the Caprese salad; floppy, ridged tubes of rigatoni come with tomatoey lamb ragu and an 800-gram bistecca alla Fiorentina ticks a lot of boxes. This is the kind of Italian comfort food that brings people closer, greasing the wheels of business and appealing to couples on date nights alike. Cocktails are carefully curated as a bonus, and yes, everyone finishes on tiramisu. 21 Elizabeth Bay Road, Elizabeth Bay, bargrazie.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Tue-Sun $$

EUROPEAN 15/20 A destination-worthy neighbourhood haunt sweating the small stuff

Bar Vincent only opened in 2019, but so much about it is old-school: menus are handwritten, bookings are only taken by phone. The low-lit space evokes the pared-back elegance of a Tuscan farmhouse, with its tiles and arches. Handmade pastas, always a highlight, bow largely to Italian tradition. What comes off as novel, however, is the generosity and hospitality – the knowing waitstaff, complimentary house-baked bread, a long list of daily specials and how the kitchen kindly splits a pasta (maltagliati with rabbit, say) if you’re sharing. Owner-chef Andy Logue’s devotion to straightforward flavours is refreshing. A humble salad of roasted carrots, salt-baked golden beetroot and radicchio, for example, or butterflied King George whiting stuffed with currants, olives and breadcrumbs: both almost revelatory in their directness. Perhaps Leonardo Da Vinci put it best – simplicity really is “the ultimate sophistication”. 174 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, barvincent.com.au

L Wed-Fri D Tue-Sat $$ Above left: Arthur ownerchef Tristan Rosier. Below: handmade pasta is a highlight at Bar Vincent.

ITALIAN 15/20 Italian love child that brings together the best of old and new

Team Porteno seems intent on taking over Holt Street one shop at a time, with the inner-city destination featuring no less than four of the group’s venues catering for all designations of diners. Bastardo melds into that medley very well indeed. The old pasta machine and mint-green terrazzo tables give a good sense of what’s in store: this is vintage Italian, yet with a confidence and ease that’s very now. Eggplant parmigiana appeals with its simplicity, layered as it is with generous helpings of parmesan and basil before being baked in the big deck oven in the group’s Humble Bakery next door. Creamy buffalo mozzarella is nicely balanced by radicchio, persimmon and white balsamic, while prawns served with house-made paccheri (like plus-sized rigatoni), cherry tomatoes and a rich bisque is the kind of dish you’d want on offer in any neighbourhood. 50 Holt Street, Surry Hills, bastardosydney.com L Fri D Tues-Sat $$

Bibo Wine Bar

MEDITERRANEAN A pairing of Portuguese-inspired shared plates and supreme wine

Bibo’s long central fixture – part bar, part communal bench – is an inviting place to perch while politely coveting your neighbour’s choices. That smoked-mackerel pâté looks a treat, and we’ll have one of those flambe chorizos, too. The dark, cosy room also encourages a deep dive through a chic and dependable wine list – bright and light gamay with creamy salt-cod fritters, perhaps. Assured and seasonal share-plates lean toward Portugal but flirt a little with France, such as unctuous braised cabbage bearing a fall-apart beef cheek. A side of roast kipfler spuds with comte mousse should not be missed. It’s the wine service and punchy snacks, including sardines with molho verde, that we return for though, not to mention a gold-standard Portuguese tart. At either bar or table, Bibo extends a warm-hearted embrace. 7 Bay Street, Double Bay, bibowinebar.com.au

Right: eggplant parmigiana at Bastardo. L Sat D Mon-Sat $$

bills

CONTEMPORARY All-day diner with a brunchy bent

Bill Granger’s latest sunny cafe suits Double Bay like avocado on rye. With a mid-century aesthetic and wholefoods approach, bills blends seamlessly with the gleaming eastern suburbs fold, in a neighbourhood steadily gaining traction among Sydney foodies. The menu makes good on its brunch-based fame with Single Origin coffee, cloudlike hotcakes crowned with discs of honeycomb butter, Bloody Marys laced with citrus and Korean chilli and a juicy prawn burger zippy with lemongrass. Pull up a rattan chair, or melt into a caramel banquette, and wash down one of those famous edamame-sporting chopped salads with a glass of bright McLaren Vale rosé (it’s all about balance, right?). Seafood-lovers are catered for with fresh-as-fresh kingfish crudo and grilled lobster radiant with ginger and turmeric on the dinner menu. 16 Cross Street, Double Bay, bills. com.au/double-bay B L D daily $$

Bistro Fitz

CONTEMPORARY Schnitzel-free pub dining with hits from the ’70s, ’80s and today

While the ground level of The Old Fitz hotel is a controlled ruckus of locals and Resch’s, the upstairs bistro feels like a cross between a members’ club and your nan’s front room. There are chandeliers and jazz; there are cabernet-red walls covered in landscape prints that might have come from the Salvos. There is also chef Toby Stansfield’s cross-continental menu, leaning into dinner-party hits of the past few decades. Diane sauce swamps a clean-flavoured steak with terrific kombu-salted chips, while toasted brioche ferries mayonnaise and confit roast chicken with intimate knowledge of duck fat. Meanwhile, a medley of mussels, octopus, ancho chilli oil and black garlic is intensely rich – best spoon it on a baguette from Paddington’s Organic Bread Bar. Cap it off with creamy dulce de leche crepe cake, and journey back downstairs for a beer or natural wine. 129 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo, oddculture.group L Fri-Sun D daily $$

Bistro Moncur

FRENCH Neighbourhood favourite with classic French flavour

Three decades. Is that three centuries in hospitality years? Whatever the maths, Bistro Moncur shows few signs of age. The black-and-white figures in the wall-length mural remain animated; the arched timber ceiling is the essence of contemporary chic. And if not for the occasional noise blast from next door, you’d barely realise this is essentially an upscale pub bistro with locals-focused service. The Moncur (or mon coeur) heart on your wine glass and long-time menu staples – sauvignon blanc-marinated salmon, French onion souffle gratin, duck cassoulet, Cafe de Paris sirloin – hark back to its origins. The souffle is steamy and creamy, the cassoulet bean-and-sausage chunky. A porkchop special boasts a classic cabbage roll and pear tarte tatin is buttery crisp. With new chef Tom Deadman taking the reins in September, let’s raise a glass of NV Bollinger to the next 30 years. 116A Queen Street, Woollahra, bistromoncur.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Bistro Rex

FRENCH Ticking all the right bistro boxes

“A sophisticated Sydney take on a Parisian bistro”, as Rex’s website proclaims, can stir up thoughts of pompous dining, but that’s certainly not the case at this favourite. The usual French suspects are here – beef tartare, steak frites and a mixed leaf salad dressed with house-made tarragon vinegar – and all given proper treatment and respect. Cheese souffle is naturally twice-baked for good measure and a mandatory order with its soothing, cheesy jiggle. The kitchen’s adventurous foray into charcoal-grilled coral trout doused in decadent lobster butter is an umamithumping triumph, and you’ll be well looked after by staff who are chirpy, knowledgeable and glide around the floor with ease. There’s a tidy list of French wines, there’s a creme caramel – what more do you need? How about regular nose-to-tail specials that might feature a whole suckling pig shoulder to share? Yep, that’ll do just nicely. Shop 1, 50-58 Macleay Street, Potts Point, bistrorex.com.au L Thu-Sun D daily $$

FRENCH 15.5/20 Parisian vibes in Potts Point

This small bistro is so Frenchy, they brush the crumbs from the papertopped tables after each course. A co-production of chefs Dan Pepperell and Michael Clift with sommelier Andy Tyson, Bistrot 916 is a place of flickering candles, dark walls, a bottle-lined bar, streetside tables and high-personality waitstaff. The food is high on personality too, with oysters piled over ice, excellent charcuterie and a variety of dishes that come with frites – steak, of course, which could be an on-the-bone sirloin, sliced into fingers, but also duck, fish, lobster and even mushrooms, teamed with skinny, golden fries that taste deliciously of Savoury Shapes. It’s cheeky, too: “vol-au-vent” of escargot and boudin noir comes in little ceramic pots, not pastry shells, and white-chocolate mousse spills out of a coffee cup to finish. A bistro here to have a good time, all the time. 22 Challis Avenue, Potts Point, bistrot916.com

L Fri-Sun D daily $$ Left: dulce de leche crepe cake at Bistro Fitz. Below: duck frites at Bistrot 916.

CONTEMPORARY Luxe and breezy all-day dining by the bay

JAPANESE Casual noodle shop with a dash of wine-bar cool

Sydneysiders are spoilt for prime fishand-chip spots, but the latest outpost of The Boathouse – where sunbeams bounce off glittering superyachts and seagulls squawk as paddleboarders drift by – could be one of the best. The light-bathed dining room is almost a little too heavy on maritime decor – all radiant blues, white timber, crab pots and conch shells – but attentive service and cocktails certainly have a soothing effect. Beyond battered Murray cod and a lamb shoulder to share, there’s plump charred prawns slick with chilli oil and sobrasada, and crunchy toast laden with creamy spanner crab and chives. Pearly toothfish in a mussel, shiitake and fish-bone broth, and bug linguine with fat pipis and generous daubs of caviar, are outshone only by a bombe Alaska with passionfruit parfait (and that view!). Feeling more casual? A waterside table at the cafekiosk downstairs is hot property. 594 New South Head Road, Rose Bay, theboathouserosebay.com.au L D daily $$ Exposed-brick walls and sleek timber counters mean this holein-the-wall from the team behind nearby Farmhouse looks more like a date-night wine bar than a place encouraging audible slurping. Indeed, there are a few wines (all Australian, all natural) to cut through umamipowered ramen options such as a tori paitan where jammy egg and roast tomatoes are bolstered by the power of chook bones cooked for 16 hours. Snacks hit the table at a lightning pace: rice-bran-fermented pickled vegetables, curly nuggets of karaage chicken, and prawn “toast” featuring a whole jumbo king smothered in shellfish mousse and breadcrumbs and fried. The noodle line-up changes with the seasons, but recent highlights have included a shoyu pork ramen layered with flavour thanks to house-aged tare, and a white soy pipi number rich with kombu and shiitake. Slurping at its sexiest. Shop 4, 51-57 BayswaterRoad, Potts Point, bonesramen.com.au L D daily $ Below: bowl of goodness at Bones Ramen. Bottom: The Boathouse Rose Bay.

ITALIAN 15/20 Old faves alongside new dishes inspired by chef’s nonna

Armando Percuoco may have left the building, but you can still buy a bottle of his olive oil and experience many of the former owner’s recipes. Indeed, there may be a riot among the locals – who use the old-world dining room as a clubhouse – if that signature fettuccine al tartufovo ever went. Bypass the truffled egg and cream though, and consider chef David Wright’s more recent dishes such as a soul-reviving soup of chicken, nettles and bread dumplings inspired by his Sicilian nonna. Negronis are appropriately bitter and orders are swiftly taken by one of the most assured service teams in town. Pinkhued lamb rump is beautifully accompanied by seasonal vegetables braised in lamb jus, while juicy Roman-style porchetta bursts with rosemary and fennel. Buon Ricordo may be built on tradition, but there’s nothing fusty about its flavours. 108 Boundary Street, Paddington, buonricordo.com.au

L Fri-Sat D Tue-Sat $$

Catalina

CONTEMPORARY 15/20 A harbourside staple for shiny, happy people

The harbour waters sparkle as brightly as the smiles in Catalina, where an ebullient crowd drinks in the views, dines on quality seafood and tackles the mighty wine list. With its squillion-dollar position on the waterfront, this family-owned Sydney favourite has been host to countless good times over its 28 years. And

why not? The menu reflects Catalina’s joie de vivre, with dishes artfully plated to compete with the views. From an intensely briny king prawn and John dory bouillabaisse to a bittersweet symphony of caramelised fig, bitter-caramel mousse, brik pastry and pistachio ice-cream, the tight kitchen team has this finedining thing down pat. The frenetic churn of a Sunday service can take the shine off proceedings so come for a midweek lunch of crumpets topped with hand-picked mud crab and fermented chilli dressing instead, and expect to stay for sundowners. Lyne Park, Rose Bay, catalinarosebay.com.au L D daily $$$

Chaco Bar

JAPANESE 15/20 A coal-fired blast of Ginza-style yakitori magic

Chaco sure throws some curveballs. Yes, there are skewers of deboned, spiced chicken wings or sweet pork belly sizzling over the coals, but you can also go for scarlet-pink split king prawns dripping with lobster butter, crunchy potato crisps on the side. Owner-chef Keita Abe, also the force behind Chaco Ramen and Haco Tempura, keeps things moody and theatrical in this horseshoeshaped dining room, whether you’re at a smoky front counter facing the robata chefs, or a long communal table. Bonus points for a dish of elegantly pale, cold somen noodles and fat, sweet Hokkaido scallops, sinuously curved within an ornate china bowl. After eating your body weight of chicken-on-a-stick, it’s a more refreshing finale than even a cooling dessert of ume and coconut sorbet. But nobody says you can’t have both. 186-188 Victoria Street, Potts Point, chacobar.com.au

D Tue-Sun $$

Charcoal Fish

SEAFOOD A clever, captivating concept from the country’s foremost fish butcher

Chef Josh Niland’s mission to make us consider seafood’s unending potential continues at this polished reimagining of the local chicken shop. The star here isn’t chook, of course, but consciously farmed Murray cod – simply grilled in fillet form, crumbed and fried in a burger, or hot off the spit on a crusty roll with crackling skin, stuffing and gravy made from the offcuts and bones. Yellowfin tuna, meanwhile, makes a convincing stand-in for beef in a fast-food-style cheeseburger and Shark Bay snapper finds a comfortable home wrapped in a pita with chips, tabbouleh and garlic yoghurt. It’s inventive stuff of the highest order, complemented by outstanding salads and vegetable sides – think

Above: bounty of the kitchen garden at Chiswick. Below: classic Cantonese fish at China Doll. miso-marinated fennel tossed with crisp nori and crunchy chickpeas, or heady cauliflower masala sharpened by pickled green tomatoes and curry leaves. There’s no takeaway joint in town quite like it. 670 New South Head Road, Rose Bay, charcoalfish.com

L D Wed-Mon $

Chin Chin

MODERN ASIAN High-impact, high-turnover South-East Asian palace

If Chin Chin underwent a medical examination, the comments would be: chronic high adrenaline, interspersed with hits of dopamine. It’s a rush of music, art, neon, cocktails, chilli, fun, and more chilli. The kitchen sends out colourful Vietnamese chicken salads with puffed black-tapioca crackers, roast pork belly sliced onto a slurry of green chilli with pickled fennel, and fat spring rolls stuffed with prawn mousse. The warehouse dining room has the same raucous energy of its Melbourne counterpart, and it’s worth noting the pioneering wines on tap – available by the glass and half and full litre – because they’re bloody good. A lemon-curd lamington is a bit dense – better to succumb to the classic Chin Chin magnum (on a stick and everything) to stay in party mode. 69 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills, chinchinrestaurant.com.au

L D daily $$

MODERN ASIAN 15/20 Dockside Cantonese gets smart

China Doll is your classic, all purpose, good-looking crowd-pleaser. Coloured in the blue-and- white of classic Qinghua pottery, it’s the lively waterside lunch-or-dinner dependable that ticks all the menu boxes: excellent dumplings steamed, poached or fried; slim duck pancakes with hoisin cucumber; crunchy chilli-salt squid; master-stock pork belly with nam pla prik; and go-to Chinese greens on the side. And then, why not, a rich Penang rendang of wagyu, tea-smoked duck with a tamarind and plum tang, and eggplant and tofu sparked with Sichuan chilli. Shiny-green fresh herb arrangements and pretty pottery plates boost the appeal. Sling in a few fab cocktails, a good beer or a decent vintage, and this is one smooth operator you can rely on for a good time, every time. Shop 4, 6 Cowper Wharf Road, Woolloomooloo, chinadoll.com.au L D daily $$

CONTEMPORARY A “plant-to-plate” eatery with cheffy credentials and magnetic appeal

A decade in, Chiswick almost seems to exist in its own ecosystem. On a Saturday afternoon, there probably isn’t a busier restaurant in Sydney. On the manicured lawns, highschool graduates and newlyweds pose for pictures, while inside, waitstaff frantically pinball between prams, bridal parties and baby showers. Unfussy comforts remain the focus, accented by produce from the kitchen garden – eggplant roasted past the point of submission with romesco and preserved lemon, say, or golden roast Bannockburn chook with kipfler potatoes and Brussels sprouts. More creative ideas, meanwhile, can go either way. “Barra-masalata” proves a clever Aussie twist on the Aegean dip, while a dessert of persimmon, popcorn and wattleseed wreathed around parsnip ice-cream doesn’t quite add up. Nevertheless, the adage still rings true: if Matt Moran builds it, they will come. 65 Ocean Street, Woollahra, chiswickwoollahra.com.au

L D Tue-Sun $$

Cho Cho San

JAPANESE 15/20 Mod-Aussie izakaya bunker

Below left: Josh Niland of Charcoal Fish fame. Below right: gyoza at Cho Cho San. Think of smoky, casual izakaya dining and this brutalist concrete bunker may not spring to mind. But Cho Cho San rewrote the rules on contemporary Japanese dining when it opened in 2014 and has been evolving its small-dish, sakefriendly menu ever since. Snacking is mandatory, on soft steamed buns stuffed with pork katsu, and juicy, crisp-bottomed chicken gyoza. Raw dishes are elevated by the quality of the fish – note the eternally delicious Petuna ocean trout with pepper and wasabi – while cooked dishes are rich, textural and fun. Kingcrab omelette comes with Japanese curry sauce, for instance, and split

grilled prawns with kombu butter. Always busy and always buzzy, the long bar is high on elbow-to-elbow energy, esoteric rice lagers and yuzu martinis. Sounds like an izakaya to us. Just doesn’t look like one. 73 Macleay Street, Potts Point, chochosan.com.au

L Fri-Sun D daily $$

Civico 47

ITALIAN 15/20 Upscale diner with a warm welcome

What was the buzzy, art-laden Lucio’s for 38 years is now a civilised, hushed dining room with photographs of the Italian seaside hung on its walls. Talented executive chef Matteo Zamboni brings his own accent to the menu, starting with a small, puffy, Pugliese-style, focaccina bun, baked with squishy little tomatoes pushed into the top. Pasta is a must, especially mafalde with prawns – al dente strands of frilly-edged pasta coated with a lush, bisque-like sauce. A deep brick of seared-then-roasted swordfish cuts like a dream, the flavour clean and clear, while a little bowl of sage and white-chocolate gelato in brown butter is a nostalgia hit for anyone who’s been to Brescia. Civico 47 has a warm glow about it and the food is thoughtful and visually appealing – so there’s still plenty of art around, it’s just not on the walls. 47 Windsor Street, Paddington, civico47.com

L Thu-Sat D Wed-Sat $$

CONTEMPORARY Laneway bolthole where food and wine share the spotlight

Devotion to wine is declared at every turn at this slick all-purpose bar, from the 300-plus list of classic labels and exciting ingenues to the insightful, cheery menu notes featuring a heartfelt ode to riesling. Chef Simon Drolz-Cox builds seasonal shareplates around the flavours sommelier Felix Auzou pours by the glass and the duetting menus make for endless exploration. If you already enjoy an Austrian gruner veltliner, you’ll love it even more when the wine’s green-apple crispness meets the sweet and spicy Spanish-style trio of Goolwa pipis, merguez sausage and butter beans. Meanwhile, hot honey enhances pecorino and rosemary croquettes, and pappardelle is liberally coated in a beef-brisket ragu that hums with white pepper and cumin. Dessert is a gateway to new sherries with bitter yuzu-caramel flan. A positive feedback loop of flavour. Shop 5, 29 Orwell Street, Potts Point, dearsainteeloise.com

L Sat-Sun D daily $$

Enoteca Ponti

ITALIAN Busy local tratt with the heart of a wine bar

There’s something relaxing about a trattoria lined with bottles of wine; even one with the high energy and creative menu of Enoteca Ponti. A homage to Roman wine bars of the 1950s by a spin-off team from Bistro Rex, it’s all banquettes, arches and bar, with manager Jess Saffioti a natural host. Head chef Aldo Farroni runs a fine line between old and new, with raw tuna “noodles” and snacks of lasagne spring rolls and mortadella mousse on brioche. More conventional dishes such as shaved ox tongue or rigatoni all’amatriciana are welcome, and a grilled black Angus rump cap served with cime de rapa and charred lemon is an

Clockwise from above: taleggiotopped figs at Dear Sainte Eloise; Firedoor’s Lennox Hastie; the glamour of Franca Brasserie; classic beef carpaccio at Civico 47. invitation to explore Italy’s regional wines. The fact that the waiter plucks the bottle you want from the shelf behind you only adds to the charm. 71A Macleay Street, Potts Point, enotecaponti.com L Fri-Sun D daily $$

Farmhouse Kings Cross

CONTEMPORARY Country-style warmth within the urban jungle

You might say Farmhouse creates a country idyll with its farm-to-table menu, timber fit-out and signature 20seat communal table. What stands out most though, is its hospitality, patient attentiveness that includes just enough chat, intuitive service and a blanket to ensure warmth at outside tables. Simultaneous sittings, where everyone arrives at once, create a feeling of homestead dining, albeit with Laguiole cutlery. The menu is seasonal, which might mean Aylesbury duck breast one month and Cowra pork tomahawk cooked over charcoal the next. Housemade country loaf is a staple, a marvel of fluffy crumb against an impeccable crust. There’s flair in execution, too, like just-set alfonsino fortified with a mussel emulsion and pea puree under lardo, or the precision of an evenly layered opera cake for dessert. Precise, rustic and warm at once. Shop 4, 40 Bayswater Road, Rushcutters Bay, farmhousekingscross.com.au

L Sun D Wed-Sun $$

CONTEMPORARY 18/20 This place is hot, hot, hot

You have to work hard to get a table at Firedoor – reservations are released online three months in advance and go fast. Yet once you walk in the door (if you were successful), there’s no arrogance, just appreciation that you are there. Your reward is to witness chef Lennox Hastie and a great kitchen team focus on cooking with fire, smoke and ash. Settle in for a five-course menu that might start with seared coral trout and chunky kumquat cheong (jam) and finish on a crunchy, caramelised, crystallised kouign-amann pastry. The Murray cod here, shimmering with luscious fat, will ruin you for anywhere else. It’s a journey, flowing naturally from seafood to, perhaps, Hampshire Down lamb, but you can always add a course of Rubia Gallega heritage-breed beef – dry-aged until herbal and almost fruity. That’s all ahead of you, however. First, you have to get a table. 23-33 Mary Street, Surry Hills, firedoor.com.au

D Wed-Sat $$$

Franca Brasserie

FRENCH 16/20 A return to the golden age of French dining

Rising from its gleaming copper pan, the Mont Blanc chestnut souffle is a cloud of scented air. Few kitchens would devote themselves to the perfect souffle these days, but Franca is on a mission to bring the glamour back to dining. The golden-hued room is high on detail – curved leather booths, marble, brass railings, strategic lighting and modern art – and Jose Saulog’s menu is pitched to the same elevated brasserie level. Black mussels are touched with curry in a creamy vadouvan sauce with fennel and cashews, and Moreton Bay bug laps up Cafe de Paris butter. Big wines abound, with Tajima wagyu and garlic mash, kale and hazelnut jus at the ready. And that little souffle will rise to any occasion. Shop 2, 81 Macleay Street, Potts Point, francabrasserie.com.au L Fri-Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Fratelli Paradiso

ITALIAN 15/20 Haute trattoria where the cognoscenti gather

The Paradiso brothers’ trattoria is home away from home for many interstate and overseas visitors – and, famously, Nigella (that Nigella) – as well as eastern-suburbs powerbrokers and cashed-up locals. If you don’t belong to any of these tribes, never fear. Their Italian hospitality hustle will kick in anyway and your aperitivi, stuffed olives and prosciutto will soon be on the table. Regulars already know what they want from the scrawled blackboard – golden cubes of focaccia and oozy mozzarella with fat Olasagasti anchovies, or the simple-but-good fried calamari Sant’ Andrea with agrodolce dipping sauce. Ms Lawson adores the crumbed pork Milanese, by the way, and strozzapreti pasta with greens and anchovies – but how could she ignore the spaghetti in a rich, tomatoey, scampi bisque sauce, or the damn-near-perfect square of tiramisu? Moodily dark rooms are also homes away from home for ever-evolving bottles of regional Italian wines. 12-16 Challis Avenue, Potts Point, fratelliparadiso.com L D Tue-Sat $$

Fred’s

CONTEMPORARY 16/20 Farmhouse dining for urbanites

When a restaurant describes itself as farm-to-table, it pays to search immediately for proof. At Fred’s, the menu lists seven NSW farms as regular suppliers – precious relationships nurtured by founding chef Danielle Alvarez, who departed in May. In a seamless transition, long-term Fred’s chefs Hussein Sarhan and Eytan Harel have stepped

up to run the open kitchen with its coal-fired hearth. Because they buy in the whole beast, something special like Milly Hill lamb can be ordered in three different ways, each accompanied by broad beans, spinach and mint salsa verde; a great idea. A gelatinous pork terrine is rich but light, and goat’s curd cappelletti is gently sauced with nettles and whey. Don’t miss the Provencal fougasse, Fred’s signature bread. More big thinking: a caramelised pear tarte tatin that’s baked to order, and sent out with a melting heart of bayleaf ice-cream. 380 Oxford Street, Paddington, merivale.com/venues/freds

L Thu-Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Gaku Robata Grill Omakase

JAPANESE 15.5/20 There’s a new perfectly executed omakase in town

Although we mourn that its famous lunchtime ramen disappeared when Gaku went omakase-only in September, you’re still in safe hands with owner-chef Haru Inukai and Shimon Hanakura at the helm of this 11-seater. Expect a tasting menu blending exceptional Australian and Japanese ingredients with French technique and seriously luxe touches of foie gras, truffle and caviar sprinkled throughout. Succulent, glistening lobster comes in a golden saffron broth (cooked in a kilogram of butter, we’re told); truffle-topped spanner-crab chawanmushi is ridiculously silky and a perfect sashimi board showcases kombujime flounder, paradise prawn and scallops. And hey, look, the ramen’s still here after all, just in a smaller bowl, the duck and yuzu broth rich and zingy. Add naturally fermented sake, pours of top-shelf Japanese whisky and cap it all off with truffle ice-cream. The new Gaku is an elegant, blissful performance. Shop 2, 132 Darlinghurst Road, Darlinghurst, gakurobatagrill.com.au D Wed-Sun $$$

Gildas

SPANISH 16/20 Sherry-fuelled taverna heightened by modern Sydney glam

From ceramic casino chips as business cards to lush local ham, serious money has been spent on the details at the new wine bar from Firedoor’s Lennox Hastie and the Fink restaurant group. There’s brass at every turn, blackbutt flooring, emerald quartzite benchtops and eucalyptus-green banquettes. Hastie is all about heightened pintxos – those snacks and small plates native to Spain’s Basque Country – and on a Friday night the place is buzzing with attractive inner-easters ordering the namesake skewer of green olive, Olasagasti anchovy, piparras pepper and preserved lemon. Bottom line: this is as good as Spanish-style cooking gets. Highlights include spanner-crab-stuffed churros, charred leeks draped with luscious lardo, and charred Roman beans with primaltasting razor clams. Meanwhile, pipis popped open with manzanilla sit pretty in a jamon broth with alubia de granja (fat and creamy Spanish butter beans). Springy, hard-crusted bread is on hand – remember to mop. 46-48 Albion Street, Surry Hills, gildas.com.au D Tue-Sat $$ Top: the open kitchen at Fred’s. Above: pipis in jamon broth at Gildas.

Haco

JAPANESE 15.5/20

An elegant backdrop for high-end tempura omakase

Minimally styled in concrete and oak with a striking driftwood sculpture, this 12-seater is a bit shibumichannelling tranquil oasis, a bit Die Hard’s Nakatomi tower, and the perfect setting for a special night out. Deep-frying is treated as an artform and subtly incorporated across most of the 20 producefocused, set-menu courses. Delicate, crisp whiting is simply served with curry salt and kipfler for a zenlike riff on fish and chips. Nori tempura is layered with soy-braised ox tongue, halloumi, foie gras and kumquat. Flavours are often extracted from the gnarly underutilised bits to complement the main event too, such as rich abaloneliver sauce paired with delicate chawanmushi or Tasmanian lobster dusted in squid-ink powder and dressed in a sauce made from the crustacean’s head. Dishes, be they highly orchestrated or confidently restrained, never disappoint. 102/21 Alberta Street, Surry Hills, hacosydney.com.au L Sat D Tue-Sat $$$

Hotel Centennial

EUROPEAN 15.5/20 Airy, light and comfortably moneyed hotel with elevated farmhouse cooking

We get it. Merivale is good at restaurants. If you like your welcomes bright, your drinks expertly poured and your kitchens run by top chefs, Justin Hemmes has your number. And just look at Hotel Centennial on a Saturday. Light bounces around the immaculate space, the wood oven glows, waiters pour wine from a list favouring Burgundy. Is that owl portrait on the wall a Leila Jeffreys? Are those curtains linen? Whatever the dish, there’s care and attention aplenty. Take the country-style pâté, set beautifully and studded with pistachios. Or Murray cod halfwrapped in vine leaves to protect the flesh while the skin crisps in the oven. Then there’s chef Ben Greeno’s duck, the crown glazed in honey, the legs cooked confit. Centennial deserves praise not just for hitting so many marks, but adding beauty and levity between. For that, it’s worth buying a ticket. 88 Oxford Street, Woollahra, merivale.com.au/hotelcentennial

L Tue-Sun D Tue-Sat $$

Jane

CONTEMPORARY Charming local rocks next-gen flair

There’s a case to be made that Tristan Rosier and his team are leading the way for millennial cooking in Sydney. Arthur, their first Surry Hills venue, reinterpreted the degustation for today. Meanwhile, new kid Jane (named after Rosier’s grandmother) complements nostalgia with an a la carte menu that represents the here, now and will-be. The drinks list hits every trend with local spins on classic cocktails, refreshing piquettes and a page of non-alcoholic options. Squeeze into a corduroy booth, and the plates that land look back and forward: here’s a crisp wild boar ’nduja cigar glazed in pineapple, there’s a kangaroo tartare topped with a nest of matchstick fries. Given time to develop her ideas and execution, young gun Victoria Scriven may well lead one of the city’s most influential kitchens. Book a spot to say you were there from the start. 478 Bourke Street, Surry Hills, janesurryhills.com L Sun, D Wed-Sun $$

Kiln

CONTEMPORARY 15.5/20 Sydney’s new food and creative arts canteen

Perched on the rooftop of the cleverly realised Ace Hotel, Kiln attracts a lively arty, crafty crowd who are just plain happy to be there. Every dish on chef Mitch Orr’s tight menu is touched by smoke, ash or fire, aligned with a contemporary focus on seafood and vegetables. A snowflake mushroom (frilled white funghi) is brushed with mushroom glaze and wrapped in wasabi leaf. A kaleidoscopic swirl of buttery, finely sliced alfonsino is entwined with slivers of raw peach within a shimmering tomato-tea jelly. White asparagus and peas have a nutty vin jaune emulsion and a crunchy toss of sugar snaps and snow-pea pods. Tables can be in turnover mode, but squeezing in a dessert of steamed dark chocolate cake lifted with the tang of poor-man’s orange sorbet, will make leaving the party easier. 47-53 Wentworth Avenue, Surry Hills, acehotel.com/sydney D Tue-Sat $$ Clockwise from top left: pork pâté with pistachio and apricots at Hotel Centennial; diners at Haco; alfonsino crudo, peach and tomato jelly at Kiln.

JAPANESE 15.5/20 Hushed temple for showcasing seafood and rice

Omakase finds a thoughtful local expression in Kisuke. To step beyond its doorway, marked by fluttering white noren curtains, is to witness a dance of precision and detail, choreographed by chef Yusuke Morita and Izumi, his wife. The pleasures of dining at Kisuke involve surrendering to food as a form of ceremony. It’s to watch Morita plate a plump Pacific oyster with caviar with an elegant flick of the wrist. To savour shabu shabu with New Zealand bass and ponzu swimming in an earthy and complex dashi. Best of all, it’s to watch Morita send out course after course of seasonal sushi – tuna belly, scampi, John dory – arranged on ceramic plates like tiny sculptures. And to finish the night with redbean soup, both sweet and savoury, tradition and invention served up side by side. 50 Llankelly Place, Potts Point, kisukepottspoint.com D Tue-Sat $$$

Lady Chu

VIETNAMESE Vietnamese street food taken, literally, to the street

In many Asian cities, the best food can be eaten on the street where it’s made to order right next to you. Same here. Although at Lady Chu, the tables that line the footpath are clothed and papered, big umbrellas shield from sun and rain, and there are nice napkins to boot. There’s even a drinks list. Owner Nahji Chu started with a hole-in-the-wall Darlinghurst tuckshop in 2009, and her fare has only improved since – signature rice-paper rolls (goi cuon) are simple and fresh; crab net rolls are lacy and crisp. And the menu makes it easy to mix Vietnamese favourites such as beef pho, banh mi and slippery, pork-laced banh cuon. Since opening, Chu has added a 30-seat casual dining room next door, but if you like your street food to be street food, the best tables are still on the footpath. 3 Roslyn Street, Potts Point, ladychu.com.au L D Wed-Sun $

Lankan Filling Station

SRI LANKAN 15/20 Spice up your life with fragrant curries and snacks

The question is not whether you should order the hoppers. It’s how many. These lacy bowls – made from rice flour and coconut milk and edged with a delicately crunchy skirt – are the ideal carriage for the swathe of curries on offer. Douse, dip or swipe them in the fiery prawn curry tangy with tamarind, the mild and creamy cashew-nut version on a white base, or the richly spiced black curry with lamb (and don’t forget to load up on sambols). The dhal punches well above its weight, deftly layered with a complexity of spices, and it’s even vegan. Nice one. Staff are happy to jump in with advice for dietary requirements or solo diners, just as much as they’re on hand to steer you towards gold on the affordable, forward-thinking wine list. Decision paralysis? Get the banquet menu. Or book the set-menu crab curry feast on the last Sunday of every month. 58 Riley Street, Darlinghurst, lankanfillingstation.com.au L Sat D Tue-Sat $$

Margaret

CONTEMPORARY 16.5/20 Sydney’s spiritual home of great Australian produce

After four decades leading modern Australian cooking, after myriad awards and books and restaurants, you might think Neil Perry would step back from the day-to-day of his latest (and allegedly last) finer-diner. But Perry is still in the kitchen most nights, overseeing a mighty roster of the country’s best produce, woodfired, roasted and dressed to become the most delicious version of itself. There are steaks, of course, beautifully charred and ruddy (and a formidable wine list for the occasion). Split one between two and go big on the seafood – coral trout punched up with XO butter; grilled King George whiting shiny with hojiblanca olive oil; bigeye tuna tartare turbocharged by gochujang. The borderless menu is thrillingly long, the service polished, and the soft-lit dining room eminently comfortable. Finish with prune tart and head next door to, eh, Next Door – Margaret’s new bar now open for nightcaps. 30-36 Bay Street, Double Bay, margaretdoublebay.com L Thu-Sun D Wed-Sun $$ Above: egg hoppers at Lankan Filling Station. Left: Lady Chu’s beef pho.

ITALIAN 15/20 Roman holiday with pizza and pasta on tap

CONTEMPORARY 15/20 Meticulously crafted all-frills dining

MODERN ASIAN 15/20 Rollicking Asian fusion strutting wit and flavour

If Marta is a great neighbourhood Italian restaurant, then the neighbourhood must include the entire eastern suburbs, because it’s almost always full. Family groups with pizza-scoffing toddlers come at dusk, followed by mates and dates intent on tackling the list of negronis and sharing bowls of warmly peppery spaghetti cacio e pepe. There’s a distinct Roman pride in the menu; in the way mortadella is stuffed inside irresistibly soft, warm wedges of schiacciata, and the way crisply crumbed rice suppli have a little tomato at their hearts. Pizzas are Roman, too – large and puffy, topped with imagination and restraint (follow your nose to the aromatic potato, truffle and rosemary). With daily specials such as baccala that are outrageously good, freshly churned gelato, and owner Flavio Carnevale’s proactive service – not to mention the superb breakfast and baked goods – Marta is everyone’s great neighbourhood Italian. 30 McLachlan Avenue, Rushcutters Bay, marta.com.au B Tue-Sun L Sat-Sun D Tue-Sun $$ Served between gently swaying linen curtains, smooth concrete swerves and a hovering cloud of chandelier bubbles, the seven-course degustation at Metisse is Frenchinspired food art. Designed and cooked by father-daughter chef duo Opel and Lucinda Khan, its highticket, ooh-ah wonder is focused on seafood and meat plated on Studio Enti ceramics. Begin with velvety prawn cornets, then oysters with tapioca pearls and cardamon-steeped chicken consomme that warms the soul. It almost feels wrong devouring the Mosaique, a stained glass-style grid of bluefin tuna, ocean trout and kingfish in nutty brown butter, but there’s solace in crisp duck breast, truffle-crowned black Angus, and poached salmon and sea urchin with baked brioche (the latter fresh from proving beneath a glass cloche sur la table). The wine list is predictably French-leading and big spenders can opt for a premium $300 pairing. Ooh-ah, indeed. 5-9 Roslyn Street, Potts Point, metisse.com.au

D Tue-Sun $$$ Below left: the bustling room at Neil Perry’s Margaret. Below right: Opel Khan and his daughter Lucinda head the team at Metisse. “The food focus here,” our kneeling waiter says, “is fun.” She’s not wrong, given the street art and neon-tinged, rope-draped, pirate-ship vibes of this four-storey paean to Americanalicked Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese cooking. Loud and still jumping after 12 years, the vodka and yuzu-juice slushies flow on beside impressive wines grouped as Juicy, Pink Friday or Marvin Gaye and Chardonnay. Meanwhile, a big flavour menu balances sophistication, quirky and a side of clever. The famed cheeseburger spring rolls remain eye-widening with their hit of special sauce inside crispy banh trang and deep-fried devotees will revel in the salty, peppery fried chicken, a spree of garlicky-sweet chewy orbs. Chicken and pork gyoza are tangy with black vinegar, while cult dessert “stoner’s delight” lives on, now with doughnut ice-cream, raspberry curd, bacon, peanut dulce de leche and Mars Bar brownie. How’s that for fun? 155 Victoria Street, Potts Point, merivale.com/venues/msgs L Fri-Sun D Tue-Sun $$

Nomad

MIDDLE EASTERN 16/20 Bold, bright and beautiful

As the Nomad family grows – to Beau, the new nearby spin-off, and to Melbourne – the original converted warehouse diner is firing on all fronts, not just at its signature charcoal grill. Terrific house charcuterie (including excellent ocean-trout basturma) sidles up to puffy flatbread with wattleseed zaatar and lime; kingfish does its thing with avocado, finger lime and a coriander cracker; a split marron bathes in butter with charcuteriebased XO. The olive-oil ice-cream sandwich in a crumb of halva and pistachio remains as magical as ever, too. Cluey staff manage the 200 seats – spread across banquettes, front and back tables, and grillside bar stools – with grace and good sense and there’s plenty that’s serious about the mostly Australian drinks list, but nothing predictable, be it by glass, carafe or bottle. The overarching sense? That Nomad has truly come of age. 16 Foster Street, Surry Hills, nomad.sydney L D daily $$

Nour

MIDDLE EASTERN 15/20 Age-old Lebanese dishes given a new lease on life

Dusk-pink seating, marble fixtures and pillar candles – this is a made-forInstagram dining room if you ever saw one. But it would be a mistake to dismiss Nour as a case of style over substance. Chef Paul Farag’s cooking is a love letter to Lebanese cuisine that’s serious yet playful, elevating traditional flavours and taking familiar textures somewhere new. Beetroot’s earthiness is sharpened with pomegranate dressing and teamed with sheep’s curd and pita, and tendrils of octopus accentuate a smoky mound of muhamurra – a Levantine capsicum-and-walnut dip fashioned into something more indulgent by adding fried potato. For dessert, it’s all about the coconut basbousa, a woodfired version of Egyptian semolina cake crowned with fenugreek custard, its sweetness tempered with burnt caramel. Bargain-hunters should also note the bottomless negroni and rosé package with a top-value banquet. Shop 3, 490 Crown Street, Surry Hills, noursydney.com L Thu-Sun D daily $$ Clockwise from far left: Nour’s luscious profiteroles; Otto Ristorante; kingfish ceviche at Nomad.

ITALIAN 15.5/20 Splashy waterfront dining with fresh culinary flair

It’s hard to think of a restaurant with more understated glamour than this waterside stalwart, where media moguls talk shop over bottles of Bollinger and off-duty models enjoy oysters al fresco. Beyond the flashy exterior, there’s thoughtful modern Italian cooking from chef Richard Ptacnik, with dishes combining produce, presentation and technique in harmony. Prawn tartare on a puck of focaccia is a delicate pleasure, with pearls of salmon roe and piquant bursts of finger lime. House-made spaghetti topped with spanner crab, chilli and garlic crumb is briny, earthy and perfectly al dente, while smoked stracciatella gives spicy pork ragu and curly mafaldine a new complexity. Tarte Piemontaise at the finish line defines what Otto is all about: a dark-chocolate crust concealing mousse and hazelnut cream; sleek surfaces giving way to layers of surprise. Area 8, 6 Cowper Wharf Road, Woolloomooloo, ottoristorante.com.au

L D Wed-Sun $$

Parlar

CATALAN 16/20 High-end tapas crafted with heart and precision

Parlar’s pan tomate is nothing like the rough-and-ready version found in bars across Barcelona. There, bread is simply rubbed with a pulpy tomato mixture. Here, yellow and red tomato slices are precision-layered across toast like tiny terracotta tiles. This is tapas to suit an intimate, plush dining room from restaurateur Andrew Becher, who also operates Franca brasserie next door. Chef Jose Saulog’s menu is made so you can breeze in for a quick morcilla sandwich or settle in for a proper innings. Diamond clams and salmon roe glisten in a light but flavour-packed tomato sauce and extra cornbread is a no-brainer to soak up the juices. It also comes in handy for mopping a beefy pedro-ximenez jus pooling marbled wagyu flank. A smart, considered package from opening salt-cod croquette to closing crema Catalana. Shop 1, 81 Macleay Street, Potts Point, parlar.com.au L Sat D Tue-Sat $$

ITALIAN Seriously good food without being too serious

ITALIAN Organic wine and nonna-level pasta with a regional bent

Left: gilda toast, anchovy churro and pan tomate at Parlar. Below: colourful celebration at Pasta Emilia. Punters who don’t speak native Italian grape may find themselves a bit lost at the always-buzzing trattoria of wine importers Giorgio De Maria and Mattia Dicati. Procanico or Pignoletto? Grignolino or lambrusco grasparossa? Um, whatever works with the rave-worthy pork-sausage ragu pappardelle, we guess. If you don’t score a staff member happy to guide you through the list, here’s the thing: it’s all bloody great stuff (if you like left-field drops) so roll the dice and have fun. Chef Enrico Tomelleri’s food is a hoot too, especially saltysweet cubes of fried tapioca with chestnut honey and asiago-cheese snow. Fatty whipped sausage-meat is slathered on crostini and balanced by green tomatoes, while bisque-napped ravioli with prawns and scamorza demands a glass of something crisp and white. Head downstairs to the bar for an amaro to finish – Chinati Vergano Luli or Argala Amaro Alpino? 239 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, paski.com.au D Mon-Tue, Thu-Sat $$ In a blizzard of food fads, pasta is the great equaliser. And when it’s really good pasta, the likes of Pasta Emilia’s taut squares of chicken raviolini in brodo, or pillowy duck and truffle tortelli enveloped in sage butter and crisp guanciale, then it’s the stuff that brings folks together again and again. The same produce-driven ethos that had Bronte locals competing for founder Anna Maria Eoclidi’s limited menu back in the mid-2000s now draws pasta lovers to her Surry Hills digs. Part neighbourhood osteria, part cooking school and retailer, the menu is heavy on Emilia-Romagna classics such as strozzapreti with beef ragu. Wine is exclusively organic and the list leans Italian, but consider keeping it in the family with Eoclidi’s own merlot, made with grapes from her 20-year-old Hunter Valley vineyard acquired during lockdown. 259 Riley Street, Surry Hills, emilia.com.au

L Sat D Tue-Sat $$

ITALIAN 15/20 Buzzy neighbourhood trattoria with its fingers on the pulse

CONTEMPORARY 15/20 Concrete bunker with a fiery reputation

Officially, Pellegrino is an Italian restaurant, but the kitchen uses plenty of ingredients that would shock a Tuscan. If you find yourself eating trippa fritta and wondering what the tang is kicking through crumbed tripe and parmesan, that would be a citrusy Sichuan-ish pepper from Japan. This is smart, punk-rock cooking from chefs Dan Pepperell and Michael Clift, with wine gun Andy Tyson on the floor (the trio also runs Potts Point’s Bistrot 916). Post-modern Italian prints and shelves of tomatoes channel a more traditional trattoria, and a streetside bar is made for negronis before white beans flecked with lemon zest and shaved bottarga, or scallops and squid served fritto misto-style and punched up with dashi salt. Butterflied-quail saltimbocca is rich with a wallop of marsala sauce, and boozy limoncello jellies are a refreshing way to finish. Who needs Florence when you’ve got Surry Hills? 80 Campbell Street, Surry Hills, pellegrino2000.com L Fri-Sat D daily $$ You don’t come to Mat Lindsay’s Ester follow-up knowing what you are going to eat or drink. The menu changes without notice, and that tiny, glowing, wood-fired kitchen in the corner plays havoc with your expectations as much as it plays with its produce. For drinks, the brutal, below-ground space looks like a contemporary wine bar – and it is – but it also engineers cocktails creamy with gin, cucumber and eggwhite. Then a skewer of something dark, smoky and gnarly arrives – not beef, but beetroot, transformed into chewy vegetable jerky by slowcooking over coals. And holy cow, what a sandwich! Imagine justwarmed raw beef carpaccio folded between triangles of toast with hot sauce and horseradish cream – like the best ever room-service sambo turned restauranty. Chase it with a huge round of buttery, coal-roasted, tenderhearted cabbage, share a small bowl of, say, passionfruit sorbet, and raise a glass of sake to the unpredictable evolution that is dining at Poly. 74-76 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills, polysurryhills.com.au L Sat D Tue-Sat $$ Below left: it’s all Italian at Pellegrino 2000. Below right: creme caramel at Porcine.

FRENCH 15/20 Fancy throwback cooking underwritten by rock solid technique

There’s a lot to like about this bistro above a bottle shop. Cold, clean oysters heightened by smoked-eel vinegar. A working fireplace in winter. Open windows in summer. Butter slapped on bread plates in a manner – and amount – that would make a grandmother blush. The best thing, however, is how much fun skilled chef Nicholas Hill seems to be having, creating dishes based around his love of cookbooks from a time when aspic ruled the world. Wildboar-and-chestnut pâté is autumn incarnate, while a bouillabaisseadjacent soup overflows with scallops and lobster and direct shellfish flavours. Berkshire pork chop is properly juicy with nosetingling mustard, and – in breaking bistro news – there’s now a canard presse for guests pre-ordering roast duck to be finished (read: crushed) at the table and served in a casserole of madeira and mushrooms. Vive la fun-time French. 268 Oxford Street, Paddington, porcine.com.au L Sat-Sun D Thu-Sat $$

ARGENTINIAN 16/20 Sexy, hearty food for grill lovers

A modern classic still going strong and getting better with age. On entry, you might find one of the co-owner chefs leaning casually on the counter like a cool conductor, overseeing a mighty parrilla grill cooking bloody great steaks. Amply marbled chuck rib is served with resting juices and a splash of fruity hojiblanca olive oil, or for something more large format, there’s Basque-inspired Txuleta 1882 sirloin – a mighty hunk of dry-aged, retired dairy cow that’s spent its twilight years on pasture. It’s not all about meat though, and molten fresh cheese comes smoking, straight from the wood-fired oven with crushed olives and Calabrian chilli. Meanwhile, leeks are grilled, skinned and served with burnt honey and hazelnut. A well-seasoned team of tightly quaffed waitstaff work the space and pour great wines with maximum efficiency, dressed in a smart white-shirt-blackwaistcoat combination to match the chequerboard floor. 50 Holt Street, Surry Hills, porteno.com.au D Tue-Sat $$

Red Lantern

VIETNAMESE Vietnamese institution, now with barbershop attached

Walk into Red Lantern from Riley Street and you enter an Indochine world of marble tables, tiled floors and vintage books on shelves, while at the same time offering air-con, stemmed wine glasses and welltrained staff. Step in from the lane at the rear and you enter The Cut, a gentleman’s barbershop and bar run by the multitasking Red Lantern co-owner and executive chef Mark Jensen. The big order there may be for a beard trim and a beer, but the big order in the restaurant is for Aunty 5’s bouncy house-made rice cakes, topped with tiger prawns, caramelised pork neck and pork floss. Rustic rice-paper rolls come filled with lemongrass chicken, sweet, slightly dry Hanoi-style pork comes on skewers, and a thick fillet of kingfish perches on a bed of glass noodles. Don’t miss the velvety, glossy, wok-fried eggplant – it’s a hit. 60 Riley Street, Darlinghurst, redlantern.com.au

D Wed-Sat $$ Below: Refettorio OzHarvest chefs Lauren Evers and Jez Wick. Bottom: the precision and skill of a dish from Sagra.

Refettorio OzHarvest

CONTEMPORARY Heartfelt food-for-good venture with a double life

As a not-for-profit eating house, Refettorio offers free lunches by day for those suffering food insecurity. But it also opens to the paying public once a fortnight with exactly the same three-course menu – and because it is run by OzHarvest, up to 95 per cent of the food used is rescued from waste. An initiative of Italian chef Massimo Bottura and OzHarvest’s Ronni Kahn, it’s a welcoming experience run entirely by volunteer staff. The food is vegetarian and there is no alcohol, although evening guests are offered drinks made from rescued citrus fruits, or booze-free beer. Head chef Jez Wick cooks with imagination and care, utilising the warm spices (in pakoralike carrot-and-onion fritters, say), bright salsas and smoky yoghurts of the Mediterranean. Even a little babysoft roulade with a heart of tangelo curd is like tea with nanna. What a feel-good place. 481 Crown Street, Surry Hills, ozharvest.org D Thu (every second week) $$

Sagra

ITALIAN Straight-up seasonal cooking with skill

The simplicity that’s endeared Sagra to Italian purists for eight years is in fact nothing of the sort – it’s precision. From the succinct, seasonally shifting menu on plain brown paper to the pared-down ingredients in each dish, genuine no-frills elegance demands pin-sharp skills. Sagra’s standout dishes often seem its most modest. Certainly, it takes confidence not to fuss with Murray cod, pan-roasted to its juicy best and featuring soft, flaky flesh contrasting with crackling-crisp skin. Gentle, earthy flavours are lifted by a lick of clean, light anise from a fennel puree. It’s a whisper-notshout dish, but memorable, much like the pleasing crunch of hazelnuts meeting creamy stracciatella sweetened with peppers and balsamic vinegar. At Sagra, pasta is always a must too – refined carbs in the very best sense and all house-made to exacting standards. Spaghetti, spanner crab, tomato and ’nduja, you had us at hello. 62 Stanley Street, Darlinghurst, sydneysagra.com.au L Fri D Tue-Sat $$

Saint Peter

SEAFOOD 16.5/20 Cutting-edge celebration of fish

Book now. Reservations fill quickly for Josh Niland’s tasting menu of Australia’s best seafood, and with news that he and wife Julie are moving their flagship to Paddington’s Grand National Hotel in early 2023, months are ticking to enjoy the intimate original site at its height. After six years of gillto-fin cooking and spruiking the delicious complexity of dry-aged fish, Niland’s current seven-course dinner might lead with Murray-cod-liver parfait before King George whiting marinated in champagne vinegar. Line-caught kingfish is dressed with ponzu and subtly smoky thanks to a light brush with coals, and sublime grilled John dory is enhanced by a yabby emulsion with feel-good flavours lemongrass and galangal. Staff are on-message, the wines are lively and a subtly shimmering room is all marble, sandstone and the odd Ken Done. Also note the more casual lunch menu with oysters galore. 362 Oxford Street, Paddington, saintpeter.com.au L Thu-Sun D Tue-Sun $$$

Sang by Mabasa

KOREAN Korean family cooking with natural wine on the side

If you weren’t lucky enough to be born into a Korean family, never fear – just book a seat at tiny Sang. With parents Seung Kee and Jin Sun Son working non-stop in the miniscule kitchen, son Kenny char-grilling black Angus short ribs, and the rest of the team mixing soju tonics or delivering dishes of sweet-savoury honeycomb tripe and good-chewy chicken gizzards, it’s very much a family affair. The simple, cared-for cooking is bright and clean, the wines are minimal intervention, and dining is elbow-to-elbow on share tables or squeezed into kitchen counters. Try the Cloudy Bay clams with tofu and scallop, or the lunch specials (walk-ins only) including marinated, preserved blue-swimmer crab. This particular mix of elevated home cooking and contemporary dining brings both a sense of nostalgia and a vision of the future – whether you’re family or not. 98 Fitzroy Street Surry Hills, sangbymabasa.com.au L D Thu-Sun $$ Above: Saint Peter’s King George whiting with sudachi and finger-lime sauce. Below: kingfish in kimchi water at Soul Dining.

KOREAN 15 /20 Contemporary Korean with a date-night makeover

Haven’t heard of Soul Dining yet? You will. Daero Lee and Illa Kim opened this moody dining room with its distressed walls, halo of light and blue-velvet banquette in 2018, and have steadily built a fan base for their elevated Korean food and award-winning wine list. It’s exciting stuff, the familiar shaped by creative licence into something new. So raw kingfish comes with white kimchi and avocado puree, and bibimbap is cooked to order, with vibrant ocean trout instead of the usual marinated beef, along with raw scallop, egg yolk, seaweed and soy butter. Prawn tteokbokki is more like “tteokgnocchi”, the bouncy little rice cakes lolling about with sweet Yamba prawns in lush capsicum sambal. This is modern Korean cooking as seen in New York or Seoul, right down to the chapssal red-bean doughnuts swaddled in translucent persimmon. 204 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills, souldining.com.au D Tue-Sat $$

Spice I Am

THAI A trailblazer-turned-institution serving fiery regional plates

These days, Thai cooking in Sydney is rich and varied – the sugar hangovers of old are drowned out by venues peddling bright, fiery plates ringing with hot chilli, holy basil and galangal. Spice I Am has its place among the pioneers, and remains just as essential today. The longstanding no-bookings policy still means diners will be armed with wine bottles as they queue for soft-shell crab cut with a lemongrass and green mango salad, or fat king prawns bobbing in a light chu chee curry. Yum hua plee is a riot of colour and flavour, featuring shredded banana flower crowned with chicken and deep-fried prawns, crunched up with a rubble of roasted coconut and shallots, and drenched in spicy nam prik pao dressing. Service is fast and friendly, and the famously long menu has added more Isan specials to make repeat visits a must. 90 Wentworth Avenue, Surry Hills, spiceiam.com L D Wed-Sun $

TenTo

JAPANESE Pour one out at this stylish, tea-fuelled Japanese cafe

Japan’s ochazuke predates the latest TikTok food hacks by centuries. Since the Edo period, people have revitalised leftover rice by pouring green tea over cold grains. TenTo levels up this comfort food by filling teapots with a creamy seven-vegetable broth for vegan ochazuke. Pour it over the bowl’s sculptural rice ball and the air blooms with the scent of buttered popcorn. A rice paper basket billows like a designer dress, topped with tempura vegetables and flowers. Smoked bonito stock flavours the salmon ochazuke, while a chicken version is bathed with a collagen broth and seasoned with chilli oil. TenTo’s Kyoto alleyway feel is backed by other Japanese flourishes: ramen bowls and black-sesame latte mugs are hand-crafted by co-owner Ryota Kumasaka and the matcha dessert resembles a raked Japanese garden, with fruit shapes and nasturtium leaves poetically spritzed with a triple sec and sweet syrup “dew”. 8 Hill Street, Surry Hills, tento.com.au B L Mon-Sat $ Above left: Tento has a Kyoto alleyway feel. Above: Ursula’s chef Phil Wood.

Ursula’s

CONTEMPORARY 16/20 Paddington charmer that fuses classic and contemporary

There are few chefs with such a grasp of classicism and culinary history as Phil Wood. The former Rockpool head chef, here in his second year in a back-street Paddington terrace, has fine-tuned a menu that reads almost like a throwback to Modern Australian – maybe even further – but rejigged for the 2020s. It’s there in the green-curry vinaigrette taking a dish of ruby-centred lamb backstrap in a Thai direction. Or crisp-skinned John dory stuffed with prawn mousse, pan-fried to translucent and laid on a refined, fragrant sauce. Then French onion soup is taken apart and put back together with sticky-sweet fall-apart short-rib the centrepiece. Tablecloths are white; the glasses, Maison Balzac; the ochre-coloured carpet, plush. The wine list steers towards the classics and service is personal and personable. Ambitious? Unique? Both. Overwrought? Never, with charm and comfort at the centre. 92 Hargrave Street, Paddington, ursulas.com.au

L D Tue-Sat $$

Viand

THAI 15.5/20 Thai food masterclass

Salted duck-egg relish with scampi and sweet, caramelised, aged pork? Those who know their Thai food will immediately recognise that Viand is something special. Former Long Chim chef Annita Potter has emerged from the shadow of David Thompson and forged her own path with this pavilionstyle dining room down the Woolloomooloo end of Crown Street and beneath a working art gallery. Her tasting menus lead the diner on a merry dance of colours, textures and tongue-tingling flavours, from coconut-poached quail with a salad of roasted banana blossoms to braised monkfish with pickled plums and Asian celery, or a jungle curry of king prawns with long coriander. Every paste, relish and broth is done from scratch, something that shows in the depths of flavour throughout, right up to a marshmallow meringue with preserved persimmons. Sweet, salty, spicy, smoky, sour – and special. 41 Crown Street, Woolloomooloo, viand.club

D Wed-Sat $$ From top: Chef Annita Potter at Viand; tongue with tuna sauce at Wyno x Bodega; dish from vegan restaurant Yellow.

LATIN AMERICAN Tiny kitchen, big table, massive wine list

As the name suggests, this romantic, candlelit space from team Porteno is part wine bar and part tapas counter. The wine part is in-your-face obvious, with an entire wall of bottles wrangled by high-energy sommelier Georgie Davidson-Brown. A leather-topped communal table runs down to a tiny kitchen where Ecuadorian chef Jaime Chinchero turns out tapas dishes with a distinct

Latin-American twist. So a chip-chop of sweet prawns and avocado topped with crisp potato straws rests on a golden mash of Argentinean potato, and barbecued octopus perches on a soft tortilla of sweet potato. Warm salad of roasted cauliflower, crisped chickpeas and gently spiced eggplant kasundi is so wine-friendly, it will drink from your glass if you let it. The booze list gets serious fast, but staff are just as happy to pour for a low budget as a no budget. Shop 4, 50 Holt Street, Surry Hills, bodegatapas.com

D Tue-Sat $$

Yellow

CONTEMPORARY 16/20 Sydney’s premier home of plantbased dining

The days of vegans being confined to second-rate dining options are a distant memory beyond the golden bricks of this contemporary bistro. A six-course vegan tasting menu is a celebration of all things plantbased, with elegant dishes from chef Brent Savage showcasing seasonal heirloom vegetables with intricate, playful and textural elements. Slices of pickled and steamed eggplant napped in eggplant broth invigorated with fennel oil is a strong start after a trio of snacks including tiny daikon wedges topped with zesty finger-lime pearls. Overlapping petals of steamed celeriac encase creamy cashew butter and dots of persimmon. Next up, earthy nubs of Jerusalem artichoke with shiitake and a smattering of crunchy crushed hazelnuts. Add a natural or biodynamic drop from Nick Hildebrant’s killer tome of a wine list (or choose the non-alcoholic pairing), sit back and relish the wholesome pleasure. 57 Macleay Street Potts Point, yellowsydney.com.au L Sat-Sun D Wed-Sun $$

Yulli’s

CONTEMPORARY Casual-cool vegan mainstay

Yulli’s is the cool girl of Sydney’s vegan scene. She’s charming, casual and a little dishevelled, unafraid of cracking open a weeknight beer. The intimate Surry Hills restaurant remains popular into its 14th year, with a unique offering of well-priced share plates inspired by Asian and Mediterranean cuisines. This is smart and honest plant-based cooking, turning away from imitation meats in favour of bright papaya salad, fried broccolini spiked with satisfyingly sticky gochujang sauce, and Vietnamese pancakes brimming with hearty king-trumpet mushrooms. Smoked eggplant is charred and tender with lively romesco. Warming ginger-and-leek dumplings are balanced with a smattering of sweet plum sauce, while the dessert menu comforts with classics such as stickydate pudding. As for that midweek drink, there’s a fun selection of modern Australian wine and no shortage of Yulli’s own trophywinning brews. 417 Crown Street, Surry Hills, yullis.com.au L Tue-Sun D daily $

Eastern Beaches

Baccomatto Osteria

ITALIAN 15/20 Italian classics offered up in a buzzing atmosphere

It might look a little dark and moody inside Baccomatto Osteria but don’t let the interior fool you, this is a place for families, fun and boisterous big groups. The informal tone is set by the warmly welcoming team and guests are more than happy to fulfil their duties in shouting across the table for another slice of pizza al taglio, the bottle of sangiovese or just a little more excellent rigatoni carbonara, flecked with salty shards of guanciale. Gnocchi with cime di rapa and almonds is earthy and delivered with a story about the pleasingly bitter greens being the “eyelashes” of a turnip. More entertaining snippets accompany the porchetta and the wine, and it’s clear that the hardworking crew enjoy seeing their clientele eat and drink well. Not all can be blessed with a nonna in the family, but this is the next best thing. Shop 2, 164 Barker Street, Randwick, baccomattoosteria.com.au L D Tue-Sun $$

Clove Lane

CONTEMPORARY 15/20 Warm, welcoming local with serious culinary cred

This attractive former cornershop punches well above its suburban weight. For locals, the spot is a stalwart for dinner, with larger groups chinking well-balanced cocktails at a long table by the front bar, and couples snuggled up the back, where owner-chef Emile Avramides and his team calmly go about their business in the open kitchen. Sharing is the name of the game, and the regularly changing menu ranges from sophisticated, two-bite beauties such as chickenliver-parfait eclairs with a squiggle of tangy rhubarb puree, to a main of hanger steak draped with charred cavolo nero and finished with a perfectly peppery sauce. Or settle in for a light(ish) courtyard lunch of king salmon with soubise and black garlic after a circuit around nearby Centennial Park, and counter your virtuousness with something old, new or curious from the well-priced wine list. 19 Clovelly Road, Randwick, clovelane.com.au

L Thu-Sun D Wed-Sat $$

Coogee Pavilion Ground Floor

CONTEMPORARY All-ages crowd-pleaser with a generous side of beach

The cavernous ground floor of Coogee’s grande dame is a microcosm of living-it-large beach culture. Witness all walks of life loudly enjoying themselves in this light-filled space as long lunches become dinner: couples smooching over fresh-shucked oysters and snapper ceviche from the raw bar; boofy blokes and sand-crusted kids scoffing blistered pizzas from the central wood-fired oven; and families celebrating nan’s birthday by sharing burgers and comforting pan-fried barramundi with cauliflower puree. Whatever the kids fancy, “the Pav” delivers in spades, and there’s plenty for the grown-ups too, such as lamb rump cooked to rosy perfection and topped with a lush dollop of smooshed eggplant, olive, anchovy and mint. Beer-battered fish and chips are a gold standard of form, while reasonably priced wines provide relief for frazzled parents and sunburnt backpackers alike. Come one, come all (and they do). 169 Dolphin Street, Coogee, merivale. com/venues/coogeepavilion B L D daily $$

Da Orazio Pizza + Porchetta

ITALIAN 15/20 Chic, loud pizzeria for celebrating friends, family and roast pork

Bondi’s favourite pizza is back. After a few years helming other trattorias, chef Orazio D’Elia has reopened his namesake porchetta and puffycrusted margherita hub in its original spot. The buzzy space has been

Top: Baccomatto Osteria porchetta. Above: Bondi’s Da Orazio Pizza + Porchetta.

stripped back to its bright, white roots, with walls rendered to look like they belong in a Mediterranean fishing village. Night-clubby music gets loud, but at least you can still hear your table mates when you need to decide which regional specialities to order. Octopus salad covered in fat leaves of parsley like they do in Naples, perhaps, or tender lamb arrosticini skewers like the ones found in Abruzzo. Pizza, of course, is a must, and highlights include the Napoletana handsomely draped in anchovies with basil and wood-fire-shrivelled olives, and the Friarielli ($28), boasting crumbled pork sausage and blitzed rapini. Benvenuto a casa, Da Orazio, it’s been too long. 75-79 Hall Street, Bondi, daorazio.com.au

L Sat-Sun D daily $$

Fish Shop

SEAFOOD Big fish energy in a little corner of Bondi

Despite its name, this convivial dining room just off Bondi’s main drag isn’t just a fish-focused affair – although there’s plenty on offer, from tuna tartare to barbecued sand whiting with salsa verde and lemon. The cool-as-ice local is a celebration of everything pescatarian and there’s plenty to love about a snacky chunk of AP Bakery sourdough slathered with aioli and mussels, or the bowl of tender calamari lazing in a pool of aromatic garlic oil, but it’s the day’s pasta selection – maybe cuttlefish rigatoni in a creamy red pepper sauce – that makes the biggest splash. Those looking for a more casual al fresco feast will find it at sibling Fish Market next door, frying up fish and chips, panko-crumbed barramundi sangers and a school of other underwater takeaway offerings to eat on the beach or in a park, hibiscus kombucha in hand. 87 Glenayr Avenue, Bondi, fishshop.com.au L Fri-Sun D daily $$

Lola’s Level 1

MEDITERRANEAN Wine and seafood celebration with a beautiful Bondi view

Lasagne and the beach go together like red wine and fish, so pasta al forno layered with slow-braised beef shanks might not be your go-to at this night-clubby nuovo-tratt on Bondi’s main drag. Lola’s signature lasagnette is a must though, full of mighty flavours and silky bechamel. It’s also small enough to let you go big on butterflied and butter-glossed king prawns topped with bottarga – appropriate snacking on a balcony with sea salt in the air. Attractive, chirpy staff know their champagne from chenin, and are on hand to recommend the best skin-contact wine for jamon-topped sourdough rubbed with hojiblanca olive oil and fruity crushed tomatoes. Sancerre with addictive calamari fritti is key, and, oh, why not – a light-and-easy chilled pinot with whole baked John dory dressed with green olives. It’ll travel across to duck breast happily glazed with orange and pedro ximenez, too. Level 1, 180-186 Campbell Parade, Bondi, lolaslevel1.com.au D Wed-Sun L Thu-Sun $$

Mimi’s

CONTEMPORARY 17/20 Conspicuous coastal consumption

Mimi’s calls itself “coastal fine dining”, and if that suggests something less formal and more fun, then it’s on the money. Speaking of money, it’s also unapologetically expensive, delivering a dining experience that is exciting, dynamic and luxurious. Plates of mud crab and lobster drift by, and a trolley of caviar and frozen vodka may park suggestively by your table. There’s wagyu rib-eye, of course, and Krug and Penfolds Grange by the glass. It’s a lively dining room, fuelled by an open-plan kitchen and the make-itnice mantra of chefs Jordan Toft and Jeffrey De Rome that might lead to charcoal-roasted quail with glossy nettle cream or giant Margra lamb cutlets to share. In truffle season, you’ll be invited to shave black magic over everything in sight. All that, and glorious views through large picture windows to Coogee beach. Coastal fine dining indeed. Middle Level, Coogee Pavilion, 130A Beach Street Coogee, merivale. com/venues/mimis

L D Wed-Sun $$$ Above: jamon and tomatotopped sourdough at Lola’s Level 1 in Bondi.

SEAFOOD A deep dive into sustainable seafood via a set-course menu

A little card on the moodily lit table lists key producers such as oyster farmer Steve Feletti, saffron growers Terry and Nicky Noonan, and NSW miller Craig Neale. It’s a quiet statement of intent by Belgian-born owner-chef David Coumont, who runs this wine-lined neighbourhood restaurant with a focus on sustainable seafood and visits to the fish market every morning for inspiration. Settle in with a kir royale and either a fourcourse (Tide Pool) or eight-course (Deeper Dive) menu. A soft potato blini topped with smoked tailor is a warm squish of flavour, and mussel tarts are halved ceremoniously at the table. Hapuka is sensitively cooked and seasonably paired, and – in an inspired move – creamy yoghurt parfait is laced with sea grapes. Helen Diab’s wine list is worth a deep dive in itself. Ker-splash! 65b Macpherson Street, Bronte, moxhe.com.au

L Fri-Sun D Wed-Sun $$

CONTEMPORARY 16/20 Farmhouse kitchen by the sea

After 30 years, Sean’s is still, resolutely, Sean’s. If anything, it’s even more Sean’s, with its own ethos, voice and personality. The eccentric charm of little sea shells of sea salt, olive oil and butter on the stripeclothed tables; bowls of crisp and tiny radishes, and of farm produce plated with an artist’s eye, all serve to transport you to a very special place. The menu is now three courses with I-want-them-all choices. Beetroot hides in the hollows of ruby-red radicchio leaves, and soft salami encircles a round of pork-and-rabbit terrine. The brined-and-roasted “good chook”, with its crunchy roast potato and parsnip in a tangle of wilted greens and gravy, has taken on the mantle of a genuine legend, although crisp-skinned Murray cod with wilted greens makes a fine alternative. Baked custard with rhubarb is, like everything else about Sean’s, completely charming. 270 Campbell Parade, Bondi, seansbondi.com

L Fri-Sun D daily $$ From top: Coogee’s Una Mas; prawn terrine, brioche and prawn butter at Moxhe; perennial Bondi favourite Sean’s.

Una Mas

MEDITERRANEAN 15/20 Like being on a sun-kissed holiday in your own town

Una Mas is Spanish for “one more”, and when the windows are thrown open to the sun and the sparkling sea, one more is definitely on the agenda. One more Estrella beer, perhaps, or plate of fresh mozzarella, served Capri-style on lemon leaves. One more conversation, definitely, over a skewered anchovy gilda, or a paprika-tanned tangle of chitarra pasta in a rich puddle of sobrasada sauce. The broad, airy room, fringed by bar and kitchen, is a little world unto itself, running to executive chef Jordan Toft’s dreams of beachside shacks in Majorca, Sitges or Taormina. Lunch goes all afternoon and fades into dinner as linen-clad people waft in and out. More relaxed than kick-up-your-heels Mimi’s next door, and far from the madding crowds of Coogee Pavilion below, it’s the sort of place you just want to hang out in, one more time. 130A Beach Street, Coogee, merivale.com/venues/una-mas

L D Wed-Sun $$