Don’t be alarmed if you spot flames in the dining room of Martin Place’s new Italian restaurant Rovollo. It’s all part of the show: the signature pici carbonara is tossed tableside through a 20-kilogram wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano that’s briefly (and safely) set alight, creating a rich, ultra-cheesy coating on the thick ribbons of pasta. The spectacle is a show stopper but it’s not the only attention-grabbing dish from executive chef Cami Feliciano (ex-Seta) and head chef Zane Buchanan (ex-Clam Bar, Fish Butchery): for dessert, there’s a 24-layer dark chocolate cake served with a warm rosemary-infused berry compote. The dining room is just as dramatic, anchored by a parachute-turned-light-pendant, while a beautiful hand-painted mural on the ceiling, designed by Esper Group Director Andrew Wallace’s partner, brings additional warmth to the space. Sink into a banquette seat with a freezer-cold martini (topped with basil and tomato oil) and you’ll forget you’re in the heart of one of the city’s busiest metro precincts in no time.

Known for its award-winning ales and bold stouts, Felons Brewing Co. is a staple of Australia’s craft beer scene. Now the team is wading into new waters with the opening of Felons Seafood, a restaurant and bar perched on the iconic Manly Wharf. As its name suggests, seafood claims the spotlight here and the menu is committed to showcasing top-quality Australian produce and native ingredients, with dishes spanning from grilled fish and chips to refined raw bar favourites. At the helm is proud Palawa man and graduate of the National Indigenous Culinary Institute chef Luke Bourke, whose resume includes being sous chef at Rockpool Bar & Grill as well as hosting masterclasses that delved into First Nations culinary techniques and culture at the Sydney Seafood School. To drink? There’s a standout salt and vinegar Martini with Oyster Shell Gin. 

With its terracotta-hued interiors, sculptural lighting and vibrantly coloured ceramics, Akti’s dining room feels like a cross between an art gallery and boutique homewares store. But one bite of the sizzling, honey-drizzled saganaki will remind you that you’re seated in one of the city’s most impressive new Greek restaurants. With umbrella-fringed alfresco dining right on Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf, the latest venture from the Sydney Restaurant Group is all about bringing fresh takes to the classics. The slow-cooked lamb shoulder pairs perfectly with golden potatoes while the signature cocktail, Meet Me at Akti with its notes of Aperol, limoncello, clarified guava and pistachio tastes like long afternoons by the Aegean Sea.

There are few things more comforting than a schnitzel, especially if it’s crumbed and browned to order (and perfection), with a coating puffing airily from its base. Served simply alongside bright pickled cucumber salad and a side of nokedli – little dumpling nubbins sprinkled with fresh nutmeg – it’s the gastronomic equivalent of a doona on a rainy day. The one at 40-year-old Hungarian neighbourhood favourite, Corner 75, cooked by head chef Carley Scheidegger and her team, makes a good case for being the best in Sydney.

Elevated comfort food is everywhere at the moment and former Tetsuya’s executive chef Josh Raine and Michael Tran (ex The Bellevue and Clove Lane) are bringing their own take to the movement by serving a grown-up snack of fish fingers with pil pil at this cosy new Surry Hills wine bar. The space is designed to be a “proper little neighbourhood wine bar”, which means you’re welcome to come in for a full dinner or simply stop by for a quick glass of muscadet or nebbiolo and a bite.

This low-key hole-in-the-wall is on one of the busiest streets in Sydney’s CBD, yet a meal here feels like you’ve stepped into somebody’s home kitchen. That’s thanks to chef Stella Roditis’s simple yet intensely tasty cooking (a delicate fillet of snapper is given a burst of flavour with the addition of rich guanciale and skordalia) plus the warm service delivered by owner Vito Mollica, who greets every guest like family. If you’re a fan of Darlinghurst’s chef-favourite Bar Vincent (Roditis’s alma mater), Clarence and V brings the same gentle spirit.

The crew behind the intimate – and hatted – Surry Hills hotspot Bar Copains have debuted two new venues just down the road on Albion Street. Housed in the former Chef’s Warehouse building, Bessie’s is an industrial-chic diner where the Mediterranean-inspired menu is centred on the art of cooking with fire, while its neighbouring sibling Bar Alma’s is an intimate walk-in only cocktail joint. Sink into a tan leather banquette at Bessie’s and spend your evening watching a never-ending procession of flame-kissed lamb empanadas, whole Murray cod and the restaurant’s signature coiled chorizo march out of the kitchen’s enormous wood-fired oven – they taste just as good as they look.

You’d be forgiven for thinking you’ve been transported to a beachfront trattoria on the Sicilian coast as you twirl silky strands of squid ink spaghetti around your fork at Cibaria, an Italian-inspired eatery on the Manly Pacific Hotel’s ground floor. The latest offering from Alessandro and Anna Pavoni – the team behind Barangaroo’s a’Mare and Mosman’s Ormeggio at the Spit – is designed for leisurely lunches and even longer dinners, with a menu touching on all the Italian classics from salumi to wood-fired pizza and zesty yellowfin crudo. If there’s still room afterwards, head next door to Cibaria’s Gelataria for ultra-soft scoops of cremino bianco – white chocolate gelato accented with roasted coconut. 

Fringed by palms and sculptural cacti, the rooftop of The EVE Hotel in Redfern’s buzzy new Wunderlich Lane precinct is home to Lottie, a cosy Mexican joint plating up a tight menu of share plates and a long list of cocktails (there are three Margarita variants), tequila and mezcal. Here, the larger dishes are best matched with a serving (or three) of house made tortillas – ideal for wrapping around melt-in-your-mouth pork jowl with cola mole or bites of the grilled Murray cod, which rests on a bed of spicy achiote sauce and lime onion xnipek. Just make sure you start with a bowl of ultra-fresh guacamole paired with plantain chips.

Housed inside a former grocery store on Oxford Street, you’ll find Paddington’s coolest new hangout from the team behind Shaffa in Surry Hills, where Middle Eastern flavours meet the congeniality of Mediterranean-style tapas bites. At CANESS, the beef tartare is topped with pimentón-harissa aioli, Cultura di Alici and allumette potatoes – partner it with the fluffy kubaneh bread, ideal for mopping up every last bite. And for something a little more substantial, the bubbling prawn and tomato saganaki is garnished with classic herbs including oregano, mint and parsley. The wine list offers more than 20 options by the glass – and while the labels may shift, the easygoing service and smooth playlist remains constant.

Seafood aficionados have a new venue to add to their list as the Continental Deli team – renowned for their charcuterie, preserves and gildas – turn their eye to the ocean with the opening of their new venue, Mister Grotto. Seating just 30 guests at a time, this relaxed diner on Newtown’s Australia Street shucks up three oyster variants on the spot and offers everything from canned smoked cod to seared Coffs Harbour bonito and barbecued nannygai fish perched on a layer of corn-yellow macadamia salsa macha sauce. Not sure where to start? Settle in for the six-course selection menu, which kicks off with a spread of conservas and finishes up with a buttermilk soft serve with fig compote and honeycomb that almost looks too pretty to eat.

Helmed by chef Brent Savage and sommelier Nick Hildebrandt of the lauded Bentley Group,  Eleven Barrack is the latest incarnation of a heritage-listed building that once housed the first Bank of Australia, a 5-minute walk from Martin Place. Inside you’ll find ornate coffered ceilings, marble columns and arched windows, along with the white tablecloth service the group – King Clarence, Bentley Restaurant + Bar and Monopole – are renowned for. Approachable fare executed with excellence underpins the menu, where bistro classics such as coal-roasted coral trout swimming in green garlic sauce and grilled F1 Wagyu T-bones compete with spanner crab and fish pie and confit duck pasta for your attention.

Travertine floors, clay walls, marble tables and brass accents come together to create the rustic and welcoming atmosphere chef and owner Jeremy Agha sought to make with IFTAR, a newly-opened Middle Eastern venue in Merrylands, a 25-minute drive west of the CBD. Here the menu builds upon traditional recipes Agha inherited from his mother, Rita, with some offering a surprising twist, such as lamb shawarma tacos, wagyu kofta dumplings and pasta draped in burnt butter, minced lamb and a minty garlic yogurt. No matter what you order, don’t skip the puffy woodfired sourdough bread from a recipe that has been passed down through generations and is essential for mopping up extra sauce as you dine.

The newest addition to Sydney’s glitzy Barangaroo, the green and gold accented Annamese takes a fine dining approach to traditional Vietnamese dishes while adding a Thai-inspired twist. While you can order the classics, from barbecue chicken and tiger prawn rice paper rolls to slow-cooked lamb shoulder swimming in a peanut coconut curry, the menu places a strong emphasis on sustainably sourced seafood, so don’t go past the Hanoi-style wok-fried ocean trout with galangal or Sydney rock oysters paired with nuoc cham haisan dressing, green chili and caviar. The drinks menu is just as innovative, with a Pho-inspired tequila-based cocktail and a kaffir lime and lemongrass gimlet on offer.

Even carnivores shouldn't be scared by the “v” word at Flora, an all-day vegetarian spot on Australia Street in Sydney’s Newtown. The menu is bright, inventive and delicious at dinner, with dishes such as brussels sprout pierogies with cultured cream and koshihikari rice with corn, aji chilli and marjoram, while daytime looks like cacao husk pancakes and roast tomato and bullhorn pepper gazpacho.

Wunderlich Lane, in the inner city suburb of Redfern, is shaping up to be one of the buzziest places to eat and hang out in Sydney. Upbeat and colourful, Island Radio is one of the freshest additions and exactly what you want in a neighbourhood bar. There are south-east Asian style snacks and half-price noodles every Tuesday but perhaps the most interesting item on the menu is a bit of a swerve: toasted rice bread. Light, fluffy and served with sambal butter, it’s ideal for swiping up the sauce from dishes including wagyu beef rendang.

As you flick through the leatherbound cocktail menu at Conte, Sydney you’ll spy classic Negronis, herbaceous Negronis and Negronis for people who think they don’t even like Negronis – order the peanut butter-y Nut & Spice offering – at this sleek CBD spot that’s dedicated to the Italian aperitif. The city sibling to Bar Conte in Surry Hills, this moody two-storey restaurant and bar has fast become an after-work hotspot. While the drinks take centrestage (there are 17 pages of wine to peruse in addition to the venue’s signature tipple), the food here is far from an afterthought. Start with East 33 Sydney Rock Oysters then dive into a comforting bowl of lamb pappardelle with tomato and pecorino cheese or succulent duck breast matched with beetroot purée. The finale? A Negroni-infused tiramisu, of course.

Crown Sydney is already home to some of Sydney’s best big-ticket dining – Clare Smyth’s Oncore, Italian favourite A’Mare – and now welcomes a much-missed local institution with the opening of Golden Century on level three. The Chinatown original closed in 2021 but all the classics are back – XO pippies, abalone steamboat and salt-and-pepper squid – as well as the Wong family’s famously friendly service, which this time comes with a side of harbour views.

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