Johnny’s Green Room

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This rooftop hangout has reimagined the sometimes scandalous and sleazy pool hall that pre-dated it. Karen Martini has recently refreshed the menu. The queue to Pidapipo Gelateria is your visual cue to finding the bar – locate that and you’ll see a laneway. The entrance to Johnny’s is at the end, on the left.

Vegetables are made luxe, whether it’s a sculptural arrangement of cucumber and melon hunks on snow-white stracciatella cheese, or crumbed zucchini canoes holding whipped cod roe and a plump whole anchovy. Fried calamari skewers, all crunchy edges and tender seafood, come with tartare sauce that practically vibrates with citrus.

Pizza is the heftiest thing on the menu. Always a Johnny’s staple, there are 11 choices but don’t expect merely the usual line-up of margherita, pepperoni and friends. You can’t go wrong with a prawn pizza with green chilli and capers. There’s also ingredients such as milky stracchino cheese, a fresh cow’s milk variety from Italy’s north, and confit garlic on a white base with greens.

Italian drinks and spirits are the jumping-off point for eye-catching (and highly slurpable) creations such as a vodka and blood orange sour with a cap of citrus foam, a bittersweet way to end your night. Even more fun is the build-your-own sgroppino (vodka, prosecco, sorbet), using lemon sorbet from sibling business Pidapipo downstairs.

Good to know: You have to order at the bar, so it’s wise to combine each round of drinks with a few things from the menu.

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