Don’t be fooled by the lace curtains in the front window or the knitted hot water bottle-covers on display in the Country Women’s Association shop next door, this restaurant is as spritely as a Byron Bay beach in summer.

Diner-style interiors and a sweet-smoky Killer Bee cocktail of mezcal, honey and lemon add to the fun, while the kitchen offers a mash-up of Italian and Australian.

The compact menu keeps things breezy: a schnitzel-sized slab of mozzarella is fried and served atop balsamic-drenched peppers; salty white anchovies come on toast with spinach and ricotta cream.

Pasta might include gnocchetti sardi with rich duck-leg ragu, green olives, mascarpone and punchy gremolata, while handsomely charred pizza bases are topped with the likes of a lively vodka and tomato sauce, stracciatella and slow-cooked garlic, or (traditionalists, turn away now) smoked local ham with pineapple glaze. Grazie, bro!

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.