Italian and Sons may well be as central to Canberra’s dining scene as roundabouts are to the roads. After 17 years, co-owner Dom Trimboli’s welcome retains all the warmth of the wood oven from which unmissable long-fermented focaccia appears, and the kitchen’s respect for classic ideas endures.

Sardines ‘in saor’ faithfully renders a Venetian staple, contrasting the fish’s saline freshness with the sweet-sourness of soused onions and currants, while salsa verde and shavings of winey Testun di Barolo cheese sharpen plush-textured beef carpaccio covered in crisp-fried capers.

Rippled mafaldine tossed through portobello, porcini and pine mushrooms, meanwhile, proves house-made pasta remains a high-water mark, rustic in all the right ways.

Even if service slacks on a quiet Friday arvo and a panettone bread-and-butter pudding lacks impact, the 200-strong cellar – stacked with old-school prizefighters and local luminaries – still has the power to right all wrongs.

Good to know: Baccaro, the wine room out back, doubles as a lunchtime focaccia bar from Wednesday to Friday.

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