Alberto Ranalli has a talent for sauces. The Bologna-born chef can knock up a mean handmade pasta and compose an impressive small plate, but his sauces at Peonee are the sort to make you swoon, to have you calling for more bread, to consider picking up the plate and licking it clean if that takes too long.

Case in point: blue-eye trevalla with sauce vin jaune, a gorgeously complex dish given extra depth with parsley oil and Geraldton wax. Beef flank with green peppercorn sauce isn’t your average bistro staple either, the charred steak swimming in rich, piquant jus.

Ranalli has an admirable CV featuring Sydney favourites Est. and Bentley, so the confidence and skill his tight menu exudes should come as no surprise. Perhaps the only shock at Peonee is that the Scandi-chic restaurant, tucked into a dark corner in suburban Campbell, isn’t attracting larger crowds. But that’s surely a matter of time.

Must-order dish: Blue-eye trevalla with parsley vin jaune.

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