There was a time when this cavernous, marble-lined room hummed with diners from the top end of town and dates dressed to the nines. When plates landed, waiters would swarm tables ceremoniously, dividing dishes, offering condiments, and sommeliers would follow, pouring from a deep cellar celebrating the best of Australia alongside international benchmarks. Wait, is that time right now? For all the Eleven Barracks and Bisteccas to land, Rockpool is still in a class of its own.

Importantly, it’s also run by a team that recognises the restaurant’s greatest asset is its longstanding relationships with rockstar producers. Cape Grim 36-month-old rib-eye is rusted attentively over coals and indicative of a top-tier beef program handled by a skilled kitchen and executive chef Santiago Aristizabal.

Illawarra pipis rustle about with slips of roast pork belly and smoked tomatoes lifted by makrut lime, and fried Corner Inlet calamari is a force of flavour on top of macadamia tarator and curls of crisp saltbush. Then there’s the charcoal-roasted coral trout, fire-roasted Sommerlad chicken, all the sides (15, count ’em) and excellent pastry work. A modern Sydney classic.

Good to know: Aristizabal now offers a five-course “beef tasting menu” influenced by Latin American cuisines.

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