Life feels easy at this welcoming restaurant with top food and European charm. Rustic strings of garlic hang by the bar in the elegant yet simple dining room, a former schoolhouse set in grassy grounds.

Instantly, there’s a feeling of being “looked after” as waiters drop a charming “my mum in Puglia” anecdote while settling diners at big tables, perfect for long-lunch debriefs or cocktails and croquettes as the sun goes down.

Love in a bowl is the lobster pasta, the seafood bisque a garlicky boom of flavour with blistered confit cherry tomatoes, fennel-zucchini puree and a hint of chilli. That’s then tossed through house-made paccheri, the tube pasta of southern Italy made from semolina and eggs.

On the half-shell, scallops are saucy in a cauliflower, leek and saffron puree with a drizzle of ’nduja oil and crisped “bacon bits” of guanciale – the most refined surf-and-turf on the north coast. Fish of the day might be baked, butterflied and deboned snapper with a salty hit of marjoram, capers and pinenuts.

Drinks include an interesting list of Euro and Australian wines spanning a broad range of price points with plenty of organic, biodynamic and minimal-intervention options.

Good to know: There’s an all-vegan a la carte menu in addition to the standard offering.

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