Ian Curley is cleverly working the angles at his first restaurant as sole owner, creating appealing yet distinctive dining and drinking options. There’s fine-dining-ish restaurant Baix and an adjoining wine bar, 81 Bay - the place to be for champagne cocktails and Yarra Valley caviar with blinis. The same skilled, drilled staff look after you across bar and restaurant.

Where the bar is hard surfaces, windows to the street and happy buzz, the restaurant is a cocoon of carpet, banquettes and internal walls. A weekly set menu includes shared entrees, a main for each diner, and desserts to split or hoard as you wish. There’ll generally be steak, poultry and fish – maybe flathead with silky-soft fennel and crisped curry leaves, or duck pithivier, a French puff-pastry pie.

As you’d expect from an accomplished chef who’s beyond showing off these days, the ideas are good without rocking any boats and the cooking is on point.

Good to know: Drop into the bar for a solo dinner of gnocchi with pumpkin, a glass of beaujolais and gooey chocolate cake.

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