Name a restaurant where you can go for a business breakfast, pre-theatre oysters, a mid-shopping spritz and a slap-up dinner with friends. Stumped? Try Elio’s Place. It’s open for breakfast rolls right through to knock-off drinks with snacks such as duck liver parfait.

The split-level space in an old Victorian building is warmed up by timber, cork, frosted glass and eclectic art. Find a window perch or hidden nook, pick at potato roesti with fondue-like sauce and sip an Americano Perfecto, made crisp with lager instead of the soda.

A sheath of bubbly cheese heralds baked fusilli in a spicy-sweet sugo, while the crackly skin of pan-fried barramundi is a textural foil for its fork-tender flesh. Creme caramel of perfect bittersweet proportions is one of several classic desserts that deliver the comfort you’d expect from an all-day diner.

Good to know: On Mondays, there’s a $28 steak frites special.

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