This plush grill opened at the site of the first purpose-built Savings Bank of NSW in February, and at first glance it looks like any other deluxe surf-and-turf: marble columns, white tablecloths, a separate low-lit oak bar with its own burger. But designer Pascale Gomes-McNabb has gone and set tartan carpet against metallic purple, and co-owner Nick Hildebrandt has bid at auctions for all sorts of odds and ends. Can you find a baseball, Michelin Man, rum cart and parachute?

Brent Savage’s menu also imbues a tried-and-true format with personality, from a springy crumpet crowned with raw, diced bluefin tuna held in place with horseradish cream, to a Key lime pie with a sheen of ginger jelly and top-layer of coconut curd. Super-duper steaks and seafood abound, fried ricotta dumplings replace blinis as the ideal caviar vessel, and the house Manhattan is stirred down tableside. It’s pretty much all you want in a CBD grill, with a live pianist too.

Must order: The butter-soft chateaubriand presented in a vintage chafing dish and best shared between four.

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