You’d be forgiven for thinking simple, honest food was no longer the norm. Thankfully, restaurants come along like Continental Deli Bar Bistro to remind us of the simple pleasures.

Downstairs is the deli Sydney has dreamed of. Pickled, smoked and tinned seafood, stunning smallgoods, fab fromage (cheese) and quality cocktails courtesy of young gun Michael Nicolian too (try the ‘Mar-tinny’).

Upstairs the basic bistro is a surprising change for Joe Valore and Elvis Abrahanowicz – the hybrid minds behind Bodega, Porteno and backers of LP’s Quality Meats and Mary’s.

This actually marks the first time the duo will deliver an a la carte only menu – freeing them from the shackles of the shared plate ethos that has made them so successful.

Abrahanowicz sure can cook, but Valore is an unsung hero. Not only providing the backbone for each venture, his attention to detail, sense expectation and supreme standards help set the tone of his venues.

It starts with smart finishes in the fitout. Not forgetting it is an old terrace, they’ve kept the natural finishes of the rooms – including the fireplaces. Green walls in the front room, pink in the private dining. In a sense it’s like you’ve stepped into someone’s lounge room, but they’ve added dark wooden floorboards and classic French bistro chairs and marble tabletops to add a sense of sophistication.

In the kitchen Elvis and former Porteno pan-handler Jesse Warkentin are cooking the food they cut their teeth on. The bistro is not claiming to be French, but it’s leaning heavily on Mediterranean, rather than European, technique and flavours – and France is omnipresent, albeit with a lighter touch.

Take the steak tartare. They use grass-fed NSW sirloin, rather than rump, and cut it quite coarsely. It’s firm to bite, but creamy on the tongue and only mildly seasoned with Worcestershire and capers to ensure you taste the beef. Simply spoon it in with the mesh gauzed gaufrette potato chips. Next, they’ve leant on Luke Powell at LP’s Quality Meats, a producer of some of the smallgoods downstairs. His sweetbread, foie gras and porcini sausage is delicately light to handle, but smoky and rich. It arrives on a swoosh of potato puree with wild rocket for balance.

Meanwhile conft leg and roast breast of chicken straddles the savoury sweetness of braised celery. Ask for bread to mop up the chardonnay puddle beneath. Then the clean, grassy, asparagus notes of Yellow Belly Flounder fillets stack up against batons of roast ratatouille. A final twist on the classic yeast cake rum baba arrives with the expected chantilly cream but hides a preserved cumquat prize inside. Before we can lift our spoons our waiter pours Bundaberg OP rum over the top and sets it alight.

There is nothing ground breaking about it, but there is something quite special. Its honesty represents that little part of hospitality some establishments seem to forget. It’s not trying to be anything more than a great, reliable local, but in the process I can’t help but think it will soon become Sydney’s favourite.

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