Restaurants come in all shapes and cross many culinary bounds, but there are two very distinct type of restaurants. The corporately-backed big-time extravaganza targeting the middle to top end of the market, and the family-run local that, oddly, accounts for the vast majority of restaurants in any market. Most restaurant guides bookmark about 400-500 restaurants, but in NSW alone there are 10,000+ of them.

Family-run outposts keep the engine room of the industry turning over by sating the bellies of the populace on a regular basis.

For all the spit, polish and pizazz of those at the pointy end, these hubs of each community deliver a kind of comforting, culinary hug like you’d receive from your jovial grandma. They’re ever-reliable, there to put a smile on your face.

And that old cliché – that a restaurant provides so warm a welcome that it’s akin to arriving in someone’s home – is truer here, at Kindred, than at most places.

Chef Matt Pollock purchased the building a year ago and moved into the first floor with his wife. Seven weeks before they opened she gave birth to their first child. By day he worked on his relationship with his father-in-law as the pair stripped the ground floor bare and put their soul into every corner. By night Pollock manned the pans at A Tavola – one of the finest purveyors of pasta in Sydney.

Housed in the former Irish Mulligan’s, the split-level corner space is dominated by wooden bannisters, classic bistro chairs, polished concrete floors, an open kitchen, and a clever use of the area beneath the stairs to cellar, and showcase, wine.

It’s a cracking list too that exemplifies the standard of organic, biodynamic and natural wines in this country – at a price point that’s just as satisfying. Pleasingly, there are great beers on tap, too, and the effervescent staff are in one moment entertaining, the next ensuring a great night.

Pollock’s Italian-inspired menu relies on a lot of labour (of love) in the kitchen, and an innate understanding of the building blocks of Italian cookery.

They’re making everything from mustards, gelato, preserves, sourdough and pasta in-house, and even growing micro greens in the garden.

This old-school connection to produce, though, is approached with new eyes and techniques, though it never loses that essence of flavours past.

Jersey milk, mozzarella, white anchovies and broccoli make for a banging bruschetta, before sous vide octopus is char grilled to order and garnished with house fermented chilli and a rocket puree.

Next exquisitely thin papperdelle licks at a rich braised lamb shoulder and green olive ragu – one of the most deeply satisfying things I’ve eaten this year.

Next the crisp skin and blushing pink flesh of sous vide then pan-fried chicken Maryland nestles in a cauliflower puree and roast pumpkin for good measure. Then beef cheeks braised in red vermouth benefit from pickled cabbage and sprouts. Even the sides – ours a playful spin on Caesar using cos, smoked almonds and buttermilk – really hit the right buttons.

We finish with a neat puff pastry with braised apple, custard and house made yogurt gelato.

“Real food” seems like an odd way to describe deeply satisfying food. But damn, this kid can cook and he knows how to keep it real on the plate.

If Pollock thinks he’s going to become the ever-reliable neighbourhood local, he might want to consider Sydney his suburb, not just Darlington. It’s a local worth travelling for.