Sinatra or Cyndi (Lauper)? Plush carpets or checked linoleum? A vase of red roses or the glow of neon? Cosy and clubby or room to let your hair down?

New Adelaide hotspot Aces is two venues in one, a time machine that takes you from the swinging sixties on the ground floor to an eighties house party just by climbing a flight of stairs.

That’s just a small part of the unlikely story of this restaurant/bar that has created a cheeky slice of Italia in a prime corner location right beside the gates that mark the local version of Chinatown.

The original Aces was opened by Enzo Fantasia three decades ago, in a rundown arcade next to the Central Market. It operated as a sports bar and was best known for its generously laden pizzas.

But for this shift to more salubrious premises, owner Andrew Fantasia, son of Enzo, has brought in highly-rated local chef Tom Tilbury (Gather @ Coriole, Press) to develop a menu that brings a sophisticated edge to the cucina.

All those heady aromas of soy lacquered ducks outside are quickly forgotten once ensconced in a booth, nibbling green kalamata olives and sipping a well made Americano. Red sauce rules, here, naturally, though that doesn’t mean the heritage of the precinct is completely forgotten.

Take those gorgeous ravioli, perfectly crimped and swollen with lobster in bechamel, that loll about in a pool of bisque sauce. Then along comes a dollop of Chinese-style crispy chilli to upset the purists, at least until they taste how it all comes together.

The fish crudo is classic Italian, and classic Tilbury: skin-on pieces of bonito tuna are salt-cured to firm up the flesh, dipped in white vinegar and then arranged over a punchy salsa of crushed green tomatoes, green olives and capers.

Pastas include a carbonara and a pork and fennel ragu, but also a “spaghetti vongole” that riffs off the butter/garlic/umami-bomb sauce that Sydney’s legendary restaurant Golden Century made famous with crab noodles. The seafood here is pipis and, once stripped of their shells, the teeny morsels aren’t really luxe enough to fit the bill.

Parmesan-and-herb crumbed veal cotoletta is slathered with tomato sauce and blobs of melted mozzarella for an up-market parmigiana. Be sure to check the bone for any meaty remnants. More urbane diners might prefer a rump steak with fries and bone marrow butter or the fish (nannygai this day) with chicken jus and poached green tomato.

To finish, a baba sponge is soaked in limoncello and lemon syrup before loading with curd and a drizzle of fruity olive oil. A jug of crème anglaise is poured over and around at the table.

The same food is served across both levels of Aces and staff are going to build some good calf muscles ferrying plates back and forth from the kitchen. Depending on availability, seats can be booked in either zone but, if you feel like kicking on, Renzo Bar upstairs stays open late for drinks, snacks and tunes.

For the ultimate experience of Aces, you’re invited to the venue’s first-ever house warming party on May 8, as part of American Express delicious. Month Out. Enjoy a playful eight-course snack menu by head chef Tom Tilbury in collaboration with mates and fellow chefs, Water Lo of Nina Restaurant and Thomas Robinson of the Lane Vineyard, who together will show what Adelaide’s dynamic food scene is made of. With drinks on arrival, a well-stocked bar and a DJ playing ’80s and ’90s tunes all night long, this is the only way to welcome Aces Chinatown to the neighbourhood. Get the details here. 

Aces
96 Gouger St, Adelaide
Tue – Sat, 5ppm until late
aceschinatown.com