Hark the birdsong from the cages suspended over Angel Place and you’ll be led to Ash Street, a laneway lined with established contemporary eateries which recently welcomed its newest neighbour, Restaurant Leo.

The product of kindred spirits, Federico Zanellato (LuMi Bar & Dining, Ormeggio) and Karl Firla (Oscillate Wildly, Est, Marque), the venue is split in half by a shared kitchen – one side being the refined restaurant, the other, Picco Leo (Little Leo) a more casual space, which by day, offers quick bites, baked goods and coffee for the nearby office-workers, then morphs into an aperitivo bar later in the afternoon. It’s an about-face for the two chef-owners, both noted for structured fine-dining degustations – LuMi’s Japanese-influenced Italian menu, and before Oscillate Wildly closed last year, Firla’s clever native ingredient-centric line-up.

Having taken up the former Bacco Osteria spot in February, the pair retained the pale wood panelling and bentwood café chairs. “We just put our stamp on things: clothed tables, changed upholstery, and took out a few components to make it more minimal.”

The menu, as Firla explains has “Italian through its blood but it has our DNA. It has our thought process and backgrounds through it”.

The pair’s affinity for Japanese cuisine is apparent in such dishes as the cuttlefish risotto, which is made with koshihikari, a Japanese rice that Firla explains is “a polished and smaller grain…which gives it a different texture and weight.” As for the cuttlefish, “I love cuttlefish. The texture, the flavour, it’s readily available and environmentally friendly.”

Another standout is the house-made maccheroncini pasta with lobster. The bisque is made with clarified lobster and scampi which Firla says “requires a lengthy process but gives such an amazingly clean driven flavour.”

For dessert, try the pear and almond tart. It has a slightly salty base made from pretzels – a nod to Firla’s German heritage. “I love pretzels and was always eating them as a child.”

The menu is broken into three “brackets” and hopes are that in each one, there’ll be something that becomes iconic to Restaurant Leo, though Firla states “we won’t dictate it.”

To accompany the meal is a wine list of 100 bins which Firla notes is a combination of “old word and new world wines.” There is also a range of cocktails, made of their personal favourites and can be had in both venues.

Restaurant Leo
2-12/1 Angel Place, Sydney
Tue – Fri for lunch from 12pm, Thu – Fri for dinner from 5:30pm
restaurantleo.com.au