She stands sentry in a mirror ball-lit, plushly upholstered anteroom, her black tutu and masked visage providing a life-sized, trinket-themed nod to the charms to be found just beyond her.

On one of Melbourne’s hottest eat streets, Gem the ballerina at Trinket arrived last winter promising two-levels of cool cocktails and after-dark delights. Pull up an emerald velour-covered high-back stool under Art Deco pendant lights and admire the wunderkammer filled with antique clocks and crystal decanters, hefty tankards and silver bookends with a full fox stole and stuffed peahen overseeing proceedings.

Or go through the wardrobe and descend the stairs to the cool, dimly lit cellar bar where smartly attired staff will bring you house-made cordials – blackberry and basil, say, or lemon and almond – spiked with your heart-starter of choice, and elegant plates a step up from the norm. It’s the quieter pick of the two, the date-night yin to the DJ-soundtracked yang upstairs.

Upstairs or down, the cocktails are shaken with class – a lemongrass-tinged tequila old-fashioned, an absinthe spritz-finished sherry cobbler – and the smart food on lovely ceramics with fine cutlery is served long into the night.

A tin of Spanish Olasagasti anchovies comes with a pile of rye toasts and a fabulously smoky tomato sauce, but it’s the burnt butter poured into the tin of the salty fish that’s the truly inspired touch. While too much preserved lemon atop a pouch of burrata overwhelms the creamy cheese, crumbed mussels served on the shell with pickled fennel make for fine pinkie-up finger food.

A range of flatbreads are on boozesopping duty and come with terrific toppings. A generous meatball number is a classic of the genre, while fig and goat’s cheese teamed with diced black pudding is alluringly sweet.

Elegantly plush with a sense of fun and discovery, Trinket is another tasty addition to Flinders Lane. Take a twirl.