Working under the tutelage of Alice Waters at California’s Chez Panisse, one of the pioneers of the farm to table movement, Alvarez’s arrival in Sydney has been hotly-anticipated. Like Chez Panisse, Fred’s is built on close relationships with farmers and abides by a 100 per cent produce-driven and respecting ethos. Alvarez is working with a wood-fired hearth, the restaurant’s centrepiece, to impart deep, smoky flavours to comforting dishes such as Lamb leg “a la ficelle: grilled rack, braised shoulder, laver, broad beans and mint. “Cooking with fire is first and foremost about flavour,” Alvarez says. “But in addition to that, I like using it because I think working with an open flame makes you a better chef. You have to use all your senses.” Vegetables are also elevated to lead roles at Fred’s; the sweet and nutty Asparagus Triangoli sees parmiggiano, brown butter and pistachio elevate the spring green.

The brainchild of Palmer & Co. alumni Toby Marshall and Sam Egerton, the 120-person neighborhood bar is shining the spotlight on cocktails, exploring new flavours with a similar top to tail approach as upstairs. Marshall and Egerton are favouring a produce-driven chef’s approach to drinks: “We take seasonal produce and use every element of a plant – it’s leaves, seeds, flesh, skin,” Marshall explains. “Then we use chef’s equipment – machines like dehydrators and rotary evaporators – to pull those elements apart and deliver even more flavour.” The result is a complex yet easy-drinking selection that will change with the seasons; think scotch, redwood bark, stone wash, moss from the forest floor, agave rope, cacao, Cuban rum and strawberry that has been rested for 90 days.

“At the height of my madness, I found myself at Centennial Park at five in the morning, pulling grass out of the ground as cyclists in spandex raced around in packs,” says Charlie Parker’s Sam Egerton. “kikuyu grass, nasturtium and jasmine all became in integral elements in the drink inspired by that experience.”

Alvarez’s bar menu complements the produce-led drinks. Jerusalem artichoke, green garlic and a daily changing flatbread, Grilled Piccolo Farm quail wrapped in pancetta and burnt caramel ice cream with Goslings Rum is a taster of what’s on offer.

Salt beef croquettes, hot mustard, pickles.

Anchovies, spicy sultanas, olive oil.

Alvarez and her team are cooking on free standing Tuscan grills and a large, custom-made, hearth

“We’ll be working from an open kitchen, and I hope that people will feel comfortable coming and saying hi,” Alvarez says of Fred’s. “The way you cook for your friends and family – with so much love and thought behind it – that’s what I want people to feel like at Fred’s; that they’ve come to our house and been taken really good care of. I’d love that.”

Wood oven fougasse with butter & olive oil; Baby Artichokes, Cipollini onion, kombu oil, mache; Grilled Snow Peas, Red Orach, dried chili and prune dressing, pepitas.