Neil Perry’s first solo restaurant was due to open the night Sydney started lockdown and the anticipation from the foodie set has been so high it’s already booked out until next year. Reserve your spot and look forward to a modern Australian menu influenced by the kinds of food that Perry ate when growing up, but with a modern twist that reflects his years of cooking. So instead of pepper sauce with your beef fillet, you’ll get red curry butter and grilled scallions while crumbed garfish comes with a sauce gribiche, making it feel like the fanciest fish and chips you’ve ever had.

The Menzies Hotel has had a glow-up and this Euro-inspired bistro by an ex-Aria head chef is the first phase of Shell House, a new multi-level dining destination. Joel Bickford knows what we want to eat and is plating up bistro classics such as chicken liver eclairs with trout roe and amaro jelly, swordfish crudo with pink grapefruit and a cheese toastie filled with fontina, black pig ham and pickles. But what we’re really excited about is Martini Hour at 4pm, when lobster rolls are served alongside chilled martinis. What a way to welcome people back to the CBD for (early) knock-off drinks.

You’d be forgiven for thinking Josh Niland had given up all his tricks with seafood, what with turning fish eyeballs into crackers and dry-ageing swordfish so that it looked, and tasted, like steak. But no, there’s more. Charcoal Fish is hybrid of a fish-and-chipper and chicken shop which stars whole Aquna Murray cod on the grill and the rotisserie. In true Niland fashion, the fish is aged so that the skin mimics the crunch and texture of crackling. Order the fish as a fillet, try the BBQ Murray cod wings in tamarind hot sauce or go the rotisserie cod and gravy roll, with the gravy made from fish heads, frames and fins. 670 New South Head Rd, Rose Bay; charcoalfish.com.

This is the fourth venue in the historic Hinchcliff House, which was one of the last remaining wool stores in Sydney. Lana, which means wool in Italian, is a nod to the building’s heritage but the venue is billed as a modern pescatarian osteria. What does that mean exactly? Well, an osteria is traditionally a casual place serving booze, food and good times. Here the food is seafood-centric and could be roasted crayfish with pepperberries, garlic pane fritto with ologasti anchovies or aqua pazza kingfish.

Sydney hospitality veterans Marco Ambrosino and Manny Spinola know what we want to eat when overlooking Bondi Beach, food that is fresh, tasty and a lot of fun. There’ll always be a few varieties of freshly shucked oysters to choose from and small plates are big on flavour, such as pan tumaca with hojiblanca extra virgin olive oil. The plancha section is all about food that comes to life on the grill – think Angus hanger steak with chimichurri and bullhorn pepper or octopus with charred eggplant and tahini. Cocktails champion Australian craft spirits and Lola’s boasts more than 20 wines by the glass.

We can’t tell you what’s going to be on the menu at Dylan Cashman’s new restaurant, but we can bet it’s going to be good. The former head chef at Fin’s will offer a tasting menu that reflects the best available produce from NSW farmers. That might be confit Mareema duck with fermented garlic, mushroom, celeriac and duck broth or a “not quite carrot cake” with cardamom roasted carrots, soured cream cheese, burnt butter crumb and fennel. It’s six courses at dinner and choose between two or three courses at lunch.

Is there anything Hamish Ingham can’t do? From modern Asian at Billy Kwong to championing vermouth at Banksii Vermouth Bar & Bistro, he’s now turned his hand to Mexican at Tequila Daisy. The former Banksii site at Barangaroo has been given a bright, fiesta-fun vibe which is helped along by a list of more than 100 tequila and mezcals available by the glass. Food-wise, Ingham is putting an Aussie twist on Mexican cuisine. There are beef cheek empanadas with black bean sour cream, a BBQ achiote spatchcock as well as spicy chilli spanner crab a la diabla.

When it comes to people with pedigree, no one can touch Phil Wood. The former Rockpool and Tetsuya’s chef left NSW to spearhead Pt. Leo Estate in Victoria, but returned home to open his first restaurant. Wood’s pedigree may be high end, but Ursula’s is going to very much be a neighbourhood restaurant. The food will be modern bistro fare with a focus on fresh, local produce. “The idea is it’s going to be beautiful, simple food, that’s really produce-driven. I’ll be making the most of the fruit and vegetables from around the outskirts of Sydney,” Wood says.

The Norfolk Hotel has had a few food incarnations and the latest sounds like the best one yet. La Salut is a Catalan-inspired wine bar from the formidable team behind Love Tilly Devine, Dear Sainte Éloise and Ragazzi. You can expect natural Spanish wine served alongside Barcelona-style bar snacks such as fried quail with morcilla spice and house-made Catalan-style sausage with clams and beans. Seafood will also be a feature of the menu, the sea urchin with ajo blanco sounds good but we can’t wait to try the lightly pickled mussels with briny olives, guindilla, salty crisps and hot sauce.

Sydney hasn’t been blessed with a lot of regional Greek fare, which is why Alpha’s Peter Conistis is doing something about it. Ploos, which translates to ‘sails’ in Greek, will drop anchor at Campbell’s Stores in The Rocks and showcase the cuisine of the islands in the South Aegean, with a focus on Crete and Cyprus. Seafood will be a strong theme, obviously, but Conistis says so will plant-based fare because a lot of these islands rely on food they can produce themselves. Regional specialties will include slow-braised taro and snail souvlaki. A traditional ‘Greek’ salad will be given an island twist with pickled samphire and sea urchin roe.