Here’s some advice before eating at Albert’s Wine Bar. Don’t expect a salad, or anything green. Bread will be your bestie, olive oil your lover, pasta your play thing. We’re in wine bar country and here for drinking, so while you’re yacking know the snacking at Toby Koffman and siblings Doug Milledge and Alice Freer’s new Armadale haunt is simple, with a promise of something more.

Last August the mates dipped their toe into the hospo game, opening Albert’s out the back of Kings Arcade as a sanger-slinging cafe until their liquor licence landed this year. Almost 12 months after getting the keys, the trio took over the hairdresser next door and bolstered Albert’s capacity to 80, graduating from daytime cafe to a broodier, moodier bar. It’s all very Euro-chic. Crimpy-trimmed, jade green awnings shade punters on the table-lined footpath.

Timber venetian blinds provide an intimate shield for lovestruck diners inside; the small front room illuminated by the romantic flicker of candlelight. There are only a couple of spots at the bar and three tables in the front room, with the new adjoining space allowing for a larger timber table that’s perfect for groups.

The new room is also where you may sneak a peek behind the curtain concealing the playground of Albert’s new head chef Aster Varagiannis.

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The young, first-time chef’s menu is short, no longer than 15 items, and filled with food to soak up your sins. Things will change pretty regularly here, with snackery made from a combination of technique and slap-on-the-plate readiness.

The burrata and onion jam ($18) is one example, landing at the table moments after ordering. Snowed in a golden pangrattato crumb, this adds a pleasantly unsuspecting crunch in every, creamy curd-filled chew, with baguette slices working well to line the stomach.

Grilled eggplant sheets ($15) tickled with chilli, garlic, parsley and sunflower oil are tasty enough but should come with a napkin warning. The same goes for the rigatoni ($28), a larger share, jostling tubes of firm pasta in a glossy red wine and tomato rich ragu that’s salty, garlicky and glugging with olive oil. Someone pass the bread.

The Sicilian-style tuna ceviche ($22) is a standout, providing a glimmer of ingenuity and freshness. It’s made with Tasmanian southern bluefin tuna and tumbled with salty capers, parsley and dill, best enjoyed loaded onto crostini to dial up the crunch factor.

More of this kitchen freshness would be welcomed at Albert’s, but for now a glass of electric Frankland Estate riesling brimming with lime and green apples will get the motor running. Or maybe a mellowed glass of chablis is more your style while throwing back a dozen oysters.

There’s no real method to the wine madness. Most of the 200-strong bottle collection (made up of funky and fun Aussie, French and Italian numbers) are among the team’s favourites, plus there’s also beer or basic cocktails if that’s your jam.

Maybe that’s the trick to Albert’s: it’s about easy vibes, great drinks, food for substance and pleasure. The diet starts tomorrow.

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