Arturo’s is the new sun-drenched second-floor restaurant at the revamped Woolly Bay Hotel, located in the waterfront Sydney suburb of Woolloomooloo.

And we’re here to tell you it’s as much a love letter to Mediterranean fare as it is to fine dining, literally taking things up a level from the more casual bistro and sports bar downstairs.

Located inside the much-loved hotel, Arturo’s is another elegant interior to add to the Luchetti Krelle lookbook, with its whitewashed décor, and textured terracotta props evoking images of a Grecian beach club.

All up, hospitality group Laundy Hotels splashed out about $14 million to spruce up the three-storey landmark hotel, which as well as offering a more formal dining experience at Arturo’s, features a fab new Mediterranean rooftop tapas bar that tethers it to the waterfront overlooking the famed Finger Wharf and iconic Andrew Boy Charlton Pool.

The redesigned three-storey hotel, built in the 1800s, was nominated for the 2022 Eat Drink Design Awards which celebrates inspired interiors.

If the brief was Mediterranean beach club resort, Luchetti Krelle nailed it. The reimagined dining room offers a trip abroad via its carefully curated collection of fixtures and fittings in a social space carved up into alcoves and window seats with different styles of furniture.    

We’ll get to the food soon. But in the meantime, much of the dining pleasure at Arturo’s is due to its ambience and impeccable dining environment. Everything is highly covetable, from the candles to the cutlery, to the blue mosaic tiles, hand-sponged paintwork, splashes of coffee, terracotta and caramel tones.

The walls veer toward voluptuous and the textured ceiling includes squares of latticed bamboo so beautifully weathered they look like they washed up on the incoming tide.

Beyond the aesthetics, executive chef Jamie Gannon and head chef Adam Holt continue to reference those Mediterranean vibes on the menu with Italian, Greek and French influences coded into its DNA.  

On balance, the sheer vibrancy of the entrée of kingfish crudo in lemon oil, cucumber and pearls wins but I’d personally prefer the lemon oil to feature less oil, more lemon.

The horiatiki salad, however, screams “summer’s here” and it’s a thing of beauty with a slab of herb-flecked feta and mix of tomato, olives and cucumber finished with a glug of peppery olive oil and squeeze of lemon.

Our charming Italian waitress recommends the grain-fed eye fillet, which is a superlative steak served medium rare as requested with a pile of crisp frites and tangle of crisp, fresh salad leaves.

We also order the salmon, the fish of the day, which although slightly overdone, arrives with a crisp, golden skin and punchy sauce of green herbs topped with salty curls of kale.

We finish with an enormous slab of baked Basque cheesecake, which is light and creamy and very agreeable. While the wine list is sourced from great regions from around the world and the range of craft beers is extensive, we’re here for the signature cocktails.

It’s fitting that Splendida Giornata by Vasco Rossi is blaring as we wander upstairs to the rooftop bar, which is all earthy tones, stylish banquettes and pops of burnt orange. It’s here, sipping on a Naples Nectar, and Majorca Martini, that we start manifesting our bucket-list trip back to the Med. A splendid journey indeed.

Related review: Why Mona Vale’s beachside Basin Dining Room is making waves