Well, the original Newtown Continental was the deli Sydney needed, and the CBD iteration is just as important. Offering all the elements that lured us into the inner west’s best deli, Continental CBD is more of a restaurant and bar, than the deli/bistro/bar of the original. By a few of the big names behind the incredible Porteño Group (Porteño, Bodega, Bodega 1904 and more) the new Phillip Street CBD outpost highlights the group’s signature attention to detail in design, championing of real food, and welcoming atmosphere. This is a mecca for cold cuts, tinned seafood, cracking cheeses and European-inspired bistro fare that few do better.

With an eye for Art Deco, the room is anchored by a sit-at bar, it’s open to the elements with al fresco on offer, and the main dining room is busier than a mosquito at a nudist colony – for good reason. Sit at the bar and swirl down a signature cocktail while sampling the city’s most-talked-about sandwich – O’Connor black Angus sirloin and Appenzeller cheese on an onion baguette, with a side of jus to dip it in. Hit the dining room for thick-cut kingfish partnered with nectarine and ’nduja. Truffle takes celeriac mac’n’cheese to new heights, while broccolini, pork sausage and cuttlefish entwine with squid ink rigatoni. Finish off with mandarin savarin, pistachio cream and rum, then totter off to the bar for a digestive, or something a wee bit stronger.