Every now and then a venue comes along that profoundly changes the way we do things. In Sydney over the past few years, one of those has been The Grounds of Alexandria.

I distinctly remember the first time I went there, way back in 2012. It was a cafe that looked like a garden centre, with a picturesque outdoor area beautified by hanging vines, climbing roses and even roaming chickens and a pig.

The space made the most of the industrial walls and nooks left from what once was a Four’N Twenty pie factory, and the food was not fancy but people-friendly: burgers and salads for lunch and pastries and coffee for breakfast. It soon went absolutely bananas.

Four years down the track, venues are still opening in the shadow of The Grounds and one of those is Windsor’s Easy Lane.

Walk into Easy Lane and you could immediately forget you were inside what is an otherwise unremarkable — nay, drab — RSL.

A rustic laneway leads to a roomy restaurant filled with, yes, picture-perfect ferns in baskets, with spacious communal tables and an airy outdoor area of picnic tables. Easy Lane is an ideal name — it feels easy and breezy. The Grounds of Windsor, it could almost be.

Head chef Stewart Simpson presides over a menu that’s not going to shock anyone with its innovations but offers crowd-pleasing dishes that give locals a taste of modern dining.

That means wood-fired pizzas and burgers served on boards, sliders, hotdogs and even some more ambitious stuff including poke, the Hawaiian raw fish dish that’s sweeping Sydney.

Most seem to start with chicken wings ($22), a plater of wingettes slathered in a “Sriracha” sauce that’s a milder version of the original fiery Thai sauce. Messy and plentiful, the wings offer more-ish, satisfying eating, especially for kids.

The pizzas, meanwhile, include something called The Stampede ($22), featuring “hand-rolled meatballs”, mozzarella, parmesan and fresh basil, or the more prosaic regina ($18) with tomato, mozzarella and basil. The pizzas are what I would call OK.

The great Neapolitan pizzerias of Sydney — da Mario, Rosso Pomodoro, Lucio — need not fear the competition, for the bases miss some needed char.

A pleasant surprise is the poke ($18), a stack of cubed, cured tuna with rice, avocado, tomato, shallot and soy. Faintly Asian and fragrant, it is more than reminiscent of sushi, with lingering sesame oil presence.

The burger ($20), too, has kudos. A large angus patty comes in with cheddar, mayo, tomato and lettuce. It’s uncomplicated and not fashionably American, but hearty.

On the downside, a line-up at the counter to order system fails us repeatedly. In a venue as cheery as this, spending time queuing in a variety of lines is trying.

Still, Easy Lane is part of some serious Sydney movements — the push to better RSL dining, and the replication of the Grounds vibe everywhere.

For the folk of the northwest that’s a win-win.

Originally published on dailytelegraph.com.au