The Exchange Hotel on Oxford St – for decades an all-night/all-day pit-stop for drag queens and club kids – has had an unlikely transformation by one of our best-known Italian dining families. This is the first solo venture for Nina Gravelis, daughter of Fratelli Fresh founder, Barry McDonald, but she has previously overseen six of her father’s eateries before the business was bought by Urban Purveyor Group in April.

The famously seedy interior is gone, replaced by glossy floorboards, leather banquettes and a marble-topped bar. Meanwhile, the kitchen is in the expert hands of Fratelli’s former executive chef Sean Corkery.

Corkery, who has retained only the zucchini flowers and pork meatballs from the original Fratelli menu, is exploring more technical terrain here. This is a whole new kettle of fish.

A pizzetta stuffed with stracchino cheese is a perfect start with a cold beer. Or try slices of seared Yellowfin tuna with a dressing of red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, capers and anchovies.

But it’s the pasta that steals the show, especially a superb lobster risotto. Using a stock made from crushed lobster shells, butter, onions, garlic, white wine and leeks, Corkery has infused the risotto with fresh enoki mushrooms before adding lobster meat and butter.

Sticking with the seafood theme, linguine with crab and chilli is topped with breadcrumbs for added texture.

Mains include dishes like a 1kg bistecca or a snapper fillet, with cherry tomatoes and served with basil and zucchini flowers. Another standout is a half roast chicken plated in a heavenly pool of lemon juice and olive oil.

To say this is the kind of restaurant that the southern end of Oxford St needs is an understatement. It’s warm, affordable, hip (without trying) and wholly unpretentious.