Lupo has always been special … so some were surprised when the Pearce family shook things up this year, overhauling their Spanish tapas menu with Italian, home-cooked dishes.

It’s a triumph. Classic cocktails have been replaced with stunners like sbagliato (a cool combo of Campari, prosecco and vermouth with watermelon and green capsicum).

Talented yet totally unpretentious chef Harry Pearce is cooking food he’s passionate about. Even simple woodfired bruschetta is made with love, sweet tomatoes and lashings of the creamiest homemade ricotta.

Pastas are wildly varied but incredible: gnocchi swimming in a rich gorgonzola sauce, rigatoni with piquant peppers and juicy sausage and sublime porcini-stuffed cappelletti floating in an addictive mushroom broth. Larger dishes include the wood-roasted chicken: tender on the inside, crispy on the outside and in a lemon mascarpone puddle (add the charred cauliflower for a treat).

All these changes are positive, but they haven’t messed with the ambience. It’s still a glorious mash-up of Grandma’s cottage, an Old English pub and a run-down cabin thanks to the playful juxtaposition of a gleaming bar, old net curtains and a glitterball. It’s also still cosy, but always feels like the place where the celebration is … and you’re definitely welcome to join.

Exceptional dish (or dishes): Porcini & ricotta cappelletti, mushroom brodo, and wood roasted chicken, cavolo nero, mascarpone, lemon