All the tables in the ground-floor dining room and undercover courtyard can watch the chefs in action but the best seats to nab are along the Orso bar, where a lucky few can get up close and very personal with the food team, including the intrepid wranglers of a fiery open grill. Other spaces still enjoy the same variety of textural finishes, such as walls with bold Venetian plaster work, stone and polished timber.

Our waiter is a jaunty fellow, dressed for fun and given to exacting detail, eloquently delivering descriptions of each dish. The food is a match for his spruiking, with impeccable seasoning evident across the shared courses.

Standout starters are a simple stracciatella corralled by pickled rhubarb, fig, prosciutto and fig leaf oil, and a luscious beef tartare offset by walnuts, piquant fried capers and horseradish cream. There’s a trio of pastas (perhaps pipe rigata with duck leg ragu), and tempting sirloin and fish. However, a vego plate of roasty toasty pumpkin on a bed of mustard-infused yoghurt, topped with quinoa and zingy tarragon verde, almost steals this show.

To read our full list of reviews for South Australia, head here.