Potts Point’s luxe French brasserie Franca has a new sibling, and she lives right next door.

Parlar, pronounced “parlour”, brings coastal Catalan dining with a side of Mediterranean cool to Sydney.

Just like at Franca next door, opulent design is part of the experience here. The 55-seat, 120 square metre space – adorned with velvetine brown corduroy and leather bench seats, Giallo Sienna marble tabletops, Rosso Damascus marble floors and curved European oak walls – was done by Andrew Becher, owner of Franca and Parlar, in tandem with interiors firm Steel and Stitch. On the walls hang three exuberant tapestries by acclaimed artist Alexander Calder, 1975
trophies from Becher’s own collection.

Potts Point’s glitterati slide into the comfortable booth seats in loved-up pairs, while local architects and their husbands bring their grown-up families along for Louis Roederer ‘242’ Reims Champagne from the “say when” menu, and tins of caviar that we, mere mortals, can’t even find on the menu. It’s a special occasion place for as-often-as-possible.

The food focuses on Catalonia, and specifically where it meets the south of France along the Mediterranean coastline. Head chef José Saulog plays it out with a share-style menu that kicks off with small snacks such as anchovy churros topped with an ornate ribbon of creme fraiche allioli, a glorious salted Olasagasti anchovy on top, and lemon myrtle dust bringa the flavours closer to home. This, here in rainy Potts Point, is the trip to the sunny Med we’ve been craving
for the past couple of years.

Keep the snacks coming, they’re good here. The morcilla sandwich might be the snack of the year. Gilda toast, a spin on the quintessentially Basque tooth-picked pickled anchovy, green olive and green chilli pintxo from San Sebastian, elevated with chewy charred toast. The simple-sounding pan tomate is layers of jammy tomato and extraordinarily thin fresh tomato.

Continue with more substantial dishes that play around with richness and texture, raw next to caramelised, sweet with sour, smoked next to fresh. Wagyu rump cap carpaccio sits on a smoky bonito allioli cream, a fun play on Italy’s vitello tonnato. Saulog’s menu could play it safe and luxurious, still pleasing a well-heeled crowd, but instead, the chef pushes the boundaries, swapping out less flavourful fillet of beef for textured, occasionally chewy but certainly more
flavourful wagyu rump cap. He shifts the food past the expected and into the rather extraordinary.

Fideuà marinera is similar to paella, with vermicelli-thin short pieces of pasta instead of rice. The underside of the fish- and clam-dotted round is delightfully crispy and chewy as required and while it’s a daringly simple dish, it is also what is desired after the more elaborate snacks. Crema Catalana with its caramelised white chocolate is a lovely Spanish take on France’s creme brulee, and it would justify becoming a cult dessert, if dining Instagrammers can get the lighting right.

Drinks maestro Alex Raclet’s menu is fun, interesting, and propels almost every table to order cocktails to start. A Catalan Sour is fresh and zingy, a joyous jumble of Tanqueray Gin, green apple and jalapeno syrup, fresh cucumber and lemon juice, and espelette pepper. There are plenty of wines by the glass, and the NV Pares Balta ‘N’ Penedes Cava is a delightful way to set the scene, as well as to see out a night in this new, celebratory destination.

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