This bijou corner bistro has been recently refashioned, with its owners taking over the dance shop next door, knocking down the dividing wall, and adding a glam new cocktail bar that seamlessly connects to the existing restaurant.

Since reopening late last year, capacity has doubled to 80 in a space that’s as comfortable as it is chic.

Head chef since 2015, Robert Franklin (ex-Giuseppe Arnaldo & Sons and Church St Enoteca), remains with his brand of elegant mod-Italian comfort food, albeit now extended to more small plates and snacks designed to share over drinks.

Snack memorably on lamb croquettes ($14.50), thick crunchy-shelled flavour bombs of rich braised meat with pine nuts to swipe through a well-pitched pesto mayo.

Eggplant chips ($13) similarly hit the spot, with a subtle burnt-onion mayo the ideal foil for batons of vege encased in golden crumbs. And no regrets either on a selection of crostini or the lobster mini slider ($7.50), a decadent, delicate morsel involving a toasted two-bite brioche bun with white wine-poached lobster bits bound in creamy bechamel sauce.

Larger, yet still light and lovely, is the barramundi ($35), all tanned skin and juicy, flaky flesh alongside a sharp salad of radicchio, fennel, orange and pomegranate. Less enamouring was the half chicken ($32). Though the bird was well cooked and in a fine wine-scented caponata, chunky with spring vegetables, marring it was an overpowering red wine jus.

End on a dramatic note with the showstopping signature choc bomb dessert ($16). Its dark-chocolate sphere disappears before your eyes when a waiter douses it with warm choc sauce lightly spiked with orange. You’re left with a glorious puddle with Baci biscuits and hazelnut semifreddo to spoon into.

It would be rude not to have a cocktail in this shiny new bar, like a Gin Lizzy of Melbourne Gin Company spirit, Pimms, bitters and sage syrup. Wine is a thoughtful and varied selection of Australian and European drops, with a daily change up by the glass. Coffee is from Dimattina.

Warm welcomes, a nothing’s-too-much-trouble attitude and well-paced arrival of dishes make for a pleasant experience.

Decorative pressed tin, wood panelling, gold statement lights and semicircular luxe green velvet booths give a roaring ’20s Great Gatsby vibe to this cocktail bar, while big windows draw light into the dark-wood main area. There’s also a new private dining room for 10.

This review originally appeared on heraldsun.com.au.