Former Lotus head chef “Big” Sam Young and his partner Grace Chen met in the kitchen at Ms G’s, of Merivale’s vast collection. Now they’re running their own restaurant in Castlecrag, with a menu filled with luxe ingredients. But the caviar, lobster and even the truffles are not the most interesting thing about the new S’More Bistro.

Get your phone ready and your Instagram poised, this place screams. One customer asks for a selfie with Young himself, who is manning the floor, taking orders, explaining the sexy caviar bump ritual. Think: a dollop of the fish roe is sucked or licked off the back of one’s hand. At another table, one diner pulls out a mobile professional light and holds it above the food so the other three diners can get “content”: shots of the Oscietra caviar and its condiments, served with potato gems ($120).

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There’s 2GR wagyu bone-in rib eye ($280), which has been raised on the open ranges of eastern Australia and is known for its visually striking marbling. There’s lobster pasta ($138) and caviar bumps ($24 or $45). Now truffles are in, a trolley is ceremoniously wheeled out and Young himself shaves them fresh over pasta ($68 or $88 for a larger portion), or fries, at the table. It’s all very delicious, but it comes across as being mere theatre in the name of heady indulgence, the end game being opulence and some kind of bling-empire Instagram fodder – all a little off- putting for those of us not engaging.

This is a neighbourhood bistro set in the leafy surrounds of the north shore, and Young and Chen are bringing a good night out. But the opposite of lockdown is not overindulgence, or mindless consumerism. It’s being with people.

Then, Young sits down at our table to take our order and, when pressed only slightly, he tells how he wanted this place to be about “soul”, and really delicious food. “It’s not here for social media”, he says, but he welcomes every person with a big heart – I paraphrase.

The XO pipi linguine comes to the table. The noodles are handmade, wok tossed in a house-made XO, sauce rich with umami, it’s dusted with chilli pangrattato. This is the kind of Italian-slash-Asian connection we loved about Mitch Orr’s Acme in Rushcutters Bay, now closed. The dish is packed with flavour, texture, and the pipis are delightfully sweet.

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Drinks play on the same theme as the menu. A truffle negroni is good, the gin infused with truffles, very subtly, and two thin slices sit on top of the enormous ice cube. It’s a nice novelty more than downright delicious. After ordering drinks when we first sit, though, we’re not offered drinks again.

The caviar-dolloped potato cakes, smooth with a buttery crisp exterior, have a salted duck egg custard inside ($8 or, with caviar, another $10). Who can think of taking out their phone to take photographs at a time like this? The flavours, texture, it’s bang-on bistro with heart. The claypot fried rice with lap cheong and shiitake is dancing with flavour and complexity; so many little dots and bursts to love, a crispy- bottomed fried egg on top. For those hoping for crispy rice on the bottom of their rice clay pot, the egg is a happy compensation.

Any neighbourhood bistro worth its locals’ attention has to get the chicken right. Here, it’s brined for three days, glazed and roasted, and it comes either whole or half (if you ask for it), with the smoothest parsnip puree and well- balanced jus. The flavour is unique, intense, really downright delicious in the way a roast chicken should be.

It takes two halves to make a restaurant great; the creators and the diners. “Big” Sam Young has it right, in so many ways. He’s making luxe ingredients fun, even if they’re no more financially accessible than elsewhere in Sydney. S’More is a neighbourhood bistro and, long after the Instagrammers have left, the locals will be here, eating delicious food and just being with other people.