“Please, sir, I want some more.” The classic line from Oliver Twist is all I can think of after eating chef Alastair Little’s cassoulet at Little Bistro. One of the world’s greatest culinary hugs, cassoulet is a dish rarely done well in Sydney. Little’s, however, brims with pork belly, sausage, confit duck and the creamy broth of beans and a depth I could plunge into time and again.

The celebrated English chef, known as the godfather of British cuisine,
has landed Down Under and, while he looks for his own restaurant site, he’ll be dishing up bistro classics on the first floor of the Merivale group’s Hotel CBD, where the late, great Jeremy Strode fuelled the city’s bistro needs with Bistrode.

If I haven’t already ruined the plot of this restaurant mystery, Little’s food is decidedly delicious. This is not contemporary spin, nor unique ingredients for a topical flourish. This is solid-as-a-rock French, British and Italian cookery where heavy, rich sauces lure you in from the cold and get your cockles popping.

The dining room is a classic black and white bistro – the walls, double tablecloths and columns all white, the floors, chairs, fixtures and ceiling all black. There’s something nostalgically nice about the old-fashioned service and the wine list’s brevity is as appreciated as its price point, and don’t expect a young crowd – this is suit territory – but expect to be satisfied.

Capers and streaks of tonnato dressing top thin sheets of tuna carpaccio. Soft, sweet new-season Kinkawooka mussels are tossed in white wine, chilli and parsley, while grilled radicchio and pine nuts partner a beautifully cooked fillet of mulloway that’s crisp of skin and juicy of flesh.

Sign off with an ethereally thin apple tarte fine and stick a fork in me, because I’m just about done. Ah, bugger it. Please, chef, I want some more.