Creek & Cella

The first thing you’ll notice at Creek & Cella are the fridges. The fluorescent, white-tiled glass cabinets display locally sourced produce as artfully as a still life painting. On any given day cured NSW smallgoods from De Palma and Quattro Stelle Salumi might hang, with a washed rind by Tarago River and raw milk cheese from Bruny Island stacked below.

You’ll also find nine taps of local beer, pouring names such as La Sirene, Wildflower and Big Shed Brewing Concern, along with natural wines. You’d expect as much from owners Aaron Edwards and Ben King, the barmen behind Surry Hill’s beer hub Bitter Phew and Newtown’s Doris and Beryl’s Bridge Club & Tea House.

The menu is a tour-de-force of local goodness. Case in point: the Reuben sandwich. It’s stuffed with pastrami from Sydney-based Challenger Smallgoods, pickles by Westmont Picklery and packaged in a dense rye from Pyrmont’s Pioik bakery.

The place has a refined, easy-going charm. And that’s exactly what Edwards and King had in mind when they opened here in late 2016; a contemporary European eatery, serving lazy sundown wine, charcuterie plates and something more substantial, too. It’s a well-travelled relative to the storied Italian restaurants that share the strip, if you will.