Aru

The first thing you'll notice at Aru, sister restaurant to Sunda, is the blazing woodfire hearth. The second is the sheer number of chefs in the kitchen, and floor staff gracefully criss-crossing the room.

The busy kitchen occupies one side of the narrow Little Collins Street restaurant; on the other, diners perch on cosy banquettes and curved timber chairs. There really is nowhere for the chefs to hide – all eyes are on the 16-metre-long open kitchen. The space’s earthy colour palette – which features spotted gum and terracotta bricks – is inspired by the restaurant’s focus on fire.

While Sunda is known for its small, dainty plates, at Aru they’ve been traded for generous ones designed to be mixed, matched and shared across the table. Make sure to start with the "forbidden" black-rice sourdough bread glazed with soy sauce and palm sugar, followed by something from the charcuterie section, such as the pâté en croûte with flavours of banh mi.

The rest of the menu is stacked with hits: a Bunnings-esque duck-sausage sanga; clay pot broken rice with braised pork cheek, mushrooms and egg yolk; and scorched pavlova with strawberry gum, black currants and grapefruit.

Cocktails take their cues from the menu, with past highlights including the Umami Martini with Four Pillars Olive Leaf gin and a bush tomato in place of an olive. An 400-strong wine list is designed to stand up to the food’s robust flavours, and includes roughly two dozen by-the-glass options.