Selah

Named with the Hebrew word for 'pause', Selah offers many reasons to stop and linger. It's a cosy, stone-fronted hideout from Circular Quay's slick tourist trail; there's no full-throttle Australiana here, just an inviting room with personable touches (floor-to-ceiling wine racks, a small library of cookbooks and light fittings resembling pattycake wrappers). An unshowy approach works well on the plate, too. An excellent confit duck risotto gets robust flavour backup from rich slivers of shiitake mushrooms and reggiano, while the caprese salad is updated with baby heirloom tomatoes, tomato jelly and basil cress. The menu slips up occasionally, and a dish of grilled polenta, stuffed zucchini flowers, and ratatouille jammed into capsicum may breach some international convention on vegetarian cliches. What works beautifully, however, is a light, dreamy dessert of coconut sorbet with raspberries, nectarine, white chocolate almonds and milk biscuit snow - a moment truly worth pausing for.