The Emporium

In NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay's recent spirited defence of the government's WestConnex motorway agenda, he seemed to imply that the latte-sippers and chardonnay-drinkers he decried as "roads-haters" were all residents of inner-city suburbs. Excuse me, but has he been to Parramatta recently?

The city identified as Sydney's next CBD is awash with latte-sippers and chardonnay-drinkers, not to mention extra virgin olive oil-drizzlers and wood-fired pizza-nibblers. Gelato Messina came west last year. Bourke Street Bakery landed in Church Street in April.

And right now, Jamie's Italian Trattoria on Centenary Square is bubbling over with sizzling meatballs and truffled pasta. To sit up at the bar in the midst of the rowdy Jamie-loving crowd with a glass of nero d'avola and great little chicken liver crostini is to marvel at the power and potential of greater western Sydney to reinvent itself.

But there's another, more local gastrodome going for the new latte-sipping, chardonnay-drinking dollar. Around the corner in Phillip Street, local entrepreneur John Ayoub, who established the first Coffee Emporium in Bankstown in 2002, has teamed up with cousin Sam Ayoub to build a handsome two-story Italian villa housing a restaurant, bar, bakery and coffee roaster, with a lovely piazza to one side.

Think The Grounds of Alexandria, gone Italian and gone west. Think $4 million. Think a mostly Mediterranean menu taken inside on Tuscan chairs next to the glassed-in 25-kilogram coffee roaster, or outside in a plant-fringed terrace held down by heavy Venetian marble tables and Christmas lilies.

Former Steel Bar & Dining chef Rob Cannon divides his menu into sections entitled "Not that hungry?", "More mouths to feed", "You choose" (cheeses and cured meats), and "For the sweet tooth".

The first two courses don't do much for me. Grilled haloumi with lightly charred chunks of cucumber, finely sliced radish, and pomegranate seeds ($16) tasted flat and dull, and my grilled calamari ($18) smelt a bit fishy, not done any favours by bland chorizo and some sort of creamy puree. But then comes a turnaround.

The two larger plates have style to burn, classically composed and bursting with flavour. Slow-cooked beef short rib in a sweet maple syrup and paprika glaze ($40) is perfect for sharing, the glossy, dark brick of gelatinous meat shredding happily to the fork.

Then there's truffle chicken cooked in three ways ($34), an impressive dish of boned thigh rolled and stuffed with truffled-infused thigh meat; a successfully sous-vide (low and slow) cooked breast; and a token lollipop of chicken wing. Another highlight: the plate's heavenly slow-roasted celeriac.

On the side, skinny fries ($8) come with a spooky black garlic aioli that is actually quite awesome.

A mix-and-match wine list of new and old world labels throws up interesting selections by the glass, including an intense yet elegant Fattoria di Bagnolo chianti ($16/$80) and a ripe, earthy Walnut Block Collectibles Marlborough pinot noir ($65/$15). Dessert ($14) is also mix-and-match; with a terrific mango sorbet lurking among firm, dry coconut sago and grilled pineapple.

You'd have to say service is up and down as well – keen, but without the training or experience to back it up.

So, two beaut new places to check out in Parramatta already, with plenty more to come as part of the proposed $2 billion redevelopment of the main city square. It's great that Jamie Oliver is here already - but how much better is it that the locals are doing it for themselves.

THE LOW-DOWN
Best bit Parramatta rocks
Worst bit Uneven cooking
Go-to dish Slow-cooked beef short rib, sticky maple paprika glaze, chimichurri and watercress, $40

Terry Durack is chief restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald and senior reviewer for The Good Food Guide. This rating is based on the Good Food Guide scoring system.