Cafe Ananas

What happens when one hospitality titan buys out another? This sweet bistro. Cafe Nice, along with the entire Sopra chain of restaurants/Fratelli Fresh stores, was obtained a little while back by Sydney hospitality powerhouse the Urban Purveyor Group (they of the Bavarian Bier Cafes, The Cut, Sake et al). Now, for a lot of people, that won't mean anything aside from a slight name change. For the nerdy restaurant voyeurs out there, this might have piqued your interest.

The room looks pretty much the same – oh, maybe a little more classic and a little less tongue-in-cheek "tour the Cote d'Azur" than Cafe Nice – but the same view out to Circular Quay and the trains that pull in and out of it prevails. The menu, though, is a very different proposition. Chef Josh Niland has left the building, taking with him his menu of modern Nicoise dishes to be replaced with Damien Brassel and his bold series of Parisian bistro classics.

So maybe it'll mean starting (and judging by the density of this soup, ending) with a double-time cheesy king hit of comte and gruyere in a rich, darkly sweet onion soup filled with spongy hunks of soaked dark bread. It's definitely hefty enough to share between two. If your dining companion happens to moonlight as a soup-loving Hulk, you might consider the puffy ricotta-filled ravioli brightened with tomato confit and a fine chiffonade of basil. In terms of service, it's a bit of a step up, offering up attentive, friendly waitstaff and a feel-good vibe.

As you'd expect from a menu of this nature, there's going to be confit, there's going to be steak, there's going to be frites. True, a hanger steak, blushing with just the right amount of chew, could do with being rested a little longer, but smothered in herbed, mustardy butter, it doesn't really matter. And anyway – who doesn't love a meat-juice-and-butter-soaked chip?

Confit duck sighs off the bone, perfectly seasoned. And a side of tiny little duck-fat roast potatoes keeps that king hit of protein in check. Unlike the asparagus doused in a generous amount of hollandaise sauce, which keeps nothing in check at all, delightfully.

Follow all that up with a jug of modestly-priced burgundy and lean back. If you were so inclined, you might order the tarte tatin to follow, but considering the dry, slightly cardboard-y pastry, it might be wiser to go another jug and something from the cheese trolley.

In a perfect world, I'd also be throwing a chartreuse or Ricard on the bottom of the menu, adding a little ice and probably not leaving until after close. I'll settle for near perfect quite happily.

Pro tip Skip the decision-making and order the $45 prix fixe.
Try this The duck confit is one of the better examples of its ilk in the city right now.
Like this? Keep it so Frenchy at chic bistro to the stars, Felix; 2 Ash Street, Sydney, merivale.com.au/felix, 02 9240 3000.