Surry Hills welcomes Pellegrino 2000 trattoria and The Rover cocktail bar to the neighbourhood

If you're looking for the hottest intersection on the Sydney food map this month, it's difficult to drive past the corner of Foster and Campbell streets, in Surry Hills.

Opening this week on the north side of Campbell is Pellegrino 2000, the new Italian restaurant from the Bistrot 916 crew, while across the street, The Wild Rover is set to ditch its "wild" ways and reposition itself as a "sophisticated" dining and drinking venue when it reopens next month.

Pellegrino 2000 has taken up residence in the former site of Bar H, filling walls with framed art and pinning a vintage sign on the exterior.

It's a cute shopfront restaurant with good bones, but its calling card will be chef Dan Pepperell's food. Where Bistrot 916 at Potts Point serves up clever French, Pellegrino 2000 steers Italian. Pepperell has some form with Italian in the neighbourhood, having previously steered the kitchen at Alberto's Lounge.

With pasta, fritto misto and tripe in creative hands, Pepperell's partners Michael Clift and Andy Tyson will hopefully add some of the Midas touch they've had with their first venture.

At its heart, Pellegrino 2000 is a neighbourhood restaurant inspired by the trio's favourite trattorias in Rome and Florence, but still has a few nice add-ons, including a candlelit wine cellar.

Back across the street, The Wild Rover (owned by the team behind Bistecca and The Gidley) will shut on February 19, reopening mid-March as The Rover, with more of a New York cocktail bar pitch and New England-inspired food menu.