Lee HoFook (Sydney)

Two floors above Castlereagh Street, inside the restored Porter House, a two-hatted Melbourne kitchen has opened its first Sydney room. The cooking refracts Chinese classics through a modern Australian lens: charcoal does much of the talking, with premium local seafood and beef finished over fire in a style that is precise rather than showy. Executive chef Brad Guest, whose resume runs through Cafe Paci, Sixpenny and Sepia, oversees a menu that pairs the founder's established signatures with dishes made only for here, so a Melbourne regular still finds something unfamiliar. The heritage bones of the building give the space a grown-up, low-lit confidence, and the cellar is taken seriously, reaching for rare vintages while keeping Monday nights open to free BYO. It is fine dining that wears its technique lightly, all bold flavours, refined edges and the odd unexpected turn, and it reads as a genuine transplant rather than a satellite trading on a name. Open for dinner Monday to Saturday and lunch at the end of the week, it brings a distinctly Melbourne sensibility to the top of the city, grounded firmly in Australian growers and the produce they send through the door.