When the team behind Clam Bar and Pellegrino 2000 opened Neptune’s Grotto on Tuesday, Sydney’s hospitality historians were eager to see if the new Circular Quay restaurant might copy the iconic oyster-clad walls of Kensington’s long-closed Grotta Capri.

“There is a statue of Neptune that sits in the middle of the room,” co-owner Andy Tyson says of the marine design nods. And the supporting pillars are clad in tortoiseshell. But there’s not a single oyster shell glued to the restaurant’s exterior.

“The interior is more New York bordello,” Tyson says. Expect less of a beachside Capri cave vibe, and more zebra-print carpet, panelled murals and “custom portraits of people dining”.

“It’s a cave cut into the sandstone,” says Tyson, explaining the inspiration behind the moniker.

How about the food?

“Where Pellegrino is a little more Roman, this time we’re going north. The food is classic northern Italian.”

Tyson and business partners Dan Pepperell and Mikey Clift have hardly put a foot wrong since joining forces nearly four years ago; Clam Bar and Pellegrino 2000 (which Taylor Swift toured during her Sydney work trip) are both recipients of chefs’ hats. The trio’s other award-winning restaurant, Bistrot 916, recently closed due to the redevelopment of its Potts Point home.

Pepperell and Clift are the chef double-act overseeing Neptune’s Grotto, which inhabits the subterranean space under Clam Bar, where Tokonoma and Cubby’s Kitchen previously traded.

The opening menu includes salumi, chopped liver, house-made pasta and cotoletta alla panna.

“There is just nothing better than, say, a perfectly stuffed tortellini,” says Pepperell. “The care it takes to make, you can really taste it.”

Tyson took off on a quick trip through Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna to find wines to match the food.

Tapping into a network of traders and collectors, he sourced an eclectic collection, some of which has arrived, some of which is still en route – including some prized finds from 1971. “It’s one of the great vintages,” he says.

Tyson hasn’t taken the easy option of incorporating the wine lists at Neptune’s Grotto and Clam Bar. He wants each venue to have its own distinct wine identity.

And the trip clearly wasn’t a chore. “You know how people are geeky about things like baseball cards, that’s how I am about these wines,” he says.

Open lunch and dinner Mon-Sat

Corner Young Street and Loftus Lane, Sydney, neptunesgrotto.com.au