Lick your lips, Sydney. And maybe start that sit-up regime, because the upcoming opening season for Italian-flavoured venues is looking tasty.

The one-time Surry Hills home of Bar H has generated plenty of industry talk after Chicken Institute recently called time in the space. Talk on the eats streets of postcode 2010 is the crew from Potts Point's Bistrot 916 has nabbed the site. While they couldn't be reached for comment, an insider says early plans lean toward a dine-in Italian deli concept.

A suburb away, in Darlinghurst, Paski will open its doors later this month at 239 Oxford Street. Inspired by the botegas and enotecas of Italy, the two-level Paski has some serious grunt in its triumvirate of partners: chef Enrico Tomelleri (Ragazzi, Alberto's Lounge), and wine guns Giorgio De Maria and Mattia Dicati.

Nigel Ward, the former owner of Sagra and ex-head chef at Uccello, is also in build stage at his next project, Passeggiata restaurant, on Bronte Road in Waverley.

"I'm basically building the restaurant I want to go to," Ward told Good Food. He hopes to open in February.