When Lennox Hastie’s Gildas opened in Surry Hills last year, it was a big step for Basque-inspired dining in Sydney. The Basque party got a little louder this week with the arrival of Deux Freres at Circular Quay.

Deux Freres (two brothers in French) is dedicated to pintxos, snacks served in Basque Country, in north Spain. It’s serving Basque’s ubiquitous snack, gildas ($8), the skewered green olive, anchovy and green chilli pintxo that gets its name from the 1946 Rita Hayworth film, Gilda. You can also tuck into tortilla de patatas (omelette with potatoes, $18) or txistorra (semi-cured sausage, $18), and there’s a conservas (tinned) range of razor clams and white anchovies in oil and vinegar.

Owners Vincent Ventura and Johan Giausseran both grew up in France, close to the region, and travel there regularly. In fact, inspiration for Deux Freres was taken from the duo’s favourite San Sebastian venues, Casa Vergara and Aralar. They have until now followed a more traditional Gallic path, with Pymble bistro Brasserie l’Entrecôte and its Circular Quay sibling, Bouillon L’Entrecôte.

Their new venue features Basque crockery, and glasses hang above counters crammed with food. Deux Freres also has wines from the region, and nine red and four white vermouths. Giausseran is a fan of the versatility of aromatised fortified wine. “You can drink it as an aperitif, at the end of the meal or all the way through,” he says.

Deux Freres has landed in the midst of a bar boom in Circular Quay, opening on Loftus Lane, near to Sicilian cocktail bar Apollonia.

“What we’re doing is more traditional. But we’re in a precinct with Italian, Japanese, French. A pintxos-style bar adds to that mix. We’re working to make Circular Quay a destination,” Giausseran says.

Open Mon-Fri 11.30am-late; Sat 3.30pm-late, 6 Loftus Lane, Circular Quay
deuxferes.com.au