A seafood bistro, an all-day vegetarian eatery and an Italian restaurant will present diners with a fresh dilemma on where to eat when they open their doors side-by-side this summer.

Mister Grotto, Flora and Osteria Mucca will join Continental Deli on Australia Street in Newtown to create a four-in-one precinct by hospitality group Paisano & Daughters, founded by Elvis Abrahanowicz, Joseph Valore and Michael Nicolian.

“Opening one venue is a lot, this has been something else,” says Abrahanowicz.

First off the block is Flora, an all-day vegetarian eatery with a modern-vintage fit-out. “It’s a restaurant for everyone. When you come here you won’t know you’ve had a vegetarian meal,” he says.

While Abrahanowicz may be renowned for his smoky, parilla-grilled meats at Porteno, his wife and business partner, Sarah Doyle, is vegetarian, and he predominantly cooks plant-based meals at home.

“There’s a lot of work that goes into making vegetarian food,” he says. “It’s not like steak, where you just cut it and grill it. Preparing vegetables is labour-intensive, and it becomes costly because of that.

“Produce also changes week-to-week depending on what the growers have, so we have to work very closely with the farmers to figure out what we’re going to put on the plate.”

Abrahanowicz worked with Flora head chef Jude Hughes, formerly of the now-closed Barrio in Byron Bay and The Summertown Aristologist in the Adelaide Hills, on the menu, which he wanted to be “interesting, but approachable”.

Highlights include a short stack of ricotta and cacao husk pancakes topped with smoked maple syrup and espresso butter; a quinoa burger – “it’s got an incredible texture to it”; and a tomato and bullhorn pepper gazpacho adorned with figs and yoghurt.

The venue will make everything it can from scratch, including the bread, kimchi, pickles, vinegar, tempeh and cheese. “We’ll be making a fresh curd and ageing it, then serving both the fresh and aged curds together,” Abrahanowicz says.

As for drinks, diners can expect an all-Australian line-up of both spirits and wine, curated by co-owner and bartender Michael Nicolian. There will also be a master list in case diners want something specific from next door.

Former Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year Lauren Eldridge, who was named head of pastry for Paisano & Daughters last year, will oversee the dessert menu at all four venues.

She’s also behind the cakes and slices that sit on Flora’s front counter, which includes a fragrant polenta and rosemary loaf; caramel and cardamom buns; and the venue’s signature dark-chocolate-dipped “Flora-tine” bars.

While the four townhouses have similar facades and footprints (Flora and Mister Grotto seat 30, while Osteria Mucca seats 50), each venue has its own identity.

Flora has been given a buttercup-yellow fit-out, which includes honey timber-panelled walls, botanical prints and an apron curtain, which sits just below the gold lettering on the heritage shopfront.

Next door at Mister Grotto, the dark-wood seafood bistro resembles the inside of a ship’s hull, with a collection of nautical bric-a-brac lining the walls. Osteria Mucca, housed in an old butcher shop, specialises in steaks (mucca means “cow” in Italian), freshly made pasta and regional Italian fare.

If you can’t choose one, you can always hop between them, Abrahanowicz suggests. “Start at Flora for breakfast, then move next door to Mister Grotto for lunch, Continental Deli for cocktails in the afternoon, and Osteria Mucca for dinner.”

Flora is open for walk-ins for breakfast and lunch, with dinner available from February 10

206 Australia Street, Newtown, instagram.com/flora_newtown

Mister Grotto opens on February 10, with Osteria Mucca to follow in early March

More information at paisanoanddaughters.com.au