Set in a gorgeous old heritage theatre, this theatrical folly of a dining room produces a real sense of old-world drama with its double-clothed tables, velvet drapes, gleaming Riedel glasses and long-aproned serving staff. Yet Tim Montgomery is a thoroughly modern chef, placing an emphasis on local, seasonal and sustainable, with nearly everything made in-house, from the hand-churned butter to the bottarga (dried mullet roe). Newcastle itself is celebrated in Knuckles, Black Eyes and Broken Cheeks, a little hotpot of slow-cooked pork with black-eyed peas, and a dramatic appetiser of brandade and scallop balls rolled in dried powdered avruga that resembles lumps of black coal. Seafood from the local co-op stars in a creamy ‘tidal pool’, and again in a main course of skate cleverly teamed with bone marrow gnocchi. Rare kangaroo loin with boudin noir and preserved fruit was a little over-balanced with fruitiness, but a deconstructed lemon ‘meringue’ is all pop, crunch and tang.