Australia Street in Newtown will be transformed by a four-venue hospitality and accommodation hub in adjoining terraces by the team that owns the hatted Continental Deli, already on the strip.

The group will launch an all-day vegetarian diner called Flora, a seafood restaurant, Mister Grotto, and an Italian steakhouse, Osteria Mucca, with the first two venues due to open in October.

The venues will occupy the ground floors of the three Federation-style shop terraces on either side of the much-loved Continental Deli, which they already own and which will continue to trade. On the upper floors, they’ll build three boutique holiday apartments.

The project involves Elvis Abrahanowicz and Joseph Valore, partners in the award-winning Porteno in Surry Hills, and Michael Nicolian (Continental Deli, Bar Louise), who have formed the Paisano & Daughters hospitality group.

We never thought we’d do three all at once, but it just happened that way.

Elvis Abrahanowicz

The plans have been in development for three years, owing to a lengthy application process through the Inner West Council.

“For as long as we’ve had [Continental Deli], we’ve thought about how great it would be to open something next door,” Abrahanowicz tells Good Food. “We never thought we’d do three all at once, but it just happened that way.”

They plan to open Flora and Mister Grotto in October. Both will feature a “cosy” 30-seat floor plan with a dine-in bar and banquette seating. The fit-outs will echo the Continental Deli aesthetic, reminiscent of a warm, lived-in trattoria you might stumble upon while wandering through an Italian village.

At Flora, expect seasonal vegetarian breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes inspired by the plant-based meals Abrahanowicz and his wife (and Porteno business partner), Sarah Doyle, have shared at home over the past 30 years.

“There aren’t enough options in Sydney to have something delicious that doesn’t have meat,” Abrahanowicz says. “It will be predominantly vegan, produce-driven and all local. No fake meat.”

Mister Grotto will champion Australian seafood, with a daily chalkboard menu featuring the best produce available that morning. It will be a simple setup: a raw bar, a flaming charcoal grill, and the prospect of fish and chips for lunch at weekends.

“It’ll be quite fun, a bit more rowdy,” says Abrahanowicz, explaining that Nicolian (the brains behind the Conti’s emblematic martini-in-a-can, the Mar-tinny) will handle the drinks lists across the venues.

While the lists are still in development (“there’ll be wine, spirits, sake, a bit of everything”), Abrahanowicz reveals there’s been talk of using their canning equipment to package premade soups to take away.

Osteria Mucca, the largest of the three new additions, will be the final venue to open, at a date to be confirmed. It will occupy the terrace to the left of Continental Deli, where Humble Bakery popped up over summer.

It takes inspiration from its former life as a butcher shop, showcasing the various products that come from the “mucca”, or cow, alongside handmade pasta and traditional regional Italian dishes. “There’s mozzarella, parmesan, steak … it’s pretty incredible that one animal can produce so much,” he says.

The osteria will feature table seating and a six-person microbar out the back. Plans for footpath dining are pending council approval.

Abrahanowicz says he will be able to announce the incoming chefs soon, but hints at their strong fine-dining experience.

“The streetscape is amazing,” Abrahanowicz says. “When you have people dining outside, it creates such a great atmosphere, so to have the four together would be incredible.”