A cool new building in a cool part of town houses a cool new restaurant from a smart young team. When eightysix opened in early 2013,Canberra quickly converged on this share-plates,open-counter kitchen diner,with engagingly casual front-of-housing by co-owner Sean Royle. High-ceilinged and warehousey with a pounding music selection,banquettes and scrawled-on blackboards,it has a style that's easy to like. And the food goes with the program.'Bag salmon'(brined and sous-vide'd with apple cider vinegar and fennel seeds) makes a very pretty plate with mash,pickled fennel strips and teeny beetroots. A slightly too salty but classic tartare (capers,anchovies,radish,cornichons,Tabasco,parsley and onion) is scooped up with prawn crackers. There's a signature duck confit salad,a cute goat's cheese and beetroot take on the cheese course and a pretty amazing chocolate cupcake from nearby Sweet Bones bakery. Wines are local,the bread's Autolyse from Braddon and the plates are Bison. An exercise in Canberra cool? Indeed.