Otto Ristorante Sydney

Few Sydney restaurants can notch up a decade in business and still pack'em in. On a sunny day,boats bobbing alongside,Otto is as popular with arts,business and media luminaries as it is with air-kissing ladies who lunch,and about as good as Sydney gets. There's a cracking wine list,razor-sharp service and,with a broad,internationalist approach to Italian food,the kitchen is capable of great moments. Battered zucchini flowers filled with creamy salt cod is one of those,while a caprese salad is transformed by rich,creamy mozzarella and tomatoes that taste like a lazy summer's day. Spaghettini with scallops,cherry tomatoes and zucchini ribbons has good constituent parts but was ultimately plain,ditto gnocchi with braised beef cheeks,broccolini,radicchio and testun di barolo cheese. Dessert is a return to form. pineapple bavarois with passionfruit custard and yoghurt sorbet with oats,freeze-dried raspberries,coconut and shaved almonds is as artful as it's just plain delicious.