Grana

Grana is an Italian-inspired dining hub in Hinchcliff House, the anchor venue of Circular Quay’s dining and shopping precinct, Quay Quarter. The heritage-listed sandstone building once operated as a wool store – one of only two of its kind remaining in Sydney – and has stood in Circular Quay since the late 1870s.

Grana (Italian for grain) is on the ground floor and flaunts an in-house bakery, a pasta room and a pastry kitchen. All three stations use flour milled on-site every day from grains supplied by NSW farmers. The mill sits proudly at the front of the bakery, and was manufactured in Austria using pine and specialty cut stones.

At lunch and dinner, Grana’s pasta room takes care of pumpkin and ricotta ravioli, and squid-ink orecchiette. “Seafood”, “Market” and “Meat” sections of the menu might include yellowfin tuna crudo with avocado and agrodolce dressing; charred broccoli salad; and a 42-day dry-aged Bistecca from Brooklyn Valley.

The lengthy wine list mixes it up with local and Italian drops, and to end your meal on a high, there’s a considered selection of amaro on offer. (If you're after a nightcap, cocktail bar Apollonia sits beneath the building and is open till late.)

The venue’s bright and open design Mitchell & Eades (Melbourne’s Carlton Wine Room, Hawker Hall and Broadsheet Kitchen). uses soft tones to highlight the 150-year-old building’s restored beauty. Original features include timber beams, sandstone walls and dark wooden floors. We love that 40-metre-long, pearly white custom-made benchtop.