Grana

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

Grana, which is Italian for grain, is located on the ground floor of the handsome sandstone building and features 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 has been manufactured in Austria using pine and specialty cut stones.

If you arrive early in the day, expect to be greeted by sweet-smelling pastries including croissants, bombolone and gingerbread loaves from the bakery. For something more savoury, head to the dining room and order from the à la carte breakfast menu. Choices include stracciatella and agrodolce (a sweet-and-sour Italian sauce) tomato salad with focaccia; blue swimmer crab omelette; and sweet potato and egg-yolk ravioli with brown-butter sauce.

Enjoy them alongside breakfast cocktails such as the Garibaldi, made with a blend of Italian bitters and “freshly fluffed” orange juice, or a refreshing Breakfast Gimlet with milk-washed gin, lime marmalade and fresh lime. A selection of smoothies, cold-pressed juices and house-made sodas are also available.

Come afternoon, the menu choices are broken down under bread and dairy, pasta, seafood, meat, market (vegetables and salads) and desserts. Highlights include kelp-infused gigli (a ruffle-edged pasta) with Moreton Bay bugs and arrabiata sauce; smoked raw beef served with yesterday’s bread, horseradish and egg yolk; and pink snapper dressed with lemony salmoriglio dressing, black garlic and potato aioli.

As with the food menu, the generous wine list mixes it up with local and Italian drops. There’s also a good selection of amaro to end the meal.

The venue’s bright and open design was left up to the crew behind Melbourne interiors studio Mitchell & Eades (Melbourne’s Carlton Wine Room, Hawker Hall and Broadsheet Kitchen). There’s soft tones throughout to highlight the 150-year-old building’s restored beauty, including existing timber beams, sandstone walls and dark wooden floors. There’s also a hard-to-miss 40-metre-long, pearly white custom-made benchtop.