As Gil Ghidalia settles in as head chef at the newly opened Georgie, a wine bar on George Street in Sydney’s CBD, he recounts the arduous professional journey that landed him there. When the French native moved to Sydney in 2019, he laughs about a nightmare first shift in the kitchen at the upmarket Aria restaurant.

“I didn’t speak English. Luckily, there were two Italians, it saved my life. They’d tell me if I was in trouble,” he says.

Ghidalia’s story is one shared by many immigrants. He’d trained in Michelin-starred restaurants, been head chef at 52 Faubourg in Paris, but had to take a step back and learn a new language to get ahead. “In a few weeks I was making sounds, a bit like a baby,” he says today as a fluent English speaker. He then had to navigate COVID, but eventually landed at hot Sydney restaurant start-up Shell House.

Now at Georgie there’s plenty of familiar culinary dish, including steak tartare and a terrine of the day. The adventurous spirit that led Ghidalia to Australia has him exploring new territory, with a chimichurri and preserved lemon-fuelled spatchcock and a dish of 𝄒nduja mac and cheese.

The wine list is a “repository” of old- and new-world wines, while cocktails are old school, with martinis and Manhattans served in vintage glassware.

The 60-seat Georgie mixes marble, velvet and touches of gold. Located on the ground floor of the Mantra 2 hotel, the all-day operation has a street-side coffee window where you can grab a bagel or oversized pretzel in the morning. Ghidalia also promises a mystery snack at night. It might be a Reuben eclair the chef teases, or a “Rockefeller toastie”.

And to illustrate his Australian culinary tutelage is complete, Ghidalia has been playing around with a lunchtime skewers of “surf and turf”.

Open breakfast daily, lunch Thu-Sat, dinner Mon-Sat

Corner George and Bond streets, Sydney, georgiewinebar.com