It was shoulder-to-shoulder at the new Maryland Tavern bar this week as the ground-floor rebuild was unveiled across the street from the former premises in the heart of the Maryland suburb.
The former executive chef of Noah's in Newcastle, Joel Phyland, has taken the reins on the new establishment with Italian chef Maurizio Pocino leading the bistro kitchen fitted out with traditional wood-fired oven.
Mr Pocino recently relocated from Western Australia, Mr Phyland said, where he had a long career leading kitchen service.
The revamped tavern, owned by the Marvan Group, includes bistro dining and a children's game room for families, two bars serving 32 beers on-tap and a dedicated sports lounge with multi-screen vision wall streaming the latest games into the bar.
"It's bigger and better," Mr Phyland said, "Everyone is wanting to get in and give it a whirl."
