Snagging the site of an old shopfront at the end of a tree-lined suburban street, Strangers with Candy began life as a café specialising in breakfast and lunch. The punters came in droves for the warm service, excellent coffee and on-site, home-made jams and relishes that complemented perfectly delivered meals. However, it wasn’t long before the Strangers team — head chef and co-owner Veronica Stute and partner Justin Wells — extended the opening hours and began serving dinner. It was an instant hit.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the casual, relaxed feel of the restaurant — you feel as if you’re dining in a room full of family and friends (somewhat ironic given the restaurant’s name). Certainly the dedicated service is full of warmth and generosity — the team at Strangers genuinely care for their customers and will go the extra mile to ensure everyone leaves happy.

The interior also emphasises this comfortable informality — long banquettes, polished floor boards, dark woods, plush mauve cushions and shelves stacked full of home-made goodies (much too tempting to resist).

You can’t help but linger well beyond the meal. But this homeyness is not something Stute and Wells deliberately set out to achieve — although now both see it as a reflection of their childhood as part of close-knit, food-loving families. Stute fondly recalls her mother "…cooking for eight of us kids, every night, usually with a big pot on the combustion stove" and no matter what, "mum always made sure to make dessert." Today, both love the fact that Strangers with Candy has become so family-friendly and that their customers always feel so welcome.

The food, in synch with the atmosphere of Strangers with Candy, is unfussy (no plated-up towers here), wholesome, seductive and inventive. Unafraid of bold flavours, Stute dishes up modern Australian fare with gusto — her tastes range from French-inspired duck confit, to the generously proportioned steamed snapper with coconut and lime custard (served, like an opened present, in its steaming bag). Crowd-pleasers, braised pork belly, tea-smoked salmon and prawn won tons also feature on a drool-worthy list.

Perhaps as a reflection on her sweet-toothed childhood, Stute has also created an adventurous dessert list so enticing, you’d be hard pressed to resist — who can turn down a steamed buttermilk and raspberry pudding, chocolate fudge cake, or lemon pancakes with poached pears and toffee ice cream?

All the warnings about strangers bearing candy were wrong — go ahead, dive in! Paul McNally