Step through the curtain inside the Mantra Hotel lobby and you’re no longer in Sydney’s CBD—you’re somewhere softer, sleeker, more romantic. A bar hums under the glow of brass and mirror, the air thick with espresso and orange peel.
Bar Allora is the first collaboration between Table For and The Maybe Group, an all-day Italian bar and restaurant built around the rhythm of 1980s Milan: fast mornings, flirtatious afternoons and long, lingering nights.
By day, the scene belongs to the city’s early risers—sharp suits, fast strides, espresso in hand. Bomboloni, cornetti and panini are passed through a street-facing window to commuters chasing their first caffeine hit, a quiet nod to Milan’s bar counters. Come lunch, you can prepare for spaghettone with anchovy butter and lemon pangrattato, wagyu tagliata with rocket salsa verde, and a pineapple-spiked Allora Negroni (gin, Campari, Oloroso sherry, pandan, pineapple) hit the tables as light filters through terrazzo.
“It’s been ten years since we opened Maybe Frank,” Stefano Catino, co-owner of The Maybe Group, tells Urban List.
“We’ve been wanting to bring another true Italian experience to Sydney for a while. When we met Rosy Scatigna, our Culinary Director from Puglia, everything clicked. We wanted to bottle that Milan energy; espresso in the morning, aperitivo in the afternoon, Negroni at night, and bring it to the CBD.”
That Southern Italian warmth runs through the menu. Scatigna, alongside Head Chef Josh Donachie (Jane, Jackson’s on George, RE), brings her Pugliese roots to Milanese precision. The result nods to Italy’s post-war dining boom when the country rediscovered modernity through indulgence. Dishes are familiar but lifted: stuffed eggplant fritti, rosetta alla mortadella, baked ricotta.
Desserts veer delightfully playful: crema al caffè and the Ragno al Cucchiaio, a grown-up riff on the Aussie Spider made with Grappa Nonino, gin, prosecco, seasonal sorbetto, and whipped cream. It’s nostalgic, a little over the top, and completely irresistible—exactly the point.
“We wanted the space to feel dynamic, to shift from morning to night like the rhythm of a real Italian city,” says Catino.
“It’s that moment you step off Bond Street and find yourself somewhere else entirely — fast-paced, alive, distinctly Italian.”
Note: Bar Allora has multiple opening times for breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout the day. Check here for correct timings.
Image credit: Bar Allora | Supplied
Dining and Cooking