Just before winter each year, restaurant reviewers start stressing about hibernation. Our version is a warm, cosy local restaurant. Or, as some prefer, a cave with a decent wine list.

So, if it feels like I've obsessed in recent weeks about local restaurants all over Sydney, it's because that level of commitment doesn't come easily. Reviewers, by nature, are the cads of the restaurant world. Restless food whores drawn by the thrill of the chase. Unearth, conquer and move on.

The luxury of a revisit is rare. I flicked through my little black book and found La Locanda. Ours was a quick first date, back in the summer of 2004. She was a fresh-faced debutante and I scribbled at the time she was like a new music act with a couple of really good singles who needed to tighten up the album to go platinum. "Loci [can I call you that?]," I may as well have whispered, "you're just too young for me". La Locanda remains a Bronte babe, despite the fact she's a kilometre inland from the beach. Hers is beauty on the inside. She's still petite (other suitors may say cramped), but the feature wall motif and her penetrating sea-green features show no signs of dating. Hers are clever eye-catching looks without expensive cosmetic surgery.

La Locanda's menu is written in Italian up on a giant blackboard. And, given that Australians warm to foreign languages about as easily we do to losing the Ashes, waiters have to give each table a lengthy translation.

It's an interactive way to start a local restaurant experience. Complimentary olives on the table are cleverly inviting: the equivalent to an upmarket eaterie's amuse bouche. If consistency is one of the measures of good restaurants, La Locanda scores well.

Its menu has evolved while maintaining a theme. The kitchen continues to handle fresh fish capably and the signature stuffed single tube of squid remains on the menu.

Consistency extends to the squid's price, which remains $13, despite those rate rises and petrol price increases in the past two years. The squid's fill is light and interesting, but I find it a touch monotonous in the hands of a single diner. I prefer the excellent rustic terrine. And the simple bistecca (steak, to you) topped with almonds and chilli with broccolini on the side. It's the sort of simple, elegant dish we'd all love to be able to turn out at home.

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