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In the late 1940's, Sydney's legendary organized crime boss Abe Saffron held court at the Roosevelt, an alehouse in the city's red light district of King's Cross. It was here that Saffron entertained politicians, policemen and criminals till the early hours. And it's here that Sven Almenning — Sydney's latter-day cocktail king — has opened a restaurant of the same name that's unique even in the city's hyper-congested dining scene.

After gutting the building's innards, Almenning took it back to its Art Deco glory days with thick paisley carpet, lashings of polished timber, deep leather chairs, period photographs and glass cabinets filled with antique cocktail shakers and decanters. The result is a dimly lit, jazz-infused speakeasy cum gentleman's club.

The cocktail menu pays homage to both the Roaring 40's and the state-of-art mixology Almenning perfected at his first Sydney venue, Eau-de-Vie — an inner-city cocktail lounge named "world's best new cocktail bar" at last year's Spirited Awards in New Orleans. The Roosevelt's Strawberry Blonde cocktail is named after the cult 1941 Rita Hayworth movie and is a margarita of strawberry, lime and orange ice. Inspired by Humphrey Bogart, the Dead End is served in a hip flask, while the Mr. Sin (as Saffron was nicknamed) is ablend of saffron-infused rye whisky and white port and comes in a glass pistol holstered in a bucket of ice.

In the Roosevelt's infamous Blue Room (where Saffron reportedly screened porn movies to friends and associates), Almenning's partner, the celebrity Sydney caterer Graham Ette, offers a five-course, cocktail-paired degustation menu. It matches light and refreshing dishes like calamari seviche, scampi with coconut, and pavlova — the iconic Australian dessert of meringue, cream and tropical fruit — to cocktails mixed at the table by goggled and gloved bartenders.

"Cocktail degustations have been a novelty until now, done here and there as one-off specials at fancy bars and restaurants," Almenning says. "But I believe cocktails can pair with food better than wine because the chef and the bartender work together to create a harmony of flavors they could never achieve with a finished product like wine."

The Roosevelt is at 32 Orwell Street, Potts Point. For reservations, call +61 (0) 422 263 226.

• Ian Lloyd Neubauer