Fresh slabs of that 18-hour fermented focaccia, impossibly crisp on the top and light as air in the middle, sit on the counter for guests to see as they walk into an evening service at Love Damian. Opel serves slices of the bread ($6) with a choice of dip, ranging from premium balsamic vinegar to olive and anchovy tapenade ($9). The rest of Love Damian’s menu is intentionally small – there’s only so much Opel and his one other chef can do behind the sandwich counter, so simplicity is key – but every dish packs the flavour and finesse you’d expect from a chef with Opel’s considerable experience and talent. You’ve got a traditional family recipe for handmade anolini pasta, stuffed with braised beef and swimming in a fragrant chicken broth ($22), heirloom carrots laid over a bed of housemade ricotta and spiced up with hot honey and Calabrian chiles ($19), beef and pork two-sheet lasagna brilliantly designed so that every piece is like a crispy corner piece ($28) and a perfectly cooked piece of cod with Swiss chard, potatoes, and grapes ($38). Dessert can either be light, in the form of white chocolate and basil “olives” hanging from a tiny olive tree ($8) or heavier, should you choose the pistachio and mascarpone-filled doughnut ($12).