"It's a hidden gem, says Mars Bar party promoter, Bryen Dunn.” That patio, for example, is now Queen Street's largest, and you'd never know there was any patio from the street."

Just think of '56 Kensington' with a Springsteen flavour instead of a trance one and you'll have some idea of the template that's being followed here. But Cadillac Lounge is hardly a simple copy of anything, and Grosso's implementation is happily different from the louder, attention-getting bars that have proliferated of late.

Upshot: In a world grown less civilized - war, parking tickets, road rage and bad song lyrics - there is more than mere physical comfort at the back of the Cadillac Lounge.
- D.E.