The nine (wood-fired) dishes you must eat this winter in Sydney

Stoke the fire, Jimmy, my boy. Winter's comin' and she's going to be a chilly one.

Reverse cycle airconditioning and those bar heaters that threaten to self-combust at any moment are all well and good to warm cockles and singe cat whiskers, but nothing beats a big, flickering indoor fire. For the 99 per cent of us who don't have a working chimney, fret not. Sydney chefs have answered your pyro-prayers and in the last couple of years we've seen the "wood-fired" prefix applied to much more than pizza.

We're not talking Japanese charcoal grills or slow-cooked American barbecue but restaurants stoking wood-based fires that hiss and spit and splutter and cook things to a new levels of deliciousness. Here are some of most fired up dishes in town.

Firedoor: Dry-aged beef rib

Lennox Hastie knows his wood. The chef spent six years at Asador Etxebarri, a fire-focused restaurant tucked away in the Atxondo hills of Spain and consistently featured on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list. He swapped Basque Country for Surry Hills, opening Firedoor just over a month ago, cooking the cleanest, pure-tasting wood-fired meats around. The menu changes daily depending on what produce is looking good (fire is not a forgiving mistress to substandard ingredients) but the 150-day dry-aged O'Connor beef rib is a recurring star. Cut with a handheld bandsaw to order and cooked over grapevines, it's sweet, fruity, and buttery with the right amount of fat and a terrifically caramelised crust.

23-33 Mary Street Surry Hills, 02 8204 0800, firedoor.com.au

Ester: Roasted oysters

There's not much on the menu at Ester that doesn't have quick spell in the wood-fired oven and one or three oysters are always a must-order (along with the non-wood-fired blood sausage sanga). Half a minute in the oven is enough for the unshucked Sydney rocks to pop some lids and lightly poach in their own brine. Roasted oysters can have the texture of chewing gum found under chair but these little dudes are plump and happy chaps, especially with a horseradish vinaigrette.

46-52 Meagher Street Chippendale, 02 8068 8279, ester-restaurant.com.au

Via Napoli: Margarita pizza

No one does Neapolitan-style pizza better in Sydney than Via Napoli's owner and chef, Luigi Esposito. Observing the strict rules of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (Italy's "true pizza" enforcers protecting the world from Super Supreme takeover), Esposito's pizzas are baked in wood-fired oven for no more than 90 seconds. The finger-kneaded bases made from "00" flour must not exceed 35 centimetres across, and their thickness can't be more than 0.4 centimetres in the centre and two centimetres at the border. Such fastidiousness makes for a margarita with chewy tricoloure of San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and basil that bursts with flavour into a blistered crust. Via Napoli also rocks a less traditional two metre pizza suitable for birthdays and shelter from cranky volcanos.

141 Longueville Road Lane Cove and 64-68 Gladesville Road Hunters Hill, 02 9428 3297, vianapolipizzeria.com.au

Pazar Food Collective: Lamb shoulder

A fusion of Middle Eastern and Mexican food? Eid Caramba. It totally works at party-friendly Pazar though, where former policeman and Al Carbon food truck owner Attila Yilmaz uses the acid and pickle of Middle Eastern cuisine to complement the heavy savoury hit of Mexican-inspired dishes. Dipping wood-fired orange blossom pide bread in hommus and agave walnuts is one way to have fun with the concept. Another is sharing a smokey, wood-roasted lamb shoulder with ezme salsa and braised eggplant with red pepper sauce.

325 Canterbury Road Canterbury, 02 8964 9334, pazar.com.au

Porteno: Whole beasts from the asado

Few questions are as unanswerable for Sydney food-fans than "do you prefer Porteno's eight-hour wood fired lamb or pig." Of course, you'd say the lamb with its sharp and salty skin giving way to sweet and submissive meat. Then again, there's that wonderfully perfumed pig with next-level crackling and milky flesh. But, hang on a sec, that lamb….

Just order both with a side of sprouts, zhush up and eat.

358 Cleveland Street Surry Hills, 02 8399 1440, porteno.com.au

Rockpool Bar and Grill: Any and all of the steaks

From the $29 minute steak with Cafe de Paris butter on the bar menu to the $190 rib-eye on the bone of David Blackmore's dry-aged Mishima beef, every bit of cow that comes into contact with RB&G's wood-fired grill is a ripper. "Exceptionally cooked" is one description. "God's meat" is a better one. Please don't order anything dry-aged to be cooked above medium rare as it will lose flavour, you will waste money and the chefs will cry. Is this the best place for steak in Australia? Probably. Should you order as many side dishes as you can with wild abandon? Definitely.

66 Hunter Street Sydney, 02 8078 1900, rockpool.com/rockpoolbarandgrillsydney

Nomad: Whole spatchcock

Nathan Sasi has left, but the Nomad kitchen remains in fine hands with newly appointed executive chef Jacqui Challinor roasting, curing and plating up a storm. Anything from the grill or wood-fired oven is fantastic and special mention goes to tender tubes of squid with spindly legs attached and bolstered by olive crumbs and splodges of harissa. A whole roasted spatchcock is marinated in a life-affirmingly fragrant chermoula and a side of sheep's milk yoghurt softens its salty blow. Put down the knife and fork, wrap the juicy bird in some charred cos lettuce, give everything a big squeeze of lime and go for broke.

16 Foster Street Surry Hills, 02 9280 3395, nomadwine.com.au

Pei Modern: Madelines

Four Season's Pei Modern inherited a very fine wood-fired oven from the ashes of The Woods, and pastry chef Dagmar Slobodnikova has put it to good use. Honey madeleines are fired to order and it's a struggle not to eat the whole pouch of 10. A side of Earl Grey curd is a creamy dipping delight and although the dining room is a handsome enough place, you can't help but think the ultimate way to enjoy these tiny, pillowy treats is in one of the rooms upstairs with the curtains drawn and the TV on.

199 George Street Sydney, 02 9250 3160, peimodern.com.au

The Apollo: Grilled seafood

Winter and seafood aren't the greatest bedfellows but when the two work together, jumpin' Jack Frost it's a comforting good time. Apollo's sexed-up Greek food grilled over ironbark is a marvellous thing and even though it's tempting in cold weather to flock to the oven-baked lamb, next time try the fish. A changing menu continually features seafood that stands up to Prometheus' lick such as whole mackerel, sardines with lemon and parsley, and calamari heated with sumac and chilli. They're as toe-warming as any sticky date pudding this side of Sheffield.

44 Macleay Street Potts Point, 02 8354 0888