Some things have changed, some stay the same.

The Gallery Cafe looks much as it did five years ago

So does the Strawberry Hills Hotel

But this place on the corner of Elizabeth and Devonshire Streets has morphed from a coffee house selling really nice home-made pies into a trendy bar called Li’l Darlin. Opened in 2012, apparently.

Remember when everyone scoffed at restaurant franchises? Okay, fast food corporations are different beasts, but all of a sudden smaller, cooler entrepreneurs are taking over Sydney with doppelgangers of existing venues. The latest is the third Li’l Darlin bar, following branches in nearby Darlinghurst and Randwick.

Not much has changed here; the menu is identical to the other two and the general vibe (fake trees, fairy lights, shared tapas and rectangular pizzas) remains, but this corner venue is cosier. Formerly a patisserie, the building has seen a few management changes over the years without much success, but Li’l Darlin seems to have cracked it. Within a week of opening, the bar is full, helped by a few introductory offers of cheap cocktails and $5 pizzas….

A bit different from the way it was those times I took my niece, her husband and Nathan, David and Lauren there, or Sirdan and I having an after Sunday lunch coffee and cake…