While the American writer said; "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach", DJs has updated the outdated heteronormative mantra and gone one step further. Knowing these days the way to anyone's heart is through gourmet, Instagram-worthy produce, which is what its new Food Hall in Bondi Junction is bursting with.

The department store, which has also just added 30 new fashion labels to its racks, is also now stocking 6000 edible products. There are no vision-blocking aisles – so forget avoiding annoying neighbours, colleagues or former lovers – this multimillion dollar food hall that took five months to renovate has "worlds" of food, a juice bar and a porter service which will help carry your bags to the car.

The high-end retailer has also introduced something brand new, something that will make the customers from the days of yore clutch at their Paspaley baubles; trolleys and shopping baskets. The suburban supermarket staple - hand baskets - are now available in the revamped 2000-square metre food emporium that also boasts more leather, marble and granite than a Mehajer house.

David Jones food group director Pieter de Wet knows there is only so much Dom Perignon, dry-aged steak from Tasmania, Sonoma bread and Godiva chocolates one can carry without ruining your $90 bassike T-shirt.

"These will be a game changer," de Wet said, pointing to the hand baskets, just prior to the store opening this week.

It's no longer enough for you to buy pants from David Jones. The retailer wants you, in this new era of Netflix and UberEats, to leave the couch, put them on and head into its stores.

But why, in this climate of poor consumer confidence, would you want to leave your house to queue and peruse produce, 85 per cent of which has been sourced from small Australian suppliers?

Cocktails, a cafe and a restaurant fashioned on Neil Perry's Rockpool may help.

The most competitively priced smashed avocado this side of the Hume will be a big drawcard, too. The $6.50 "avocado toast with sheep's milk feta and fresh herbs" is also David Jones' chief John Dixon's favourite item on the menu devised by Perry for the inhouse cafe, The Kitchen.

"There is a real a pent-up demand for a high-quality food offering in Australia, no one in Australia is doing that," Dixon said.

Before taking charge of HMAS DJs, Dixon ran British department store Marks & Spencer's food business for about five years. Food is his (artisan) jam. His instore eateries are a clever ploy, not only to lure in customers but to also make them pay for samples.

Everything coming from the kitchen is made from products in store. Who can resist $35 truffle salt when you've just demolished a generous pinch of it your $17 "brunch bowl" of black quinoa, roasted kale and soft boiled eggs?

The Bondi food court is just an entree to others that will be rolled out by the department store in Melbourne and Wollongong in the coming months. Convenience stores peppered around major cities to rival Woolworths' Metro stores are also on the menu.

"The nice thing is that the food market in Australia is huge. Even if we ended up with a relatively small chunk of that, that could still be a very worthwhile business," Dixon said.

JPMorgan's South African retail analyst, Stephen Carrott, told The Australian Financial Review this week that David Jones' food business may generate about $700 million of sales within five years.

With the impending arrival of online behemoth Amazon and the increasing popularity of eating in, Dixon didn't rule out an online food offering or delivery service.

"Never say never in terms of all things online and connected, but the priority is getting this store open, get feedback from customers to understand what's working really well," Dixon said.

"The online space is moving very, very quickly, our first priority is to get our existing web platform completely transformed and revamped from September but we'll see. Food online is not an area of focus for us at the moment just because I think there's so much more to do in our stores."