Day dates — Local Paddo

Cocktail hour (starts at 12pm) at Tequila Mockingbird

Walk around the neighbourhood on a Friday about lunchtime and you might hear something unexpectedly cheerful. It’s the sound of people having a good time.

Locals — and visitors — are doing the sensible thing at the end of the week, booking in to glamorous restaurant lunches, a little slice of good times between the hours of noon and 3pm.

From Ursula’s on Hargrave St to Saint Peter on Oxford St, and at high-quality venues dotted around the suburb, restaurateurs are finding that diners are flocking back to lunch, especially if the venue is within walking distance of home.

At Tequila Mockingbird, on Paddington’s Heeley St, the restaurant has reintroduced a Friday lunch service to complement its weekend lunches, and plans to soon expand to Thursdays.

“The main thing is that people are staying local right now,” says Tequila Mockingbird owner Michael Fegent. “We’re finding that people are coming to the restaurant looking for a little bit more than the chicken and avocado sandwich that you get at every cafe. Why not come in, have a glass of wine, something nice to eat and be served by professionals?”

Tequila Mockingbird has introduced a Friday lunch offer of a set menu for $50 a head that’s an attractive deal for those wanting to step up their dining. The menu includes tuna ceviche with aji panca, corn, nori, prawn tacos with koji, XO and togarashi, a 300g steak for two with chimichurri and O Couto pepper and kipfler potatoes with rocoto dressing.

“We have only done a few Fridays so far and so far they’ve been really busy,” Fegent says. “It’s all set up so people can come in, have a really nice meal within a period of time and get back home for the afternoon.”

At the newly opened Civico 47 Italian restaurant in Windsor St, the lunch service has already proven popular with diners not keen on braving wintry evenings out. The restaurant, which launched to rave reviews in April in the old Lucio’s site, introduced a Thursday lunch service in May to cope with demand.

“As soon as daylight savings ended we noticed a huge jump in our lunch bookings,” says Civico’s Rebecca Neall. “Our Saturday lunches are always booked out straight away, Friday we have quite a corporate crowd and on Thursdays we have a lot of ladies who lunch and friends who want to catch up.”

She says the advantage of lunch dates is that there’s a less frantic feel in the restaurant, and people get to eat and leave with greater leisure than they might at night. Plus, she says the chefs like to offer interesting specials or new ideas on lunch guests.

“We often try out new specials at lunchtime, or put them on a trial then to see how they go,” she says.

At Ursula’s, chef Phil Wood’s luxury nostalgic diner, which opened last year, lunches have always been a big part of the restaurant’s mojo.

“We love lunch,” says Wood’s wife and restaurant manager Lis Davies. “We’ve managed to open for lunch every single day we've been open for dinner since we opened, even through Omicron.”

WHEN THE DINING IS FINE

Tequila Mockingbird

If the $50 lunch deal featuring ceviche, tacos and steak wasn’t enough to tempt you into Tequila Mockingbird, then perhaps the prospect of a cheeky Friday margarita (or two) will do the trick. Who doesn’t need a pep up from the solitude of working at home and who’s going to notice you missing for a few hours on a Friday?

6 Heeley St; tequila-mockingbird.com.au

Ursula’s

Phil Wood is a sentimental bloke who has supercharged his menu with nostalgic dishes and honest touches that have fans raving. Go for old-fashioned fine fare like Berkshire pork chop with sweet and sour sauce, sesame, cucumber and pumpkin or golden syrup dumplings with rum, raisin and malt cream. Go casual if you like, or dress up for a luxurious outing.

92 Hargrave St; ursulas.com.au

Civico 47

This Italian newcomer has won locals over for its slick Italian menu, enjoyed over stylish surrounds in this renovated corner terrace. Chef Matteo Zamboni does fabulous pastas and Italian dishes like a whole fish orange and saffron emulsion or lamb rump with leek, linen and desert limes. The backstreet surrounds offer an elegant dining experience.

47 Windsor St; civico47.com.au

Fred’s

Founding chef Danielle Alvarez may have left this Oxford St institution but the restaurant powers on regardless, offering a heavenly space for lunch Thursday to Sunday. The menu remains filled with soulful dishes like yellowfin tuna carpaccio with crème fraîche, horseradish and meyer lemon or pumpkin and ricotta filled ravioli with butter and sage.

380 Oxford St; merivale.com

I Maccheroni

This cute Italian fine diner on Jersey Rd has a number of dining spaces collected across several rooms, and tables outside when the weather is conducive. Go for chef Marcello Faioli’s delicious hand-rolled pastas that are pasta perfection.

3 Jersey Rd, Woollahra; imaccheroni.com.au

Barbetta

Wonderful for coffee and Italian pastries in the morning, Barbetta also offers a cracking lunch service with classics such as vitello tonnato, or a big bowl of conchiglioni ripieni, pasta shells filled with roasted eggplant, ricotta, basil, smoked mozzarella and Napoletana sauce.

2 Elizabeth St; barbetta.com.au

Saint Peter
This petite restaurant is the hottest ticket in town right now making it almost impossible to score a booking. But the restaurant does keep a few tables free for lunchtime walk ins. The a la carte lunch menu runs Thursday to Sunday for chef Josh Niland’s wonderful seafood dishes.

362 Oxford St; saintpeter.com.au