The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur Down Under
October 26 - Sydney

Today was wander around Sydney day. After a light lunch at DeliFrance -- an operation I would describe as a sandwich joint with an attitude -- we spent the afternoon wandering around the Queen Victoria Building, a magnificent renovation of a historic downtown building into an upscale shopping mall. The other big project of the afternoon was walking back to the hotel through the Darling Harbour development! Sometimes the best thing you can do on a vacation is not much of anything!

To see the photos of DeliFrance, click here.

This evening we connected with Max Hitchins, my Aussie colleague who spent some time with us last spring. He took us to dinner at the Waterfront Restaurant in The Rocks area of Sydney where we enjoyed good seafood, wine and conversation in the shadow of the Sydney Harbour bridge and overlooking the Opera House and the boats. Very civilized! The seafood was extremely fresh and Max suggested a bottle of Tyrell's Shee Oaks Chardonnay which proved to be excellent. As we left the restaurant after dinner, Max somehow managed to arrange a 15-minute fireworks show! (At least, he said that he arranged it for us!)

It may just be the tourist orientation of Sydney but it seems to me that the general level of restaurant service has improved since our visit here in 1987. The waitresses in the little café where we had lunch our first day here seemed more interested in cleaning tables than in servicing the guests sitting at them, but other than that, the service workers we have met have been reasonably competent and very personable. I will be watching this as we head into less gentrified parts of the country.

To see the photos of Max and the Waterfront Restaurant, click here.

For photos of the Queen Victoria Building, click here.


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