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More work, less play at lunch

Quick service, healthy options and bottles of mineral water - Sydney's business lunches have changed, writes Jane Southward.

Jane Southward

Azuma in Chifley Plaza often books out its private rooms for business lunches.
Azuma in Chifley Plaza often books out its private rooms for business lunches.Quentin Jones

Investment manager Annette Mullen has worked in the Sydney banking scene for 25 years and has noticed big changes in the lunch habits of people at the big end of town.

Long, boozy lunches are out. In are shorter stays, often with added value – and we aren't talking extra garlic bread.

“Lunches these days are often in private rooms of restaurants and offer the chance to hear from an economist or some other expert while you eat,” says Mullen, head of rates at Colonial First State Global Asset Management.

Neil Perry at Rockpool Bar and Grill.
Neil Perry at Rockpool Bar and Grill.Michele Mossop
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“These are working lunches. Lunch is as much about work. When we do have a casual lunch, what used to be a two-plus hour thing is now just over an hour. Japanese is a good choice as it is quiet, quick and healthy.”

She says Azuma in Chifley Square and Kabuki Shoroku on Clarence Street are popular. As for booze, she says mineral water is now the preferred drink.

“Twenty years ago people used to have long lunches on Fridays and sometimes not come back,” Mullen says.

“They'd end up putting in for a half day's leave. But not coming back after lunch, which is known as a 'fail to return', would not be a good career move any more.”

Neil Perry's Rockpool only serves lunch on Fridays compared with five days a week seven years ago. However, the chef says luncheon trade at Rockpool Bar and Grill and Spice Temple is “still pretty solid”. Each of Perry's restaurants has private rooms.

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“Lunches are not as crazy as they used to be,” Perry says. “We have the occasional group who go over-the-top and head to the bar after lunch but, compared with pre-global financial crisis, it is tamer.”

Pino Russo, the owner since 1990 of Bel Paese in the heart of advertising land in North Sydney, says quick service is a priority. About 60 per cent of tables have just one glass of wine with a meal, 20 per cent have no wine and the remainder share a bottle.

“People are ordering healthier now and it's rare to eat more than two courses at lunch," Russo says. "We have to be smart in the way we serve them."

Closing a deal over lunch can be a delicate thing and upmarket Japanese restaurant Azuma says its three private rooms that seat 10 (or 30 if you remove the partitions between them) are often booked out, especially on Fridays.

“Business people want a private room now because they are quieter, more intimate and more private,” says Azuma's Mutsumi Fujita.

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A more casual catch-up is also common, says Bupa executive Karen Gray.

"As most large buildings have coffee shops and cafes, it is common to meet over a coffee or grab a sandwich and a coffee to catch up with people.”

Greg Johnson, who is studying to become a barrister, says that for him lunch is likely to be a sandwich in a committee meeting at the NSW Law Society. Still, the president of NSW Young Lawyers says networking is important for lawyers and upmarket restaurants are still popular.

“There are times when lawyers like to be seen networking with other lawyers,” he says. “At other times, such as when you are after career advice, you hope for a quiet table in a dark corner somewhere.

“Certainly the stories of lunches in the heyday of the '80s are just that, stories. With corporate spending the way it is these days, it's not a good look to be seen living it up at lunch.”

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