Four to Try: Hot-Listed Restaurants Proving Service Still Matters

We go to restaurants for the food and the atmosphere, but what leaves the longest-lasting impression is often how they made us feel.

You never forget the service. Those magic, deeply human touches that happen when the front and back of house harmonise to make you believe you’re the most important person in the room.

Like the time the sommelier helped find just the right bottle of wine to please everyone at the table. Or the time you put your partner’s birthday into the special requests section, expecting nothing, and the chef sent out off-menu snacks and sweets. Or the time the waitstaff, without missing a beat, perfectly accommodated your tricky dietary requirements. Those are the meals you remember.

Fit-outs, lighting, playlists and ambience might give a restaurant its identity, but service is what gives a restaurant its soul. That's why we created The Hot List: to track Sydney's best food and buzziest openings – but also celebrate the places, old and new, that excel at warm service and hospitality.

We’re living through tough times for customers and restaurants alike. It’s easy to see why so many businesses are shortening hours, trimming headcounts, using QR code ordering and more. But The Hot List shows there’s an abundance of places where service isn’t a liability on the balance sheet – it’s an invaluable asset.

Service still matters. We think it’s never mattered more. Give one of these spots a try, and we know you’ll think so too.

The basement diner whose investment in staff is paying dividends

Have you ever asked a waiter about the wine list, only for them to dip off and fetch the sommelier? That’s unlikely to happen at Neptune’s Grotto, the CBD’s hottest new subterranean Italian diner. Yes, the somms here are some of the best in the game, led from the front by co-owner Andy Tyson, but it’s clear that the owners have invested in the waitstaff with tastings and education. That’s paying off: every member of the team here knows both the food and drinks menus back to front. That attention to detail makes you feel confident that you’re in for a good meal, before any Piedmontese wines and plates of pasta even arrive at your table. And you will. There’s a reason this place has been perennially packed since it opened at the tail-end of last year. It’s worth going to the effort to get a table at Neptune’s Grotto because once you get here, you know you’ll be in safe hands.

The Surry Hills spot that focuses on last impressions as much as first impressions

It’s one of the toughest tasks in hospitality: getting people who are dawdling at a table to pay the bill and leave. It’s an easy way to leave a bad last impression. But the other day the staff at Alma’s, the in-venue cocktail bar counterpart to Bessie’s, did it to me in the most warm and graceful way. All by telling the truth. Our waiter came up to us, explained that a large group was waiting for our table, and would we mind finishing our last few bites and sips over at a smaller table? We didn’t at all, received the message and gladly moved, finished up and left. It turns out that all you need to avoid awkwardness is a bit of honesty, kindness and politeness. That kind of polish pervades Bessie’s and Alma’s, Morgan McGlone and Nathan and Sali Sasi’s new two-in-one follow-up to their revered wine bar Bar Copains. It’s a pleasure to come here and eat. And thanks to the service and thoughtful touches like delicious after-dinner mints, it’s even a pleasure to leave.

The accidental restaurant taking the stress out of being booking-free

You can plan all you want, but you never know what your venue will become until it opens, and you see how the public interact with it. Ante was supposed to be a Japanese-inspired, saké-fuelled listening bar – and it had the walk-ins only, no bookings policy to match. There was only one problem though: chef and co-owner Jenna Whiteman’s food was too delicious. Everyone kept coming in to eat. Now, years on, Ante is still nominally a bar, but it’s functionally one of the best restaurants in Sydney. But you still can’t book it. A lot of places don’t handle being walk-in only well – at best the system for getting in can be convoluted, at worst you’re staring down the barrel of a long wait, or even feeling completely unwanted. Ante keeps it simple, they take your number, point you towards a few King Street venues where you can have a pre-prandial cocktail, and just text you when your table’s ready. Once you’re in, they take their time, and you don’t feel like you’re being rushed out the door in the slightest. Perfect.

The crazy popular (and beautiful) place proving that more is more

The people have spoken. Since launching The Hot List last December, Olympus in Redfern has been the most popular venue on the list. Week in and week out. It’s easy to see why – this George Livissianis-designed dining room, dominated by a central glass oculus and 50-year old bougainvillea tree, is already one of Sydney’s most iconic dining rooms. And it’s only a few months old. Then there’s the pedigree: Olympus comes from the owners of Cho Cho San and The Apollo one of the most influential Greek restaurants in town, as well Greca and Yoko in Brisbane. One of the most impressive things about Olympus is the menu: there’s almost 50 à la carte dishes to choose from, as well as a handful of set menus. In an era where menus are shrinking to the size of postcards, this blockbuster 200-seater has decided that bigger is better and more is more. And based on the crowds that form here from opening through to close seven days a week, we’re incline to believe them.

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