When Latin American restaurant Tequila Mockingbird closed last month after a decade of service, owner Michael Fegent – director of group Atticus Hospitality – was quick to reopen TQM in its place. The Venezuelan restaurant launched with a sunny yellow facade, a kitchen led by a chef with Michelin cred and new energy to Paddington’s Five Ways. But then council piped up: change the bright yellow paint or be stuck with a $6000 fine.

“What I find ironic about the whole thing is, if you drive up William Street, if you look at a lot of the terraces – which are photographed on the regular to promote Paddington – they’re non-heritage colours as far as I know: bright pink, bright yellow, the old ’50s blue colour,” Fegent tells Broadsheet. “So I thought I was painting a compliant colour, because it’s fresh and bright and vibrant – turns out I’m not. It’s a bit of picking and choosing … council just seems to choose who they’re gonna bust and who they don’t.”

Woollahra Council’s issue concerns the heritage of the terrace: the heritage-listed 19th-century build wasn’t made for the egg-yolk yellow and is too much of a jump from the surrounding facades.

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The golden colour represents the heritage of new chef Jose Garcia, who was most recently at Buenos Aires’s Michelin-rated Fogón Asado. “I didn’t change the restaurant for any other reason than [adding] a little bit of excitement to the staff, to me and the locals. That was the whole point of doing it. I wanted to add a bit of warmth. It’s the major colour in the Venezuelan flag and our head chef’s from Venezuela.”

While just around the corner is a baby pink terrace, there is no denying the splash of paint is eye-catching. But if there were complaints from locals in the little time it’s been yellow, no one is yet to put their name to it.

“I haven’t heard anything but positivity the entire time,” Fegent says. “I used to be the president of the Chamber of Commerce in Paddington [during Covid] to help out the community, and it’s always been about ‘what can we do to activate the area?’ And for me that’s what I’m pushing now.

“You know, council spends all this money trying to ‘activate Sydney’ and you wonder why there’s no one frequenting Paddington like they used to be. It used to be the place in the late ’90s.”

Fegent is going back and forth with council currently, spotlighting the community’s response to the news and highlighting that paint’s not permanent. “A lot of it is the locals in the area saying, ‘This is fantastic’. Why not just do it for a period of time? And let everyone be bright coloured. Especially in times right now – hospitality is a tricky one. I’m just basically saying ‘give me an option’: I don’t want to be fined six grand, but on the other hand, think about it before you just force me to repaint it some boring colour.”

When speaking to Broadsheet, Councillor for Paddington Harriet Price remained neutral. “Tequila Mockingbird (now TQM) has been a popular and vibrant contributor to Paddington’s culinary offerings. I have been a strong advocate for protecting the heritage features of our special neighbourhood whilst promoting Paddington as a destination for its shopping, pubs, dining and fashion.

“Michael’s current predicament provides an opportunity to explore whether council’s controls might be adapted to accommodate a more diverse colour palette in certain precincts such as Five Ways. I am happy to pursue what might be possible.”

“It’s just yellow,” Fegent says. “It’s not like I’m painting it pink polka dots, god.”

@tqmpaddington