Dining rooms get cosy
Intimate dining spaces are having a moment. Why? Because there are times when you just want dinner – without the show.
UNASSUMING BUT elegant, Sixpenny (sixpenny.com.au) in Sydney’s Inner West is a true neighbourhood eatery. “We aspire to [re-create] the experience of being invited over to a friend’s house for dinner," says restaurant manager George Papaioannou of the 35-seater. It's housed in a modest corner shopfront with no theatrics, no clattering open kitchen or outré art. Instead, low-key soft furnishings, thoughtful lighting and food served with heart make dining here “feel familiar”.
It could be that intimate spaces such as Sixpenny are a backlash against the brash, boisterous alternatives that have long defined so many Australian restaurants – all showiness and razzle-dazzle, from décor to music. And it’s a sensibility that’s gaining traction. In Victoria, there’s the small but perfectly formed Igni (restaurantigni.com), which caters to just 28 patrons. And in Brunswick Heads on the Far North Coast of NSW, the tiny Fleet (fleetrestaurant.com.au) serves 14; its compact size matched by the restrained, seasonal menu. Witness, also, two new micro Japanese eateries in Melbourne: the 16-seater Ishizuka (ishizuka.com.au), which focuses on traditional kaiseki haute cuisine, and Tempura Hajime (tempura hajime.com.au), where a mere 12 diners gather around a central bar for morsels of deliciousness. And you might sit elbow to elbow at the 20-seater Templo in Hobart (templo.com.au) but the experience feels convivial rather than claustrophobic. Sometimes the best things really do come in small packages.