Where to Celebrate a Milestone with a Long Lunch in Sydney

Stanmore’s highly lauded Sixpenny offers one of the finest degustations in Sydney. Pull up a seat at one of seven tables and indulge in seven courses of locally and ethically sourced produce. Head chef and owner Daniel Puskas picks herbs, flowers and leaves straight from the restaurant’s garden — while small-scale farmers, fisherman and producers provide the remainder of the kitchen’s ingredients. The menu changes constantly depending on what’s in season and can be modified to most dietary requirements, too. Depending on what’s on the docket that day, you can choose to pair your meal with a complimentary bottle of Mount Pleasant shiraz or aged semillon.

The northern beaches are the lucky home to this two-hatted, waterside venue. Pilu at Freshwater offers some of the best Sardinian cooking in the city, and your decadent meal will be accompanied by sweeping ocean views. Located in a heritage-listed beach house, it’s impressive surrounds are well worth any special occasion. Owner and chef Giovanni Pilu’s menu features regional Italian flavours and offers a la carte dining and two tasting menus, with a vegetarian option included. Think beetroot and goat cheese raviolini and snapper with olives in white wine sauce. Speaking of wine, you can choose from a complimentary bottle of McW 660 Reserve cabernet sauvignon or at Mount Pleasant white blend with the a la carte menu.

Mosman boasts its own two-hatted waterside restaurant serving up classy Italian fare. Ormeggio at The Spit is located at the D’Albora Marina, with views across Middle Harbour and Pearl Bay. In the kitchen, chefs Alessandro Pavoni and Victor Moya are at the helm. You can expect refined Italian dishes, which you can pair with a free bottle of McW 660 Reserve syrah or chardonnay.  At the moment, the menu features the likes of spanner crab risotto and angus beef with cabbage and turnip.

If you’re keen to head out of town for your special occasion, the two-hatted Biota Dining is the place to go. Located one and a half hours south of Sydney in Bowral — in a picturesque setting between Nattai and Budawang National Parks, no less — the award-winning restaurant creates dishes that use local ingredients and are inspired by the surrounding landscape. The Southern Highlands is home to a growing and diverse climate that spans dairy and livestock farms, as well as vegetable producers and wild foragers. At the moment, the venue is offering five- and seven-course tasting menus, which use seasonal ingredients from across the region. Expect inventive dishes like grilled fish wings served with Minnimurra coastal greens or Flinders Island wallaby stew with lemon myrtle bread, which you can pair with Mount Pleasant semillon and shiraz fiano. If you’d like to make a weekend of it, look no further than the onsite boutique accommodation.

Sister venue to Redfern’s Kepos Street Kitchen, this Waterloo restaurant has been a local favourite since opening in 2015. Owner and chef Michael Rantissi has created a slice of old Jerusalem with Kepos & Co, which offers a mix of Middle Eastern flavours and Australian favourites. The share menu suits special dinners with larger groups and focuses around the kitchen’s wood-fired oven. It’s turning out za’atar flatbreads, lamb pizzas and whole barramundi for dinner. Plus, you only need to spend $50 per table to receive that complimentary bottle of wine, with a choice of Tumbarumba pinot noir or Hunter Valley semillon.

Barangaroo’s cloud-shaped restaurant Cirrus is the latest from lauded chef Brent Savage and sommelier Nick Hildebrandt (Bentley, Monopole, Yellow) — and it has been serving super fresh, sustainable seafood since opening in 2016. If your long lunch is being shared with eight or more, we recommend going with the group lunch menu, which is priced at $75 per person. This seven-course shared feast includes ocean trout toast with smoked beetroot and pepperberry, roasted tiger prawns with fermented chilli and Thai basil and braised pork neck with sweetcorn and fermented cabbage. Thanks to Hildebrandt, you can expect a top-notch wine list, too, and the Citibank freebie is either a Mount Pleasant shiraz or semillon.

Located on the south end of Sydney’s Bondi Beach, Bondi Trattoria offers house-made pasta with one serious view. The venue is open for lunch every single day and is ideal for vegetarians, as half the menu is vego. Those pastas include roasted pumpkin and sage butter gnocchi, yellow fin tuna or little neck clams angel hair and spaghetti napoli or bolognese. A large menu of sourdough pizzas is also up for grabs, with toppings like truffled four cheese and broccolini with pickled eggplant and ricotta. If you order one main per person, you’ll also receive a McW 480 pinot grigio or shiraz, free of charge.