Ro Knox has organised it all. As we both arrive at Alimentari, a packed, casual Italian deli in Sydney’s Paddington – where people eat perched outside on sandstone blocks when all the chairs are taken – she assures me everything is taken care of.

And she’s right. We head in to order at the counter – two tuna salads, a large sparkling water and a limonata – and there’s a glimpse of something unusual for a Monday lunch: a table, right in the back courtyard, laid and empty.