Two bottles of Penfolds Grange for lunch? I’ll have what he’s having

A $3000 lunch on a Wednesday, an ignorant landlord and another new bar on the way up north — here is all your bite sized Sydney hospitality goss.

• Inside Paola Toppi’s new CBD restaurant

There is plenty happening in the Sydney hospitality scene and there are eyes and ears everywhere.

HOT RIGHT NOW

Crime really does pay, depending which side you’re on. Four lawyers ordered two bottles of Penfolds Grange with lunch in the city yesterday afternoon — $3000 cheque please!

ON THE BOIL

We hear The Cumberland in Manly isn’t far off opening, but mum’s still the word on the exact date and the location. Locals are itching to be let in on the secret.

SPILL THE BEANS

If your tenants complain their windows don’t feel safe in the wind, you should listen. Especially when days later, they explosively shatter in Sydney's wild weather — just as the tenants predicted. No injuries this time but next time who knows?

THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FILL

Sommeliers seem like some of the most sophisticated and knowledgeable people in hospitality — anyone who can name a vintage, grape and vineyard from a quick swill is an impressive creature.

But even the classiest folk like a cheeky trick.

In wine, different sized bottles have different names — 1.5 litre is a magnum, 15 litre is the Nebuchadnezzar — but who can remember all of those?

The acronym our scene’s finest use is MJMSBN, which translates to … Michael Jackson Makes Some Boys Nervous.

According to a sommelier at a venue owned by a prestigious dining group, it’s a widely used acronym across our nation’s sommeliers.

So next time you’re feeling intimidated because your sommelier knows far more than you, just remember they’re gutter-minded like the rest of us.

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Originally published as Two bottles of Penfolds Grange for lunch? I’ll have what he’s having