Covid critical: The Mouth is on a mission to save local restaurants

The Mouth has issued a call to arms - get out there and eat, if you can, at someplace you love whether it’s a slap-up meal or just a cup of coffee at your local.

Not one word of a lie, but the other morning at the local park where this column exercises its hound, an older lady of a certain temperament and disposition said apropos of nothing, “Norman Swan says on the radio we all need to get our masks back on!”

Naturally she wasn’t wearing one herself.

But as a leading indicator of “here we go again”, the incident was a loud and insistent warning that not only is Covid not over, but neither is the bossy boots behaviour the pandemic encouraged.

And more worryingly for those of us who know and love restaurants it came on the heels of something else.

Recently this column caught up with a group of cronies at one of our regular haunts, i.e., everyone’s favourite French CBD theme park, Hubert.

The Tartare de Thon, at Hubert, Bligh Street, today. Sydney's Restaurant Hubert was one of the favourites in The Daily Telegraph's Restaurateurs Poll. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Distressingly for a Friday afternoon, it was less than heaving. More tables than there should have been were empty.

Big banquette tables at the bar stood unloved, and not enough of their little discrete tables for two were hosting pairings who quite possibly should not have been out together unchaperoned, if you get our drift.

"Gosh, this terrine was good", said Daily Telegraph restaurant critic The Mouth.

In other words, people were staying home, and not going out.

This was probably bad for the restaurant’s takings, but it was excellent for us.

The food is always generally pretty good here, the sort of classic French stuff you want to eat just kicked up a couple of notches – oysters, terrine, cote du boeuf, the best chicken and bread sauce you’ll get this side of Bresse – plus delightful treats like their signature “roe boats”.

But on this day, the food was better, less rushed.

Plates of garlicky clams and tuna tartare came and little stuffed zucchini flowers came out just a little more haute cuisine than quick-fire bistro.

And the service was, with the extra time, extra attentive and warm.

Which suggests that for restaurant goers there is a bit of a paradox at play, one which everyone who can should charitably take advantage of.

Essentially, the idea is to fill the gap, and as much as possible keep local hospitality going.

That can mean a weekly coffee at your local cafe or pulling forward plans for a once a year anniversary celebration.

In return, you’ll get appreciation and likely an even better time than you normally would have had.