When chef Faheem Noor opened Ruma Dining in Double Bay late last year, he discovered dinner trade lagged strong daytime traffic. Noor’s solution wasn’t to slash prices or introduce specials – instead, he merged Ruma with Arte Bianca, the popular prize-winning Double Bay pizzeria that operated only at night.

Noor, who worked in the restaurant kitchens of chefs Gordon Ramsay and Tetsuya Wakuda, described the consolidation of the two separately owned businesses as Ruma Arte Bianca Pizzeria Ristorante. He said the move was a no-brainer given the savings in overheads and allowed operators to split rent, insurance, utilities and staff costs.

Noor described the arrangement as “a new business model” for an industry battling tough trading conditions. The chef said there were already a few savvy Sydney hospitality operators cleverly utilising their own spaces – pointing to daytime cafe Harrys Bondi’s launch of its Raw Next Door concept, an izakaya that opens in the space after sunset.

Former Tetsuya’s head chef, Darren Robertson, tried a different approach to generate income during daytime downtime at Rocker, the North Bondi restaurant he co-founded. Rocker trialled a program with a company that sells workspace in closed hospitality venues.

Robertson admits he found it a little “weird” having a daytime office operate out of the restaurant and bar, but said hospitality venues need to find new income streams to offset rising costs.

“It didn’t work for us, but I think it’s an awesome idea. There’s going to be more and more of it,” Robertson said.

Eddie Stewart recently closed White Moon, the Japanese-inspired bar that operated in the evenings at the Newtown site where its daytime sibling venue, Tokyo Lamington, trades.

Stewart, co-owner of the venues, said White Moon was successful, but finding the right staff was time-consuming, and the running dual concepts out of the small Australia Street shopfront proved a lot of work.

Stewart’s advice to anyone looking to adopt the two-in-one business model is to make sure there is a big difference between the two businesses, so they don’t cannibalise each other, or confuse customers as to what’s on the menu when. A positive out of the experience for Stewart was the discovery locals wanted a drop-in venue that stays open later, so Tokyo Lamington has extended its hours.

Arte Bianca co-owner Mark Paterno had a good previous experience working in tandem with another operator, but while that was more like a flatmate situation where he paid a flat fee, the relationship with Ruma is more of a business marriage.

Ruma and Arte Bianca have merged into one company, so there’s no squabbling over bills and who operates the more lucrative shift. They chose to shack up in the Ruma space because Arte Bianca’s old Double Bay site was being developed. Compromises needed to be made at their shared home, so space was made for a $60,000 pizza oven. Ruma’s private dining room has also been transformed into a pasta studio.

Faheem Noor said Ruma’s Asian-leaning daytime menu – which includes a bottomless matcha menu – coupled with Italian in the evenings might seem a little incongruous, but both restaurants have shared value for quality, plus there are advantages. Paterno, who grew up in his family’s Haberfield pizzeria and saw Arte Bianca win several local pizza championships, will school the Ruma team on pizza- and pasta-making.

“You really need the right partner to do something like this,” Paterno said of the business merger. The popularity of pizza as an evening meal supported a big part of the synergy, Noor said.

“We see this as a forward-thinking model for hospitality,” Noor said. “I think we’re going to take this concept [to other sites].”