How many of these Canberra restaurants can you remember?

We've got restaurants making waves on the national scene and top-line chefs are calling Canberra home. It is the energy, creativity, and work ethic of so many chefs and restaurateurs that have made it better than ever to dine out in Canberra.

But where did it all begin?

In the early days, the Sydney Building was home to the Blue Moon Cafe, opened by Richard and Eleanor Prowse around 1926. It was one of the few places in the city you could go for a meal. It had a dining room downstairs and a boarding house upstairs. Emmanuel Gerakiteys ran the cafe in the 1950s, in partnership with Greek brothers Spyros and Peter Cassidy. It boasted a confectionery counter and a milk bar, with dining booths inside the cafe. On the southside, the Liberty Cafe was constructed by the Notaras family in the same year. It changed to become the Mogambo in the 1960s and in 1973, John Stefano named the restaurant Caphs, an acronym for each of the business partner's first names - Chris, Anthony, Philip, Helen and Steve.

Noah's restaurant in Civic was the place to be from 1961, nestled in the Town House Motel, one of the first commercial buildings designed by noted architect Enrico Taglietti. The Lobby was opened in 1968 by then treasurer Billy McMahon, just 100m from Parliament House.

In the early 1970s, the influencers of the industry, although they would be horrified by such a reference, were people such as Mez O'Neill, who ran the Labor Party-endorsed Charlie's restaurant, where guests dined on veal chasseur and pork Normandy. It was the first restaurant in Canberra to introduce a daily changing blackboard menu of seven entrees and seven mains.

At around the same time, Pipi's in Woden, with its distinctive extruding porthole windows, was cooking fresh seafood, and Malcolm Carlin was accumulating a large volume of collectable wines at The Hermitage.

The Charcoal Grill was on its second round of owners before Ron and Noni Plewes took over for an extended time at the helm.

Theo Moulis was cooking up a storm at The Bacchus Tavern, hidden underneath the tallest building in Canberra, MLC Tower. He later went a few hundred metres up to The Tower restaurant, where he stayed for a couple of decades.

Former Canberra Times wine writer Chris Shanahan remembers places such as Captain Greg's seafood restaurant in Belconnen, and Joseph Cotta's Indian restaurant, Shalimar, being well patronised. Joseph (and his wife Gladys) went on to open Geetanjali at the back of the Deakin shops. Joseph was also a well regarded cook book author. Shanahan recalls the "dinner party" chefs, including Jill and Richard Farmer, who ran a private restaurant from their house in Kingston some time in the 1970s. Perhaps the days before self-government (that we voted not to have) were just a little bit more relaxed in terms of red tape.

The 1980s brought expense accounts, shoulder pads and a rush of lunchtime dining as the scene was driven by venues such as Peaches at the Campbell shops, Jean-Pierre Le Carrousel on top of Red Hill, Seasons near the Canberra Theatre, Warrens and Nobbs in Manuka.

Warrens opened in late 1975. Early in 1976, the proprietor (Warren Barlin) was affectionately renamed "The Strutting Peacock" by Patricia, one of his waitresses, and the name stuck. Warren was quite a character and included a number of sage pieces of advice on his menus, such as - "Cheques - we love your cheques almost as much as we love you - if they don't do the magic act and turn to rubber and bounce away. We at Warrens of Manuka find this unbearable and so stick them in the window for all to see. You see we are usually very quiet, but do get upset if people try to cheat us".

Clancy's at Canberry Fair in Watson was launched in the mid '80s by serial restaurateur Alby Sedatis. After not quite surviving the trials and tribulations of mixing swan rides and "The Gravitron" with a local investor with Russian business interests, Alby joined John and Carol Haslem at Fringe Benefits. It was at this time when restaurants really started to offer a deep cellar option.

Chez Moustache in Narrabundah had a cult following, run by husband and wife team Claudine and Jean-Luc Obers. Tang Dynasty in Kingston was scooping the American Express Best Restaurant Awards year after year, as people washed down their black pepper hot-pots with black Russians.

Our family favourite Chinese was the Golden Crown in Phillip, or if my parents were feeling particularly indulgent, we would dine at the Mandarin which was across the road and upstairs. I guess that they paid a little more for the view over industrial Phillip! For takeaway, we would get egg and bacon pizza from Plaka in Mawson. Con's Seafood Restaurant was also popular for a lobster thermidor at that time.

In 1986, treasurer Paul Keating introduced the Fringe Benefits Tax and all of a sudden, expense account largesse came to a crashing halt. As I understand, it was brought in after his version of the GST was knocked back, but now we have both! Given the tough conditions and razor-thin margins for restaurants post pandemic, I expect that even just a year or two of FBT relief for restaurants around the country today would have a massively positive impact on the industry and the economy as well.

Interest rates soared to 17 per cent by the late '80s and by the '90s, youth unemployment was also spiralling in the wrong direction. The industry had to work through leaner times, and out of that, a more competitive generation of restaurateurs was born. Canberra was about to get busy.

I started my first restaurant job in 1991 at Vivaldi at the ANU, where I was lucky enough to work under the ownership of Sue Harrington, David Wood and Tony Wood. They were incredibly fun times and being based on the university campus, it wasn't uncommon to serve such living legends as Manning Clark or HG "Nugget" Coombs.

I can remember Paul Keating announcing "the recession that we had to have" and so Vivaldi put on a "recession lunch that you have to have" which was two courses for $16.90.

I also recollect serving a guy nicknamed the "Hungarian Runner", a Hungarian lad doing the rounds of the top restaurants in the country by himself, ordering three courses and a nice bottle of wine, and then claiming that he left his wallet back in his hotel. He tried it on at Vivaldi one Tuesday night and a couple of the Vivaldi chefs gave him a free character assessment in the dark alleyway afterwards. I suspect that his running career may have slowed considerably after that!

In the 1990s, the ANU bar was an essential stopover for any self-respecting alternative music band. Outfits such as Tool, Midnight Oil, The Cruel Sea, Henry Rollins, Blink 182, Faith No More and Public Enemy all played there. I was one of the 2000 or so fans who were front and centre on Wednesday February 5, 1992, when Nirvana blew the roof (well, the door) off the ANU Refectory.

On our nights off, we would dine at Dorettes in Garema Place, Ruby or Madam Yip in Dickson, Berocca Cafe, Chez Daniel, Beluccis or the Ottoman, back when it was tucked into a small dining room upstairs in Franklin Street, Manuka. When Ottoman relocated (the first time), this site became home to A Foreign Affair. The Green Herring at Ginninderra Village, owned by Graham Green and Jane Herring, was a very popular Saturday night destination. The Carrington in Bungendore had a strong following for their Christmas in July celebrations. The Oak Room at the Hyatt was the ultimate big night out. Montezuma's Mexican, whilst unlikely to win any culinary awards, was our go-to for 21st birthday celebrations. I'd like to think that my tastes have somewhat improved since then.