Prices
Moderate (mains $20-$40)
Valentinas is a beautiful looking all-day American-style diner in the heart of Marrickville suburbia. There are inviting banquettes upholstered in olive-green corduroy below a wall of crimson-edged back-lit mirrors. There s a curving dark wood counter fronted by walnut-hued timber slivers and 1980s-vibe pink bar stools facing a bustling open kitchen.
There are white glass lights hanging from hand-rendered ceilings above honey-toned wood panels and shelves of retro metal teapots and green-and-white tea towels. There are even low-style cups and saucers that say Valentinas and sing Damn fine cup of coffee , Agent Cooper-style.
All of this is right there in front of us but we can t go near it. Instead, customers at the recently opened venture from co-owners Elise Honeybrook and Scott Clark, of fried dough mini-empire Grumpy Donuts, stand outside on the footpath waiting for takeaway-only orders. Lockdown restrictions equate to what-could-have-been.