All-day dining at Rosa's, where the pizzas are doing a great public service

By all accounts there's a steady stream of public servants making their way to the "all-day garden bar", whether it be for a mid-morning coffee, a quick bite at lunch, or an early knock off for pizza and a glass of wine or two.

Open from 7am until late, seven days, Rosa's is the next stage of the precinct to open, after the fine-dining Japanese restaurant Koto opened in August 2023.

Award-winning chef Shaun Quade (Lume, Melbourne) was appointed group culinary director in late 2023, but today he's been flat out making pizza dough since 7am to cater for the hungry hoards.

"We've been completely smashed this first week, every day has been busier and busier," he says.

"It's such a nice space and people seem to have taken to it straight away, it's been good."

From the canteen-style window, you can order breakfast, lunch and dinner.

"It's a fairly simple menu but it's nice and fresh, cooked quickly with nice ingredients prepared really smartly, it's all vibrant and fresh and delicious," says Quade.

From 7-11am, think pastries, egg and smoky bacon rolls and coffee.

At lunch, there's a range of paninis made fresh-daily, think roast beef with zuni pickle, or a eggplant parmigiana with mushroom and goat's curd.

There are little plates, too, wood-fired flatbread with labneh and spices or stracciatella with beet oil, basil and leatherwood honey, and cheese and charcuterie boards to order.

But it's the pizzas that are bringing the house down, the house-made dough is light but crisp around the edges, the large wood-fired oven is from 11.30am onwards. The potato bake - with fior di latte, gorgonzola, roast potato, toasted garlic and rosemary - is popular.

"And the PB&J, with smoky bacon, pineapple and pickled jalapeno, is doing well too," says Quade.

At Lume, Quade was known for pushing the limits with flavours and concepts at the two-hatted restaurant. His signature dish Pearl on the Ocean Floor featured on MasterChef in 2016.

"But I've never done pizzas so it's been a huge learning curve, it's been quite a challenge. We did 150 people today with just the two of us in the kitchen, but it's actually quite good fun. I was on the dough all day."

As well as the weekday professional crowd, Rosa's has been popular with families on the weekends and after hours as the last warm evenings hang on. Order pizzas, let the kids run around on the lawns within eyesight, sit back with a drop from the drinks list, wines available by the glass or bottle, beers and ciders and a neat spirits list.

As the evenings cool down, expect blankets and throws to come out and heating will be installed.

Ballyhoo, which fills the space which was once the Pork Barrel cafe, isn't far away either. While the familiar hexagonal shape remains, the canvas roof has gone and the now classy space is filled with light through large windows which will slide away as conditions permit.