The Olympic effect
NADIA BAILEY looks back at the original Olympic effect.
Chef Liam Tomlin remembers exactly where he was the night that Cathy Freeman ran the 400 metres. He was at Banc, mid-service: every seat in the muchfêted restaurant was full, while outside, Martin Place thronged with tourists and locals who packed in daily to watch the Olympic Games on supersized screens.
“When her race came on, the entire restaurant got up and left,” recalls Tomlin. “They left their food, their wine... everybody walked out onto the street. The staff too, because there was no one left to serve. Then as soon as the race was over, we all came back in and just carried on. It was an amazing atmosphere.”
In the year 2000, that atmosphere was everywhere. A mix of new millennium
