The Sydney restaurant radio icon John Laws visited almost every day for 25 years before he died age 90

For more than 25 years, radio legend John Laws held court at the same waterfront restaurant on Sydney’s glamorous Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf.

So much so that staff didn’t just know his order, they kept a permanent table waiting for him.

The broadcasting icon, who passed away in November aged 90, lunched at Otto Ristorante almost every day, making the harbourside eatery as much a part of his identity as his golden microphone.

John, known to millions as the ‘Golden Tonsils’, lived in a luxury apartment directly above the wharf, just steps away from Otto – one of Sydney’s most recognisable waterside restaurants and a long-time magnet for media personalities, powerbrokers and celebrities.

‘If he was in town, he would be at Otto for lunch,’ Graham Ackling, group general manager of Fink, the hospitality group behind Otto, Quay and Bennelong, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

‘He would come to Otto for lunch and dinner pretty much every day, the entire time the restaurant was open,’ he added.

Although it’s known as being one of Sydney’s most picturesque dining precincts, Woolloomooloo’s Finger Wharf has transformed dramatically over the decades. 

Once a bustling industrial shipping pier, the enormous timber structure narrowly escaped demolition in the 1990s before being reimagined as a luxury marina precinct lined with apartments, boutique hotels and destination restaurants. 

‘He generally always sat on one particular table, but he did have one inside that was his, if it was bad weather,’ Ackling said.

That outdoor seat was known as Table 53.

But it wasn’t just John’s love of the cuisine that saw him frequent Otto most days – he briefly owned it.

In 2002, after hearing that founder Maurice Terzini was moving on, John teamed up with billionaire developer Lang Walker to take over the restaurant.

Their four-year ownership period was colourful and widely talked about, eventually ending when the pair sold the venue to long-time restaurateur Leon Fink.

But by then, the legend of Otto as the lunch table of Sydney’s media, entertainment and social set had already been cemented, thanks in no small part to John Laws himself.

His most constant dining companion was his beloved third wife, Caroline, who passed away in 2020. But he also regularly hosted well-known faces.

Acking said he would ‘quite often’ dine with celebrities like Neil Diamond or John Williamson, too.

Despite being one of the restaurant’s most loyal patrons, Laws didn’t have a signature dish but was known to favour their fresh oysters and barramundi, and often worked his way through the menu.

Otto was also the backdrop for one of his more infamous public moments in 2007, where he confronted radio rivals Derryn Hinch and Bob Rogers at a neighbouring restaurant.

As reported at the time, he leaned over their table declaring that they were ‘the two most despicable c***s I’ve ever met in this business,’ but Ackling acknowledged that minor incident was far from typical.

Staff recalled that John was most known for being warm and approachable, often pausing mid-meal to chat with fans who stopped by his table and happily posed for photos.

Those who served him have said that he was also a notably generous tipper and well-regarded among the team for his kindness.

And now, for the first time in a quarter of a century, Otto has opened bookings for Laws’ famous outdoor table overlooking the marina.