Residents of major cities like New York and London are familiar with the daily spectacle of office workers deploying from office towers to delicatessens, cafes and restaurants to grab a bite to eat at lunchtime. People dressed in uniform office garb stream every which way - heading to a local Cuban place for a plate of rice and chicken or a boutique gastronomic laboratory where they sip potato and leek soup through a straw. The sheer volume of people coming in and out of these places forces them to be ruthlessly efficient - any place that starts taking too long or slightly burning their steaks goes out of business in no time. Restaurants also flock to office buildings in such a way that you can figure out the tenants of the building by the type of lunch options available nearby. Here in Abu Dhabi, the restaurant scene is highly under developed and usually these dynamics do not apply. This may have finally changed with the introduction of , a high-end Australian chain at an office building near the corner of Muroor Rd and 15th St. Still, it looks like the place is floundering a bit with the pace as executives from Mubadala, Abu Dhabi Media Company and nearby banks and ministries flood the small cafe around noon. (Quick aside: The founder spent about Dh4 million to open the place up. Read about it ). Below is a dispatch from a lunchtime excursion by <b>Rupert Wright</b> , one of The National's business editors Restaurants can be a strong draw for tenants looking to move into an office building or a family looking for a new apartment. Many of the developers in Abu Dhabi like Sorouh Real Estate and the Tourism Development & Investment Company have been trying hard to bring in big names to their buildings to assure potential buyers and renters it is a worthwhile venture. As more and more of these buildings open up in the next year, we will see a proliferation of restaurants, cafes and high-end grocery stores. Until then, the latest arrival - Jones the Grocer - can probably safely stay in the lead whether or not it serves food on time... From Rupert: