No 101 George Street is part of The Rocks precinct where the Green Bans influenced the way that the NSW government, the people of Sydney and the wider Australian community understood and valued the history and heritage values of Sydney's first settlement. Following the green bans movement in the 1970s, 101 George Street was the first building to be restored under the guidance of the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority, and has maintained the use then established until the present time. It therefore has social significance for present and past members of The Rocks community (including the existing tenant).
The association of the place with food and drink, though not continuous, has been substantial, as a butcher's shop from c. 1868 until 1886, with a meat curing cookhouse at the rear from 1882, with oyster bars and wine bars from 1886 until the early 1920s, and as Phillip's Foote restaurant since 1976, with Philip Cox's interpretation of the history of the place, including the cookhouse at the rear, echoing these earlier uses.
