Best

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My 100th post – reflections on ten months of restaurant reviews

Opera cake

Opera cake at Bouchon, Las Vegas

What a fun ten months it has been writing this blog. Looking back I thought it would be good to think about my favourite experiences in Australia and overseas; at flagship fine diners and everyday venues.

The ten months has taken me across to Perth several times, to the USA twice, Brazil, Hong Kong, and also up to Sydney. I’ve dined around Victoria in Daylesford, Kyneton, Geelong, Birregurra, Healesville and Emerald, and thoroughly blitzed through Richmond amongst many other Melbourne suburbs in this remarkable city. It goes to show that Gourmet Traveller is well named as a magazine; the two so intertwined.

There are several themes. Kimchi popped up many times along with American barbeque, and Andrew McConnell seems to dominate from a chef/owner perspective. The other theme which has come across to a few friends and colleagues is that I am not a hard marker. I like food and I try to choose places I’ll enjoy or that I’ve been recommended. As a result I am probably not going to be providing my readers with the big “scoop” but hopefully my direction is found to be accurate.

It is extremely difficult to choose my favourites from the past nine months so I’m taking a different angle. I’m going to list the restaurants that first come to mind (without looking at the list of restaurants I’ve been to) and for some categories choose one or two as the experience I most want again and/or one I couldn’t imagine not having had.

Australian fine diners – Momofuku Seiobo, Brae, Cutler & Co., Saint Crispin, Lakehouse. Brae again (please!) and Momofuku Seiobo as a treasured memory.

Overseas fine diners – Chez Panisse (Bay Area, California), Eleven Madison Park (New York), Oleana (Boston), Lung King Heen (Hong Kong). Eleven Madison Park again (and again!) and Chez Panisse as a treasured memory.

Australian casual dining – Supernormal, Luxembourg, Tonka, Supermaxi, Lalla Rookh, Pastuso. Too hard to choose just one!

Overseas casual dining – Saxon + Parole (New York), Union Square Cafe (New York), Bouchon (Las Vegas). Saxon + Parole again but all are amazing.

Australian cafe or cheap and cheerful – there are so many but General Food Store, Low Key Chow House, Kong BBQ, and Crabapple Kitchen spring to mind along with old favourites like Pope Joan. It really is too hard to decide on one, but to see the kimchi epidemic in full swing try Kong BBQ or Low Key Chow House (Perth).

It’s been an incredible first ten months on this blog. Thanks to anyone who takes an interest in reading my reviews, and to those who I’ve shared these meals with along the way!

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Impressions of the 2015 guides – The Age Good Food Guide and the Australian Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide

I am excited. I have been excited for some time having booked at Brae close to five months ago. But now I am heading to The Age Good Food Guide restaurant of the year and on the first Saturday after it has been crowned!

Momofuku's xo, diakon, tripe

Momofuku’s xo, diakon, tripe

It’s a bit of good luck and good planning. There is a lot of ill feeling towards food guides in general, but they are all too often misunderstood. Basically, it gives the publisher a once-a-year opportunity for their publication to be more broadly and generically publicised. It is great for the restaurants who get awards and/or acclaim (hats in the GFG and stars for AGT) and it does help grow their business and the industry, but they completely understand that you need a bit of good luck on top of great execution and a special difference to get an award. It is not scientific, and it is extremely subjective. Like so many artistic awards, if you are towards the top of the tree, you are successful in your own right, and the recognition is a little bit of cream, rather than the objective.

Lake House's Moreton Bay bug ravioli, kim chi, dashi

Lake House’s Moreton Bay bug ravioli, kim chi, dashi

There are thousands of restaurants. To all of those who say guides are irrelevant, I say if you can get a hat or a star, then you are worth trying out. There is no possible way any one person can attempt to try every restaurant in a city (let alone Australia) in the space of a year, so consistency is impossible. However, if several experienced diners have been to the same restaurant, and all have enjoyed their experience and rate the restaurant close to the top of their list, then that is compelling to me. Taking that into account is more important than arguing why one restaurant in the Australian Gourmet Traveller Top 100 is higher than another; as this is not going to bear any fruit whatsoever.

Supernormal's New England lobster Roll

Supernormal’s New England lobster Roll

For any time starved person, whether it be work or family or other pursuits, using a guide is a savvy way to have more positive than negative experiences in restaurants. While guides like AGT are like my bible, it is not a blind following. There are restaurants that are going to be more suitable, more comfortable, more confronting, and more expensive, than the next. You still need to be picky, and match the destination with the company,and with the occasion. That being said, I have rarely been to two and three hatted/starred restaurants and had a mediocre experience.

Cutler & Co's heirloom tomato salad, smoked buffalo ricotta, filo pastry

Cutler & Co’s heirloom tomato salad, smoked buffalo ricotta, filo pastry

I’m pleased the GFG chose Supernormal, which I reviewed recently, as the new restaurant of the year. I love Andrew McConnell’s diversity and the child of Golden Fields is a fantastic place to dine. I’m also pleased that Attica won the AGT restaurant of the year which has been dominated by Sydney over the past decade. I can understand why Rockpool, Momofuku Seiobo (see my recent review), and Quay round out the top four and hopefully my experience at Brae this weekend will measure up to its award as AGT regional restaurant of the year, and fifth in Australia. It is fantastic to see Cutler & Co also make the top ten in seventh (see my recent review). With Attica, Flower Drum, Vue de Monde, and Brae all receiving three hats in the Victorian GFG there is mainly consistency with AGT.

Momofuku's almond, peach, thyme

Momofuku’s almond, peach, thyme

If you were to dine out at restaurants like these every day you would be quickly going broke. We need some diversity in our dining experiences and a quick look at the AGT Top 100 and the hatted restaurants in the GFG provide an excellent array of styles and cuisines. There is traditional and contemporary, expensive and reasonable, formal and informal, institutional and new. It’s exciting seeing the number of restaurants breaking new ground all around Australia and around Victoria.

The growth of the restaurant industry must present a daunting task for the various judges of these guides. The reward for the publisher comes in being able to promote to a broad audience the places that are worth some effort to try, whether it be to get a booking, to drive or fly, or simply wait in line. I applaud those who contribute to these guides, and look forward to ongoing debates about the relevance and accuracy of the guides.