Here’s what should happen. Somebody should take Michael Lambie, owner of The Smith in Prahran, and stuff him into Morris Jones, the other brand new, nearby pub on Chapel Street in Prahan. I love the Byron George fitout of the former 1887 department store that is MJ and the passion and energy that owner Hayden Burbank, a restaurant novice, has put into executing the design from distressing the walls to his brilliant, affordable living wall of greenery. What I’m not […]
Restaurants
Restaurant and bar stories, news and reviews
Diary of a food festival: day two
View from the Steyne Hotel. Not bad eh? Enjoy breakfast in Cafe Opera, Level 1. Breakfast is available from 6:30am -10:30am daily. As a hotel breakfast it ain’t bad. Passable (just) scrambled eggs but best of all streaky bacon and decent sausages. A highlight is the honeycomb, yoghurt and fruit. Nice filter coffee. 0845 Meet with your Destination NSW host Lauren Zoneff and make your way on to the Harbour Master Steps for your Manly Fast Ferry. Myself, Kerry […]
Gourmet Traveller vs the people
What crazy things restaurant rankings are, eh? A small group of the same old people pretty much are the judges for all the local restaurant awards, whether it is Gourmet Traveller, which announced its Sydney-centric version this week, or The Age, which is next week. It’s a mad mad mad world when you factor in the user generated rankings from Urbanspoon, with the real winners in the two lists being Frank Camorra and his Movidas and Andrew McConnell with Cutler […]
The Estelle: a taste of Basque country in Northcote
A change of direction at The Estelle with chef Ryan Flaherty There a little bit of Basque country foaming away in Northcote, at the relaunched The Estelle, best known previously for the knitted cuts of meat hanging on the wall. How much foam diners in Northcote – or indeed Melbourne – can take is the question that perplexes me. The food (and foam) coming out of the kitchen of the newly installed chef Ryan Flaherty, which was recently bought by […]
27 social media tips for restaurants
Broadcast across multiple social media platforms thanks to Instagram. Today I’m on a panel at Food Service Austalia with Matteo Pignatelli and Robelen Baja talking about social media and marketing for restaurants and caterers. My specific topic is how to deal with negative comments but also how to use social media. I know this is a little off topic from restaurant reviews and recipes but I thought my thoughts jotted down over a couple of coffees (Sumatran Wahana Estate Magic […]
The chaos that is Misschu
Order at the tuckshop window Click through to the MissChu website at your peril. It’s noisy, just like the restaurant, if you can call it that. The vibe is exactly the same as the crowded chaos of a SE Asian city at this joint at the top end of Exhibition St, between Lonsdale and Latrobe. The walls are pasted with refugee-style imagery. The crowd at lunch is largely office with guys in shirtsleeves wearing lanyards, groovy Asian guys in beanies […]
Do you know a surcharge sinner?
If you can find somewhere open today – or any time this Easter weekend – potentially it’s an expensive time to eat out because of public holiday surcharges of 10% or more. It’s a unique situation having five days straight off work and I know I’ll be chowing down in what restaurants I can find open. I was interviewed by Channel Ten News (which should air sometime today after 5pm) on this, the fact that many restaurants and cafes are […]
A Temple that needs more spice
It’s very hip. It’s dark like a nightclub with individual lamps over each table illuminating the food. Not so dark that you could get away with the kind of nefarious under table hand shuffling that was reported in the defunct Bistro Guillaume bar that previously occupied the basement space. But dark enough to make any food photography futile. I could be anywhere in the world, but I’m in Melbourne in the basement dining room in Crown Casino insulated from the […]
Busting the great Pellegrini’s myth
People love Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar. It’s because of the atmosphere and the 1950s charm. It’s a great place to hang out and watch the top end of Bourke Street go by – as long as you are not eating or drinking coffee. If you have anything more ambitious than a glass of water (alcohol isn’t served) you’ll be disappointed because the food and the coffee are also both stuck in the 1950s. But the place is packed, so why would […]