Burnt toast in the bedsheets not quite your mum's thing? If you'd rather she spent the day in the hands of professionals, and suspect she would too, being spoilt with fine food and wine, several Good Food Guide restaurants have plans to mark the day with special celebration menus.
Pei Modern in the city is proposing a glass of Mumm for mum, the French champagne a prelude to a four-course menu for $75 (children under 12 $35). For a French flavoured feast, the CBD's Bistro Vue has menus at $120 and $65 for children, while Vue de Monde has a very high (55th floor) tea in its function space with host Jo Stanley at 1pm and 4 pm ($150 adults, $65 children). Great views add to the ambience of Fitzroy's Panama Dining, where there's a two-course menu for $54, three courses for $64, and children's menus too. Plenty to look at too, from the yachts bobbing on the bay to the CBD, from on high, when dining at No.35 atop the Sofitel. You could add a room for the night, but lunch is a good start , with a buffet, including French wines, seafood and chocolate desserts at $125 per person, $85 for 13- to 17-year-olds, and $5 per year for 12 and under.
In Northcote, creative, contemporary Estelle Bar & Kitchen will offer guests a contemporary six-course menu and a glass of Louis Roederer for $130. The basement souk dining room of modern Middle Eastern Maha in the CBD offers five courses for $110, children $55. Local hero Merricote in Northcote, home of a stellar cheese trolley, has a three-course Mother's Day menu for $75. With a fitout that defines modern elegance, but with a sense of fun, Matteo's in Fitzroy North offers a special menu on Sunday at $95 for three courses.
Take a Sunday drive to the country village of Inverleigh, just past Geelong, where Gladioli is offering a six-course Mother's Day menu for $100 (kids aged 5 to 11 are $50, and get three courses).
Back in town, the two young chefs and the beautiful, Victorian dining rooms of Woodland House (formerly Jacques Reymond) will host a six-course lunch in fine dining style for $115. Expect something funkier from Le Ho Fook, the Collingwood modern Chinese that promises a long lunch and happiness with an all-day Mother's Day menu.
Mother's Day is one of the year's busiest (and occasionally most stressful for waitstaff "We don't usually have so many children in a restaurant, and as it's mum's day off, they may not be that well supervised," one said wistfully), so as the cliche goes, book early to avoid disappointment, be good, and eat your greens.
From The Age Good Food Guide 2014 available now in good book stores and at theageshop.com.au.
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