Pre-pay restaurant Prix Fixe opens in Melbourne

Prix Fixe, Melbourne's first ticketed dining venue, opens today.

A table at the Alfred Place restaurant must be reserved and prepaid online. And like the theatre, there will be no refunds if you can't make it.

Chef Philippa Sibley is helming the kitchen. Sibley (with a CV as long as your arm) and has teamed up with restaurateur Jason M Jones (Porgie and Mr Jones, Snow Pony, Friends of Mine cafes) for the venture. She explains the concept by saying, “You don't just make a booking, you buy a table for the night.”

Jones says the structure of Prix Fixe is something he's been aiming towards for many years. “Philippa is the perfect match as her food is the kind of food I'd like to eat – it's approachable and beautiful.”

Tables for two, four, six or eight people – no odd numbers – can be reserved.

The split-level 66-seat dining room is dressed in soft apricots, ceramic lamp shades and gold flourishes. A set menu, which changes monthly, is designed around a theme, kicking off with A Midsummer Night's Dream. The menu includes a main course called 'Titania', chicken with a salad of feta and “green faeries” (zucchini flowers, artichoke, green olives) and a dessert cheekily called “Bottom”, featuring truffled honey, apricots and pinenuts.

Prix Fixe is open for lunch and dinner, Monday to Saturday. Lunch (two courses) is $49 and dinner (four courses) is $79. Details: prixfixe.com.au.