The backlash was swift last week when Heston Blumenthal announced that a meal at Fat Duck Melbourne would cost $525 a head, excluding drinks, making it one of Australia's most expensive restaurants. In defending the bill, Blumenthal said shipping restaurant equipment from Bray, outside to London, to Crown
"We're basically picking up the entire kitchen and staff from the Fat Duck and relocating across the world," Blumenthal said. "The cost structure for the Duck is like no other restaurant in the world. It can take one chef days just to make one item for the menu. Dining at the Duck is four and a half hours of entertainment. Add all of that together, and Melbourne is going to be about 40 or 50 quid more expensive than Bray."
is putting up his entire British staff of around 50 at Southbank for six months. Blumenthal said he had had some difficulties getting visas sorted but he is worried they won't want to go back, when the restaurant returns to its newly renovated premises in Bray.
To date, Crown has received almost 40,000 booking inquiries for the Fat Duck. Australian fans willing to brave the expense will have to go into an online ballot for a chance to experience his 12 to 16-course set menu. The ballot, to be run through Crown's Fat Duck Melbourne website, will be open from October 8 to October 26, with about 16,000 diners expected to visit the restaurant when it opens on February 3.
Forget galangal, kaffir lime and chilli. For his new restaurant project, chef Teage Ezard is setting aside the Asian ingredients that have helped define his cooking and will instead lean heavily on his European training.
Work began last week on Ezard at Levantine Hill, a 100-seat restaurant and cellar door in Coldstream that's being called the most ambitious project in the Yarra Valley since Domaine Chandon opened in 1986.
Designed by Karl Fender of Fender Katsalidis Architects, it is part of a multi-million dollar plan for the 18-month-old Levantine Hill wine label, which began with planting 23 hectares of premium grapes and which may eventually encompass luxury accommodation beside the Yarra River.
The gently curved space will include three barrel-shaped private tasting booths, a bar, retail outlet, a terrace overlooking the vines and a restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. The food will be recognisably "Ezard-esque", says the chef, but will be designed to complement Levantine Hill winemaker Paul Bridgeman's labours and showcase Yarra Valley produce.
Ezard at Levantine Hill is expected to open in July 2015.
After supplying their distinctive tarts to cafes like the CBD's Traveller and Place Holder in Fitzroy, the folks behind indie bakery Nora Melbourne are set to open a place of their own in Carlton tomorrow. Wed 24th
Clocking up stints at Longrain, St Ali and the Commoner, multi-talented owner Sarin Rojanametin✓ (an artist/photographer with a background in advertising) and his life/business partner Jean Thamthanakorn✓ (a tax accountant who just loves to bake), says the idea was "to bring something different to the area and to create the type of place that we'd want to go to".
Their tarts match Western technique with south-east Asian flavours such coconut, tamarind and pandan, resulting in a perfect cross-cultural marriage. They're also offering a full breakfast/lunch menu as well as tea pairings, Small Batch coffee and excellent sourdough bread, also baked on-site daily. Open Monday-Friday 7am-4pm; Saturday-Sunday 8am-4pm. Leanne Clancey
Nora Melbourne, 156 Elgin Street, Carlton, 9041 8644.
From High Street, Carwyn Cellars looks like an old-school bottle-o. But since 2012 owner Ben Carwyn has been quietly building a reputation as a craft beer specialist, with more than 200 on the shelves. Now he's transformed the storeroom into the Back Room Bar, with 16 beer and cider taps under constant rotation and a short but ever-changing wine list.
Behind the bar is a display of 150 whiskies from Scotland, Japan and Australia, along with a range of mezcals that is expanding as customers discover there's more to the Mexican spirit than a worm in a bottle, says manager Ben Duval, who, like Carwyn, comes from a family of winemakers.
Inside, there's room for 50, and another 34 can take a seat at one of the four communal tables under the trees outside. The bar serves cheese and charcuterie boards, along with "inauthentic pizza" from the Moor's Headacross the road.
On October 4 and 5, six Danish breweries will stage a tap takeover to show off their wares. Will they ever host a Kiwi tap takeover? "Not until they give up the Bledisloe Cup," says Carwyn.
Back Room Bar, Carwyn Cellars, 877 High Street, Thornbury, 03 9484 1820.
in now Favourable fishing conditions have enabled Bass Strait Direct to catch a greater variety of fish such as school whiting, tiger flathead and pink snapper. Find their haul at Bentleigh on Saturday.
try this Werribee market gardener Rita Faranda loves the freshness of green spring garlic - an excellent substitute until the local garlic season begins in November. Use the whole plant, including green leaves and white stem.
in the vegie patch Plant carrot seeds in light, fluffy soil. If it's too heavy, the roots may distort or fork.
accredited farmers' markets Saturday, September 27: Bentleigh, Casey-Berwick, Coburg, Fitzroy Street (St Kilda), Lancefield, Mansfield, Slow Food (Abbotsford). Sunday, September 28: Eltham, Flemington, Mount Eliza, Inverloch.
Sophie O'Neil, vicfarmersmarkets.org.au