‘Different, cutting edge and progressive’: The first look inside freshly renovated fine diner Vue de Monde

After a three-month closure, leading Melbourne restaurant Vue de Monde has reopened on the 55th floor of the Rialto Towers.

“It’s Vue 4.0,” says executive chef Hugh Allen of the restaurant, which Shannon Bennett founded in Carlton in 2000, moved to Normanby Chambers in Little Collins Street in 2005, and to the Rialto in 2011. “We haven’t moved the venue this time, but it feels really different, cutting edge and progressive.”

The major physical changes are a refresh of the main dining room, a significant renovation of the kitchens, and a new look for the attached Lui Bar.

Returning guests will be most struck by the changes in the bar, where every seat now has views overlooking the city, including those at the circular central bar, which is finished in Portuguese granite. An image of a gum tree trunk was the inspiration for the carpeting and similar forest tones are picked up in natural finishes on the seating and tables, which are all locally made in Moorabbin.

Australian ingredients star on the cocktail list, which includes the Margot, a signature spritz with Davidson plum, rhubarb and lacto-fermented yellow tomato.

“Lui used to be almost a holding area for the restaurant,” says Allen. “It’s much more of a permanent lounge now that can hold its own as a place among the great bars of the world. I’m excited for people to come for a beautiful night and experience it in a different way.”

The restaurant has been spruced up with new red kangaroo pelts on the dining chairs and roo leather on the tables. Lighting is calibrated so that dishes look the same when chefs plate them and when they land on the table for diners to admire.

“It was sometimes disappointing to us that the colours we saw on the pass were different to what our guests experienced on the plate,” says Allen. “Now we see what guests see.”

Tables have been reoriented so that every diner has a view. “No one looks towards the toilets now,” says Allen.

There are two major changes to the diner experience. There are more tables of two and fewer tables of four, reflecting the fact that 73 per cent of the pre-renovation waitlist was for duos. Each table is also here for the night.

“We are not turning tables any more,” says Allen, referring to the practice of seating guests early for an 8pm departure so that another table could arrive. “We asked what we could improve and turning tables was a big one. It’s not smart for business, but it will allow us to devote ourselves to every customer for every service.”

Vue de Monde was awarded a maximum three hats in last year’s Good Food Guide. This year, it was unscored because of the long closure during the key reviewing period.

At this stage in the restaurant’s evolution, Allen is looking for the one and two percenters that incrementally improve the experience.

“Rene [Redzepi, chef of Noma in Copenhagen, where Allen previously worked] would talk a lot about the difference between ape and human genetics being only 1.5 per cent, but that it’s the difference between shitting in a forest and flying to the moon. I often think about that.”

The tasting menu will now include about 18 dishes and the cost has increased by $10 to $360. Opening dishes include clarified radish broth with raspberry oil, kelp-brined sweetbreads with asparagus, and caviar with a macadamia emulsion.

“And, yes, the souffle,” says Allen of Vue de Monde’s iconic chocolate dessert. “It’s something that people love. I was an apprentice here and I made it and I still love doing it. As much as we want to be progressive, we also want to be a legacy restaurant. We are honouring the beginnings and energised about what’s new.”

Open lunch Fri-Sat, dinner Wed-Sat.

Level 55, Rialto Towers, 525 Collins Street, Melbourne, vuedemonde.com.au

The Age Good Food Guide 2024 is on sale for $14.95 from newsagents, supermarkets and at thestore.com.au.