What the best chefs do when the reviews go bad

When iconic chef Jacques Reymond learnt in the most public possible way that his Melbourne restaurant had fallen from its top ranking, he took it as well as you might expect.

This was, after all, his life's work, and surrounded by hundreds of industry peers at The Age Good Food Guide awards, he heard that his eponymous restaurant had lost its third hat, a symbol of consistency and excellence.

But what do the best do when they get told they are no longer the best?

They see it as an opportunity.

"Sometimes you can be too focussed on your own path and have your eyes closed to what's around you," says his daughter Joanna Reymond, who now heads up her own communications firm representing some of Victoria's best restaurants.

"You're used to being at the top – and all of a sudden you're a step down. It's heartbreaking."

After losing his coveted three-hat rating in 2003, Reymond looked, with fresh eyes, at every aspect of his restaurant.

It took more than three years of slaving over a hot stove, renovating the grand Prahran restaurant and fine-tuning the service. But in 2007, his restaurant won back its third chef's hat, which it retained until Reymond announced at The Age Good Food Guide awards in 2013 that he was hanging up his apron.

Three hats are hard to attain and even harder to hold on to. Flower Drum and Vue de Monde both lost theirs this year, leaving only Attica and Brae in Birregurra at the pinnacle of dining in Victoria.

Tony Eldred, a Melbourne-based restaurant consultant, has seen hundreds of hats come and go. He's tough with his clientele – if you lose a hat, it's a sign that you're doing something wrong.

"They need to get off their high horse and do some serious introspective thinking," says Eldred. "It often happens with upper-end restaurants: if the owner is a chef and they get accolades, the owner is often drawn out of their restaurants to do guest appearances.

"They can take their eye off the ball and things start to unravel."

But there's a flipside.

"Three-hat restaurants can seem intimidating to a certain type of client. If a restaurant goes down to two hats it opens up an opportunity for a lot of new diners who see it as approachable now."

The Age Good Food Guide 2016 will be available for $10 with The Saturday Age on Saturday, September 26 from participating newsagents, 7-Elevens and supermarkets while stocks last.