6 Comments:

At 28 August 2007 3:10:00 AM,  Ed said...

Surprises? Matteos. I visisted for GT. Service great. Wine list good value. Tables almost too low to get legs under - my partner was 5ft8. Food: Starters good. Mains: too much happening and not that good. Dessert: a pastry case with chopped bananas. I reckoned the food wasn't quite up to scratch for the guide which you should remember was a lot smaller than the GFG.
Vu de Monde I'm not so surprised about. I haven't been recently but have heard a couple of well seasoned food reviewers say that there are a few misses amoung the many hits in what is served and had a comment on the blog about the offering.
Di Stasio - obviously a great talent. I've always had great service but I've heard of so many really bad experiences from locals perhaps more in the past than recently though.
Nice to hear of Range doing so well - makes a change from The Lakehouse.
Gingerboy - another stylish but silly flash website. Perhaps most stylish of the year. But best? Load times are slow and I use ADSLII

 

At 28 August 2007 11:40:00 AM,  thanh7580 said...

Thanks for the early update Jack. I'm goign to get my copy of the Guide soon.

I've never been to Vue but after reading how great it was last year, I'm a little surprised that it would have dropped so quickly in standard within a year. Maybe its the extra patrons going through and they have to lower the standards a bit to meet demand.

 

At 28 August 2007 7:50:00 PM,  Matteo said...

No one was more suprised that we got two hats than us! Our pastry section certainly has been a weak link for us over the last 3 months. The skill shortage and indeed the labour shortage is really affecting a lot of restaurants.
I feel for Shannon because its difficult to maintain greatness. The boy works hard, very hard! We all try our best to maintain some standard.
There were a few other suprises but we need to focus on our own demons before we can comment on others.
Matteo

 

At 28 August 2007 8:47:00 PM,  Jack said...

Maybe I am ready for a political comment or two now...
Ed, I'm definately following your train of thought but I understand that it can be harder sometimes to just maintain the third hat than get it in the first place. OTT expectations can really make a restauranteurs life hell, I know of one place in Melbourne that when they got their third hat (a few years ago)they within a matter of weeks -and really no changes at all had never had so many complaint letters! This in a place that use to get so few... Perhaps also that awful Australian tall poppy syndrome, its a shame for dining in-general to only have one ultra premium ranked restaurant in Melbourne, and geez Shannon had even washed his hair for the night out!(hehehehehe)
I think Ronnie deserves his award, yes there are horror stories but there are also lots of fun stories, a restaurant is about personalities after all. And I had one of my most memorial dining experiences there a few years back featuring some devine air-freighted truffles and fresh pasta, a classic.
Matteo, congrats! I have to say I was surprised as well, with so many 1 hat restaurants you really must have got something really right to get promoted to two. I dined around Christmas last year as part of a group and had a multi course menu that was to my surprise quite involved and 'tricked' up, perhaps too much for a large group but I admired the enthusiam on the plate.
Were you at the back and went out and got some glasses of Pol half way through?? I think it was your group...

Some restaurants that dropped hats, such as Courthouse I'm not surprized at, I dined there a little while after the awards last year and was quite disapointed at some of the dishes really missing the mark and the service was really quite 'pub', God, if you can't remember the specials then perhaps you need some more experience, and the portion sizes were really mean, even on a dish of livers with a tiny food cost!

Gosh lots to say now...
Welldone to Ari, couldn't happen to a nicer, more professional industry identity.
The Press Club, haven't been but reports tell me that its quite inconsistant and there are lots of other places I can spend my money.
Jacques, bad timing to go on holidays!
Welldone to Attica, hard working team that have been doing some remarkable food for over a year now, great to see the hard work paying off.
Tempura Hajime, anyone who has read my post knows I love it but I'm just not organised enough to visit again, reservations months ahead is in the too hard basket for me.
Verge, must be a hard drop for the '07 'Young Chef'.
Enough, enough..
Jack

 

At 2 September 2007 11:51:00 AM,  Matthew said...

I don't find The Press Club to be at all inconsistent -- its plaudits were well-deserved, I reckon.

As was Rockpool's, the oft-mentioned but only occasional slip-up with service aside.

 

At 7 September 2007 8:38:00 PM,  Christie said...

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