Vue de Monde | Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
I
believe that in life, there are dining experiences that provide you
with satisfaction and happiness. Dining experiences so bazaar
that they would be the centre of conversation during friend
gatherings and linger in your memory for a long, long time.
Those dining experiences are so special that you almost don’t want
to share them with others because they belong to you,
exclusively…
It’s
been a long time since I had an experience like that. Last time
had to be that cold winter night when the other travel bunnie took me
to Le Bernadine for our 10:30pm dinner reservation. I had
been disgruntled before our arrival, upset at the fact that I was
unable to pick a perfect outfit for the occasion and that I had
no Choos to
match. Despite my initial emotional unstableness, the dinner turned
out to be a fantastic affair and to this day, I still remember it.
Vividly.
And
the time before that, was on the night of our engagement, we
celebrated at Esquire right after the other travel bunnie kneeled on
the floor and presented me with a “oh-it-hurts-my-eyes” sparkly
from Canturi.
But
I think those fond memories have been superseded by our recent dining
experience at Vue de Monde, a fine dining restaurant located on level
55 of the Rialto Building in the centre of Melbourne. Winner of
Three Chef’s Hats, Shannon Bennett’s well established Vue de
Monde has been on our bucklist for a long time. Somehow, I didn’t
know what to expect. I was afraid that it would be a rather rigid
affair in a room full of pretentious people who think they know wines
because the price tag has three digits.
Oh
I was so wrong…
The
moment when I arrived at the restaurant, I was in love and my tensed
muscles were relaxed. We were taken to our window table via their
cellar. The restaurant felt spacious yet intimate. The open
kitchen in the centre of the restaurant was perhaps the only
decoration that they needed to complete the setting. Snowy white
linen was nowhere to be seen. Instead stones and Penfolds Grange
vines were artistically placed on the dark leather tables.
Oh
and the chairs, they were so comfortable that I literally had
to stop myself from continuously stroking the
kangaroo hide stitched to the them.
Soon
after introductions with our host and the sommelier, bread and
appetisers arrived at the table. Pebbles and stones revealed salt and
pepper, Penfolds Grange vines turned into rests for the beautifully
carved cutlery by Christofle, Paris. The visual tease marked the
beginning of what felt like a breathtakingly beautiful culinary
performance. The steaming bread was rested on a hot stone hidden
inside of a leather pouch, and the butter… well the butter is worth
a story in itself. Sure, Per Se source their superlative butter from
a particular herd of Jersey cows in Vermont, but the butter here at
Vue de Monde deserves the red-carpet treatment. A huge tub of
Échiré butter, imported from France of course gets presented in
front of you, before the perfectly quenelled butter is placed at your
table. I could eat that butter on its own and no it wouldn’t be
weird, because I’d blame it on my pregnancy.
It
all started with potato crisps
with macadamia butter,
then the appetisers arrived one by one. From emu
jerky served with smoking gum leaves,
salt cured wallaby
and candy coated
smoked eel, white chocolate,
caviar to
truffle marshmallow and
herb gel. The
kitchen was really thoughtful in preparing something different for me
and mini bun.
The
entrées followed after a brief rest for our tummies, Greenvale
farm pork, marron, wild herb cream for
the other travel bunnie and duck,
apple, pine mushrooms, Gascony butter
for me.
I
found the portions to be perfectly sized, just enough for me to
savour the flavours but not too much so that I wasn't looking forward
to what was yet to come.
The
palate cleanser was both visually and sensually enticing. We were
given a wooden pestle each and mortar with filled with wood sorrel,
pinapple age flowers, tiny lime grains, fresh lemon balm together
with baby parsley shots which were placed in front of us. Liquid
nitrogen were then poured into the mortar and we were asked to grind
up the frozen ingredients before a cucumber sorbet was placed in the
mortar by our waitress.
The
mains, Blackmore Wagyu, pear,
onion, saltbush and
Flinders Island lamb, olive,
Australian anchovies, sunflower
were both extremely tasty, but my favourite was definitely the soft,
melt-in-your-mouth wagyu.
Before
the desserts arrived at the table, we asked the tea sommelier to
bring us some of his recommendations. Both types of tea he selected
were delicious, very soothing and well suited to the food.
I
had the privilege of having two desserts that night so while the the
other travel bunnie tried an assortment
of cheeses, bread, jams, I
quickly finished my rhubarb,
white chocolate, coffee dessert.
A shot of kale, celery,
coconut juice
later, the second round of desserts came. Pear,
Amaro, smoked milk ice cream and
chocolate soufflé.
As
we sat at our table, looking at the view outside, the petit-fours
arrived and just like the rest of the meal, they were nothing short
of creative brilliance.
The
dining experience at Vue de Monde was exceptional , and the
impeccable service provided by the team at Vue de Monde only made the
exceptional experience even more memorable.
Total
Bunnie Dollars Spent: $361 (plus tips)
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Looks sensational! how far in advance did you need to book?
ReplyDelete-Corrie.
Thanks Corrie :) we made the reservation in November last year (pretty much as soon as we decided to go to Melbourne)
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