Catering Melbourne Blog

Rockpool (fish) opens Friday

The new redesigned incarnation for Neil Perry’s 18-year-old Rockpool restaurant will be unveiled to the public when it reopens this Friday as Rockpool (fish).

The restaurant has been renovated and will now be serving lunch and dinner a la carte.

The menu at the new Rockpool the menu will combine simple Mediterranean and Asian flavours with many Rockpool classics.

“At Rockpool (fish), we will focus on seafood with a sustainable philosophy where only the finest and freshest ingredients are sourced from Australia’s best and most reputable suppliers,” Perry said in the latest Rockpool newsletter.

“We wanted to make Rockpool (fish) more accessible and have the customer in complete control of their dining experience, where they design their own menu by choosing from a large variety of seafood with as many as ten different preparations, entrees, salads and sides as well as non-seafood main plates which make up a large menu. The menu is also perfect for sharing a few dishes.

Sustainable fishing is so important to us and we want customers to know that when they dine at Rockpool (fish) our fishermen fish sustainably and catch using a minimal stress regime, our shellfish are live and stress free, we manage a faultless cold chain, we dry fillet to maintain quality and we cook with care.”

Signature dishes on the menu include Tuna Sashimi Salad $26; Seared King Prawns with Goat’s Cheese Tortellini and Burnt Butter $28; Stir-fried Spanner Crab Omelette $25 and a variety of Whole and Dry Filleted Fish and Live Shellfish that can be Plain Grilled, Grilled with Herb Butter, Breaded, Pan Roasted, Steamed with Red Curry or Steamed with Black Bean and Chilli and more from $19.

The new restaurant also sees the return of Rockpool’s Oyster Bar at the front of the restaurant, which Perry said will feature an extensive list of cocktails, wines by the glass and a superb menu where diners can enjoy a wide variety of Raw and Marinated Fish, Freshly Shucked Oysters $4 each, Freshly Shucked Live Scallops $6 each, White Anchovies on Bruschetta $6, Cured Kingfish with Coriander Marsala $14 and the soon-to-be-famous, Moroccan Fish Burger $16.

The wine list continues to feature an impressive selection of over 850 wines from Australia and around the world.

Perry will oversee the kitchen and restaurant but the team handling the day to day management will include general manager Tom Sykes, head sommelier Nicole Reimers, and executive chef Michael McEnearney.

Vue de Monde is Australia’s restaurant of the year

New South Wales led the way followed by South Australia at this year’s prestigious Savour Australia Restaurant and Catering Awards for Excellence but it was Victoria that walked away with the top Restaurant of the Year Award.

Chef Shannon Bennett’s Melbourne fine diner Vue de Monde walked away with the top honour as well as picking up the award for best Fine Dining Restaurant.

In the area of catering excellence, it was South Australia’s Epicure Catering @ State Library which was declared Caterer of the Year, as well as being awarded the mantle of top Venue Caterer.

NSW venues grabbed 13 gongs at the glittering awards night held at the Adelaide Convention and Exhibition Centre and attended by attended by the leading names in Australia’s restaurant and catering industry.

It was followed by SA with nine awards, and Queensland with six awards.

Melbourne’s Crown was another of the winners to pick up two awards on the night—it’s restaurant Koko receiving the award for best Asian Restaurants and Crown Food & Beverage winning the George Mure Memorial Award which honours excellence in Professional Development.

Here are all the winners:

Restaurant of the Year—Vue de Monde, Melbourne

Caterer if the Year—Epicure Catering @ State Library, Adelaide

Asian Restaurant—Koko, Southbank (Victoria)

Chinese Restaurant—Ginseng Restaurant, Manuka, (ACT)

European Restaurant—Zest Restaurant, Nelson Bay (NSW)

Indian Restaurant—Tandoori Oven Restaurant, Hyde Park, (SA)

Tourism Restaurant—Lake House, Daylesford. (Victoria)

Hotel/Motel Restaurant—Est, Establishment Hotel, Sydney

Breakfast Restaurant—Chianti Classico, Adelaide

Pizza Restaurant—Goodlife Organic Pizza, Glenelg (SA)

Family Establishment Restaurant—Omeros Bros Seafood Restaurant, Main Beach (QLD)

Industrial/Institutional Caterer—Royal Perth Hospital, Catering Department, Perth

Venue Caterer—Epicure Catering @ State Library, Adelaide

Event Catering—Bonville International Golf Resort, Coffs Harbour (NSW)

Function/Convention Centre Catering—Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre

Café Restaurant—The Strand, Glenelg (SA)

Coffee Shop/Tea Room—Electric Bean Café, North Sydney

BYO Restaurant—Pazzo Restaurant, Surry Hills (NSW)

Steak Restaurant—Cha Cha Char Wine Bar & Grill, Brisbane (QLD)

Pub/Tavern/Club Restaurant—The Restaurant at Three Weeds, Rozelle (NSW)

Restaurant in a Winery—Penny’s Hill Restaurant, McLaren Vale (SA)

George Mure Memorial Award for Excellence in Professional Development—Crown Food & Beverage, Southbank (Victoria)

Corporate Caterer—Stix Catering, Marrickville (NSW)

Best Hospitality Website—Zinc, Port Douglas (QLD)

Wedding Caterer—Bonville International Golf Resort, Coffs Harbour (NSW)

Informal Dining Restaurant—Clareville Kiosk, Clareville (NSW)

Italian Restaurant—Auge Ristorante, Adelaide (SA)

Thai restaurant—Arun Thai, Potts Point (NSW)

Specialty Cuisine Restaurant—Kazbah on Darling, Balmain (NSW)

Modern Australian Restaurant—Marque IV, Hobart (Tas)

Seafood Restaurant—Blanc Bistro, Adelaide (SA)

New Restaurant—Rock Restaurant, Pokolbin (NSW)

Fine Dining Restaurant—Vue de Monde, Mebourne

Themed Restaurant—High Societea, Clayfield (QLD)

Entertainment Restaurant—Volare Restaurant, Broadbeach (QLD)

Hospitality and business groups have led renewed calls for the State Government to update Perths antiquated trading hours and capitalise on longer days during daylight saving. As West Australians prepare to move their clocks forward an hour overnight, the groups say the Government should work with businesses and let shops, clubs and pubs open for longer. Australian Hotels Association WA president Bradley Woods said the Government should realise people wanted to enjoy a cosmopolitan lifestyle that for the next two years included longer days over summer. “There should be at least an additional hour of trade for hotels, taverns and bars over the daylight saving period to match the change in the time,” he said. The AHA is also behind a campaign to permanently extend Sunday session trading to midnight. The WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said while it welcomed extra retail trading hours in summer, trading hours should be deregulated all year round. The West Australian (Perth), October 27.

Restaurateur faces jail

A Sydney Indian restaurant owner has been acquitted of exploiting a worker he brought to Australia from India, but convicted of falsifying documents to secure him a visa. Yogalingam Rasalingam, 44, faces a maximum of five years’ jail after being found guilty yesterday of dishonestly influencing an Immigration official by forging the signature of cook Anbalagan Rajendran on an employment contract supporting his visa application. Commonwealth prosecutors told the court Rasalingam arranged for Mr Rajendran, 24, to be brought from Thanjavur in southern India and made to work 14 hours a day in his curry houses in Sydney’s Blue Mountains. Rasalingam will face sentence on November 2. Weekend Australian, October 27.

Forget the flu, it’s party time; Restaurants and clubs booked out by revellers

Forget the flu. Melbourne Cup fever has never been stronger in Queensland as lovers of the big race throughout the state drag out the gladrags and book the bubbly for the big event. The fact that there’s no thoroughbred racing in Brisbane on Cup Day has proved a minor hiccup but hotels, restaurants and clubs are booked out across the capital for the big race. There are still the diehards who are preparing to head to Flemington as usual to see the race live. Marketing director at Fortitude Valley’s swank Emporium Hotel Amanda Lutvey said the hotel had expanded its $180-a-head lunch because of demand. ”A lot of the people coming to us said they don’t want to go to the track this year,” she said. ”We sold out 120 tables in 10 days. The fact that there are no races is definitely changing people’s plans.” The Sunday Mail (Adelaide), October 28.

Dirty eateries still a secret

The NSW Government has quietly passed new restaurant hygiene laws but they do not include its promise to ensure the public can find out which businesses have been fined for food safety breaches. Under the Food Amendment Bill, passed last week, restaurants and other food businesses will be charged a new “administration fee” to help meet the cost of council officers inspecting their premises. The charge is intended to reduce the number of businesses that are never inspected because councils don’t have the money to pay inspectors. But the law makes no reference to the Primary Industry Minister, Ian Macdonald’s, key promise earlier this year that NSW would follow the US, Canada and Britain in making the results of restaurant inspections publicly available. In May, the Herald revealed that a sushi factory in Larkin Street, Camperdown had been fined 11 times and closed twice for food safety breaches including rat infestations, but this information had been kept from the public. Mr Macdonald said at the time he would amend the Food Act to ensure details of the fines routinely imposed by the NSW Food Authority and council officers were available to the public. Most councils refuse to reveal the names of businesses they have fined for food safety breaches on the grounds this is information that relates to their business affairs or could damage their businesses. These arguments have been rejected by governments overseas. Two local governments in Sydney, Woollahra and Bankstown, have released details of fines sought by journalists using freedom of information laws. Sydney Morning Herald, October 29.

Coalition to back small bars bill

In a coup for the independent MP Clover Moore’s push to have more small bars open up in a bid to “Melbournise” Sydney, the state Coalition is set to back her proposal to cut the cost of liquor licences for small premises. The Coalition will support Ms Moore’s bill to allow cheaper liquor licences for smaller establishments, according to an Opposition briefing note from its gaming and racing spokesman, George Souris, that has been obtained by the Herald. But Mr Souris has recommended the bill be amended to make the definition of a small bar as that which caters to 50 patrons, rather than 120, as Ms Moore proposes. The briefing note reserves the right to drop support for the bill should such provisions be introduced first in the Government’s upcoming Liquor Bill. The expected change of heart by the Coalition to support Ms Moore’s proposal follows the Labor MP for Menai, Alison Megarrity, breaking ranks at a caucus meeting last week to warn that the Government risked being viewed as too much in the pockets of the Australian Hotels Association if it opposed the small bars proposal. Sydney Morning Herald, October 29.

Drought comes to the dinner table; Rising food prices force restaurants to get creative

Rising food prices are changing the experience of dining out in Canberra as the hospitality trade comes to terms with drought across Australia and soaring world demand for basic foodstuffs. Canberra restaurateurs, fruit and vegetable retailers and farmers’ representatives are all reporting they have had to change their approach to cope with surging costs. Leading Canberra restaurateur Pat Trimboli of Mezzalira, Civic, said his business was forced to rethink the basics to deal with higher food bills. “As prices of meat and vegetables have gone through the roof in the last few years, we have had to get creative. With beef, for instance, we have started using more cost-effective cuts. Peasant or traditional dishes are making a comeback, and exotics are out,” he said. But while food prices were rising, the typical consumer was reluctant to bear the cost. “The industry is in a real squeeze. We’ve tried our best to keep prices down, but it’s a tough gig,” he said. In the year to the end of September, the price of vegetables jumped 21per cent, and with the hot summer months ahead, fruit and vegetable retailers were contemplating record wholesale prices for product. Canberra Times, October 28.

Warning of dire wheat harvest

Prolonged drought is expected to cost the nation’s 30,000 wheat growers at least $4 billion worth of crops this harvest. The grim forecast came from Australia’s top agricultural forecaster, The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics. ABARE cut the wheat forecast down to 12.1 million tones, from the expected forecast of 15.5 million tones – down 22 per cent. ABARE also believes the drought will affect the barley harvest and predicts the yield will now be five million tones compared with the 5.9 million tones it predicted in September. The canola harvest will fall 200,000 tonnes to 900,000 tonnes.

Restaurant & Catering Australia has come out in support of a Howard Government for the next election saying it is very encouraged by the skills announcements by the Coalition over the past few days. The foodservice industry has one of the lowest levels of training among its workforce (with over 60 per cent of the workforce with no post-school qualification). The announcement for the provision of vouchers to small business owners and their employees, of up to $1500 each to improve their skills, would be a great help in building the skills base in the industry. On other initiatives, Restaurant & Catering Australia believes:

serious trade training in schools, such as that developed through the announced 100 Australian Technical Colleges, will enhance the quality of entrants into the industry; and

$3000 WorkSkills voucher to any Australian aged 25 and over and who does not have Year 12 equivalent or certificate level II or higher qualifications provides another resource to upskill the existing workforce.