Vue de Monde

Saturday 22nd September 2007 - The day I went to Vue de Monde (Melbourne's Best Restaurant, #71 in the World's Top 100 Restaurant List)

We all got there on time for our 7.30pm reservation and got let into the the Chef's table, which is situated right next to the kitchen. We were intrigued as to how close we were to the "action" and the hot grill - to be exact, it was 1 metre away. Leon has to keep turning his head to see whats going on all the time.

After being welcomed again by maitre'd and being explained how our 10 course degustation menu is going to work, the sommelier came and explained how the matching wine menu is going to work. It was all a little too much info and I dont really understand his french accent.... so we said, yep, we will go with the option of matching wine with our meal. The wine list was also too overwhelming to pick just 1 wine. We were then given a welcome drink - with achovies butter on the cracker and a melon inside.

More shots of the kitchen and our cute little bread roll on a vue de monde plate

Course #1 : Salmon Jerky with salted fish emulsion and Sterling caviar for the rest of the group and tomato canneloni with black olive oil for me (as i am allergic to seafood)

Course #2 : House made linguini with pine mushroom puree, cep air and shaved truffle. My favourite dish and u can see how clean my plate is after i polished it all off in under 5 minutes

We all agreed that the linguini was yummy... look at the satisfying look on our faces

Course #3 : Five minute bouillabaise with a tartare of crayfish, buffalo-milk skin finished with aromatic herbs and a 'touch of theatre' - for the rest of the group. For me it was twiced cooked pigeon apple and parsnip remoulade and beetroot foam.

Our head chef for the night. Too bad Shannon Bennett is not there

Us taking a little breather after the 3rd course

Course #4 : Hand speared Port Lincoln Bluefin Tuna, lightly seared with Adelaide Sardines. Head chef did the explaning of this dish. After the linguini, this is my 2nd favourite dish of the night.

Palette Cleanser (I am not sure what it is, it was served spectacularly and its got dry ice inside)

Course #5 : Grand reserve organic jamon specially flown in from Spain (VdM is the only restaurant that serve it in Australia) with foie gras butter and served with toast and pear puree

Course #6 : Tataki of wagyu beef with soya yuzu noodle and sweet corn puree. This is another of my favourite.

Course #7 : Poached loin of hare with a polenta and leg meat mosaic, handmade Brussels Sprout and bread sauce. By this point, i am totally stuffed and i managed to just eat the Hare and not eat much of the polenta.

Pre Dessert Course : Campari Blood orange lollipops

Cheese Course : Fromage in bread crust

Course #9 : Passionfruit Souffle

Course #10 : Valhorna chocolate roll filled with smoked chocolate and rolled in puff pastry 'cigar' leaves and served with eatable gold.

A selection of petits-fours to go with our tea and coffee. We toasted to the end of our 6 hours dinner.

We all walked out of VdM at 1am - very satisfied to having finished a 10 course meal. Before we left, we were all given handmade chocolates to take home (as if we need more food). My first chef's table experience was really good and I am glad I chose to do it at VdM. The service that we got was impeccable, to top it all, we got to see how an Aussie kitchen worked and got 6 different chefs explaining how each dish was made and cooked. Its the closest thing to a personalised chef one can get. Next time.... I might even try a chef's table in Europe or maybe the Caprice French Restaurant @ Four Seasons in HK :-)

Some background info on VdM

On the night that we were there, there was a total of 72 guests and a total of 19 in the kitchen (including 2 kitchen hands). In an article on Vogue Living, Shannon Bennett says this "It takes the formality out of the dining and leads to a relaxed and fun experienced". I surely did have an experience I wont forget for a long time! Viva VdM