“How did the diner get demoted from honoured guest whose wish was the waiter’s command to quivering hostage in thrall to the chef’s iron whim?”
When Vanity Fair food writer Corby Kummer waged war on the degustation a few years ago, it sparked a storm of debate in the culinary world.
Locally, we’ve seen the demise of degustation-style restaurants from the CBD to the east with venues like Sepia, Claude’s, Pier and Marque calling it quits.
The reign of the “totalitarian” chef, to quote Kummer, has lost steam, with just a handful left to pedal the long-form-only layout and all the cutlery washing that accompanies it.
Tasting menus, aka the petite degustation, are still popular, especially for the decision-adverse diner, but they’re a far-cry from the 10-20 course marathons they once were (35 if you were lucky enough to dine at Ferran Adria’s El Bulli). These demanded several hours and a rather deep pocket, especially when you added matching wines (and good luck remembering the meal after that).
But there’s a crop of new restaurants in the east re-imagining degustation dining as a more relaxed, communal experience — like Kings Cross 20-seater Farmhouse, where a $65 five-course menu rotates weekly. Surry Hills’ Arthur is of the same mould (it’s no coincidence, given head chef and co-owner Tristan Rosier did time at Farmhouse).
Here, in a Victorian art deco residence on Bourke Street, guests settle in for 10 courses over two hours for just $70 per head.
Rosier (ex Peter Doyle’s Est) offers a hyper-seasonal menu that changes every other day. Plates arrive in pairs, slashing the dining time in half, so you might see the house sourdough land with a holy trinity of truffle, raclette and honey, next to a tangle of mushroom, Jerusalem artichoke, green peppercorn and pickles.
The restaurant was inspired by some of Rosier’s favourites. “Whenever I go to places like 10 William Street, I always sit down and say to the waiter, ‘you can just order for us’ and that’s what we wanted Arthur to be like,” Rosier tells the Wentworth Courier.
Don’t be surprised if the person who made the dish delivers it to you, happy to chat about food as a sommelier would wine — it’s all part of the interactive, buttoned down experience.
A degustation-style menu has benefits for the restaurant, with less wastage and resources required.
“If we were a la carte, we would probably have three extra staff,” Rosier says. “We can have a lot more time with the customer face-to-face [this way], and better service.” Danielle Alvarez, head chef at Merivale’s eastern suburbs jewel Fred’s, tells the Wentworth Courier; “I feel people don’t have the time to spend on hours and hours of dining unless there is a very special occasion”.
“There will always be a place for degustation-style fine dining, but maybe its heyday has passed.”
While a la carte is the lay of the land at the stunning Paddington diner, a homage to California’s pioneering farm-to-table diner Chez Panisse — where Alvarez cut her teeth — there is the option of a five-course tasting menu which makes the most of the custom-built hearth.
Crusty, chewy-centred fougasse bread with olive oil and whipped house butter and wood-roasted John Dory in a zingy finger lime beurre blanc, feature.
At the famed cliffside Icebergs Dining Room + Bar in Bondi, executive chef Monty Koludrovic blends the best of both worlds in his Italian-leaning five-course tasting menu. It launches with shared snacks and antipasti, building up to individualised courses that might include market fish gleaming under anchovy butter with kipflers, broccoli rabe and olives. Koludrovic agrees it’s no longer all about degustation in fine diners anymore, with customers wanting more choice.
“I think flexibility is a good thing. We like to offer varied experiences at Icebergs … but there will still always be a place for good tasting menu-only restaurants where they specialise in them.” Brent Savage’s Potts Point plant-based diner, Yellow, is one such venue. Here, there’s the option of five or seven courses of creative, meat-free magic, which — shy of being marched out — arrive at an efficient pace.
“I think people are still enthusiastic about tasting menus, provided they are well-balanced and served in good time,” says Savage, who also runs wine-and-dine bar Monopole a few doors down, plus Cirrus Dining and Bentley Restaurant & Bar.
The degustation isn’t dead, but in the east, it’s beating to a new, faster-tempo drum.