Vue De Monde

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Elliot. R

I eat therefore I am, I am therefore I eat

Reviewed on: 19/11/2009

Last Saturday the Australian Magazine featured a scathing description of a meal at The Grange, supposely one of Adelaide's leading restaurants. At the end of that review John Lethlean gave a nod of acknowledgement to a few restaurants like Quay and Vue. How right he is. We have, in Shannon Bennett, the person I regard as the most innovative and imaginative chef in Australia. A meal at Vue is an exciting adventure in gastronomy. Nothing else in Melbourne really comes near it. That is not to ... read more detract from some excellent restaurants and first class chefs but Vue is special. It strives for the very best and gets closer than any other. From the moment you enter the place it speaks of style. Front of house staff, presentation, crockery, cutlery the table settings, glasses, lighting it's all good or much better than that, and then there's the food. It's best to sit where you can see the meals being plated up by a team of chefs working under a large mirror, as used in some cooking schools. Not everyone gets the same dishes because of personal choices but everything is very good or excellent.

This is what we had the other night:
AMUSE BOUCHE
Jicama salad
NV Ruinart Rosé Reims Champagne, France

~TRUITE FUMÉE Delightful

OCEAN TROUT with horseradish and baby beetroot, smoked at the table. Out of this world really fantastic.
2006 Gilles Barge Condrieu La Solaris Rhône Valley, France & TARTARE DE KANGOUROU

Tartare of kangaroo with pickled navet, quail egg, pecorino and pear. Kangaroo 4 ways you might say- interesting
~SALADE DE FRUITS DE MER ET FOIE GRAS

Waldorf salad with yabby, abalone and king crab accompanied by foie gras yoghurt. A beaut dish
2006 Bodegas Cal Raspallet Penedes Nun Vinya Dels Tauss Catalunya, Spain

~RAVIOLI AUX TRUFFES

Potato ravioli with cep sauce and shaved Manjimup truffle
1956 Château Cornella Rivesaltes South West, France
~BOUILLON DE THON INFUSÉ EN CINQ MINUTES before the bouillon

Five minute infusion of blue fin tuna stock with kaffir lime, fennel and tarragon flowers served with tuna tartare, rillette and seaweed salt
2000 Dom Pérignon Champagne Épernay, France And after the bouillon

~JUS AU VERJUS
Liquid verjus at - 8°C

BOEUF et RAVIOLI au ROQUEFORT Superb

Beef with Roquefort ravioli and swede, horseradish purée with beetroot oil
2004 Antonio Argiolas Korem, Sardinia, Italy
RÔTI de PORC
Roast Kurobuta pork belly with pork rillette pancake and panada stuffed baby apple Mouth watering.
2006 Domaine du Vissoux Brouilly Beaujolais, France
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CANNELONI À LA BOLOGNAISE ET LIÈVRE POCHÉ An incredible architectural construction good taste and texture to.
Hare bolognaise filled cannelloni served with poached loin and pea purée

~FROMAGES
Epoisses Berthaut
Pont L’Eveque
Langres
NV Larmandier Bernier Brut Tradition Vertus, Champagne

~SALADE DE FRUITS
Fruit salad
~CHEESECAKE À LA RHUBARBE
Poached Rhubarb with cheesecake foam and raspberry bubbles
2006 Inniskillin Icewine Cabernet Franc, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada
~TARTARE DE FRAISE ET CHOCOLAT BLANC CHAUD
Tartare of strawberry with white chocolate and mascarpone mousse, finished with basil oil
2006 Charles Hours Jurançon Uroulat, Jurançon, South-West, France
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SOUFFLÉ AUX POMMES
Calvados soufflé served with green apple and prune and armagnac ice cream

~NOTRE SÉLECTION DE CAFÉS, THÉS, INFUSIONS ET PETITS-FOURS
A selection of coffee, teas, infusions and petits-fours CHOCOLATS POUR SAVOURER A LA MAISON Handmade chocolates to take home read less

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Elliot. R

I eat therefore I am, I am therefore I eat

Reviewed on: 30/09/2009

Introduction: Now at 430 Little Collins St (Ph 96913888) Shannon Bennett is a true master of modern French cooking I have now been to Vue de Monde four times at its new home. On every occassion the food has been outstanding.

Ambience: The entrance to the building is not quite finished which sets a slightly unsophisticated tone. The dining areas are comfortable, the decor simple, the tables well spaced and initially set with rustic style crockery.

Service: Initially ... read more very slow. I was peeved at being asked to come at 7.30 rather than at my preferred time of 8.00 pm and then to find myself waiting almost half an hour before a waiter arrived to discuss the menu and a little more irritated when the ice water, poured from an elegant jug was slightly warm and had no ice

Food: The main task was to choose how many courses to have (We chose 7) and ensure that any food fads or restrictions were not breached. After that the menu was a series of surprises - I should say delightful surprises

An initial offering a cup of truffle jelly covered with potato mousse with truffle oil was rich in flavour and an excellent start. Our first course was a cervisce of scallop on shredded celeriac on a remoulade sauce decorated with dots of squid ink around the margin. This was a delicacy most beautifully prepared and presented. This was followed by a mushroom rissotto using reconstituted cep mushrooms, you may know them as porcini mushrooms, which had a rich very strong flavour and was a little oversalted to my taste.

The next course was a cherry tomato creation including tomato on milk fed buffalo cheese, a Sorbet, a tomato torte.

The next course was a terrine of foie gras. Sandwiched between a leaf of Savoy cabbage and layers of Spanish pork proscutto the foie gras was served with Pui lentils and the most delicate small leaf cress salad

The next course, even more outstanding than its predecessors was a tain of linguini flavoured with truffles, beneath a delicate barely cooked quail egg, and surrounded by a delicate crustacean meat which I presumed to be crab
We then had a superb palate cleanser a clear tomato consomme with small cubes of jellied tomato

The next course was a duck cassoulet with Spanish style ham sausage and white beans
Another chef's offering a miniature bomb alaska with a raspberry sauce got us ready for the dessert

The mystery dessert was a trilogy including a rich chocolate tart chocolate pudding.
Finally we were offered a selection of petit fours served on a cute silver multi level candle stick like device (for want of a better word)

A selection of coffee, teas, infusions and miniature teacakes

Wine: Extensive range of Australian French and Italian from about $50 upwards. We had an excellent 2003 Calledonia Pinot Noir from Gippsland.

Price:We paid $110 a head for the food

Coments: It was odd that the expensive heavy cutlery did not rest on the raised edge of the plate and kept sliding onto the plate. Minor irritations aside this is a culinary experience worthy of the best restaurants in the world. Shannon Bennett is a most imaginative and creative Chef a master in his field For more information and reviews see their web page at www.vuedemonde.com.a u read less

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Elliot. R

I eat therefore I am, I am therefore I eat

Reviewed on: 30/09/2009

On that day, unlucky for some, Friday 13th of June I experienced one of the finest meals ever.

After an unusual and very pleasing Amuse Bouche there followed 12 extraordinary courses, beverage and petit-fours. I have never had any of these dishes before and each was a delight to the senses.

Of all the great restaurants that I have experienced only The Fat Duck, regarded by international reviewers as either the best or second best restaurant in the world, was superior ... read more to this meal. That Vue du Monde is currently rated 74th only means they haven’t been here enough.

Better than Thomas Kellers’ The French Laundry, clearly better than Joel Roubillards’ three star Vegas restaurant, The Manor, and at least the equal to Kellers’ Per se Shannon Bennett has created something very very special.

This was a new menu demonstrating, in dish after dish, imagination and flair in presentation, taste and textural combinations – visually and orally exciting. Vue has also had a new set of very attractive double blown tumblers made specially for them by Reidel to replace their somewhat cumbersome predecessors.

What next – sound effects?

Service was unobtrusive and Raoul, our sommellier, particularly sensitive to our needs in choosing a couple of wines to accompany the menu.
A remarkable meal
This was the menu

AMUSE BOUCHE
Pea and jamon soup with a jamon tartare served with a confit quail yolk on a lettuce raft. This miniature san chao bao with it's lightly cooked quail yolk over a super tasty pea soup makes my mouth water even now a week later!

CRABE SAUTÉ
King crab, sautéed, with a crab emulsion, Sterling caviar and potato tuile. Note the peeled grapes between the brick of claw meat on the right and the head meet on the left. A sweet dish good to look at and even better to eat. LINGUINI AUX TRUFFES
Linguini cooked in cep stock served with freshly shaved Manjimup truffle. These Western Australian truffles are geneticly identical to those from France but have the advantage of getting to the table much more quickly - only 3or 4 days after they were harvested and the difference is very apparent in the taste. I did not take a photo of this dish

CARPACCIO DE FOIE GRAS
Carpaccio of foie gras with fennel, pear and verjus sauce. Contrasting texture and taste made this an interesting, and very good, way of eating foie gras, or pears if you like. Much better than the pot or slab I usually get

TRUITE POCHÉE
Poached coral trout, with spring onion, parsley purée and spices. Cooked to a delicate pefection with a consomme added at the table. The papparadelle on the left is actually a very long thin strip of apple

ÉCREVISSE À L’ORANGE
Marron, poached in an orange saffron sauce with smoked clams and fennel

JUS AU VERJUS
Liquid frozen verjus. I always wondered what I might do with verjus to impress my dinner guests - now I know

POULET AUX CHAMPIGNONS
Poached breast and confit leg of chicken with handmade Brussels sprouts and mushroom reduction. The brussel sprouts were a surprise package wrapped around a ball of herb cheese. The chicken might look ordinary but it was exceptionally tasty

LIÈVRE POCHÉ
Poached loin of hare with a garlic purée, chestnut, yeast air and bread lattice. Another exceptional combination of tastes and textures beautifull presented

FROMAGE
Goats curd served with sugared rose petal, rose jelly topped with goats curd ice cream. Yet another beautifully executed dish. It's hard not to be boring about how good this all was.

SALADE DE FRUITS
Fruit salad. Frozen slices of Kiwi fruit atop a pomegranite infused yoghurt fruit salad.

SOUFFLÉ À LA PISTACHE
Pistachio soufflé with triple sec custard. Yummy

BOULE DE CARAMEL FOURRÉE À LA MOUSSE DE COING
Quince foam set into a caramel sphere with white chocolate cage and frozen white chocolate soil.
An amazing dessert. Surrounded by a white chocolate filligree sphere, like one of those Chinese hand carved ivory balls there is a thin red sphere, like a X'mas tree decoration, made of sugar and containing ice cream. read less

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Elliot. R

I eat therefore I am, I am therefore I eat

Reviewed on: 28/09/2009

Before anything else I want to say that it is a mystery as to how this computer varies font sizes. Despite fiddling around nothing seems to make it consistent for which I apologise. On the preview it looks consistent but not so when published!

The chefs 10 course menu at VdM has been an unfailing triumph for us over the last decade or more and last week was no exception. Dish after dish from the exceptional amuse bouche to the lemon souffle was a joy to the palate and the eye. As ... read more always, although there have been some staff changes the service was impeccable. Part way through the meal when I mentioned that we had particularly enjoyed a lobster dish Gareth, who was looking after us, arranged for an extra dish a marron on a rock which I will speak about after the photo of it.This is what we were served.


AMUSE BOUCHE
Confit egg with white asparagus and wood sorrel.
Cooked at 62 degrees for 12 minutes, the egg white separated and replaced at the base of the shell, served with Panku (bread crumbs), a lightly battered asparagus and a tarragon emulsion. Like a variation of a coddled egg the crunchy bread crumbs and tarragon emulsion added an extra dimension to the endless appealing ways that eggs can be served. This was an exquisite start for the meal.

DÉCLINAISON D’ASPERGES
Asparagus textures
2000 Moët & Chandon Cuvée Dom Pérignon Champagne Épernay, France
An unusual presentation of a variety of cuts of asparagus with a light warm mayonnaise finished with an asparagus juice. A fine, multi textured gently flavoured dish.

RISOTTO AUX TRUFFES D’ALBA Classically inspired white truffle risotto
NV Barbadillo Oloroso Dulce 30yo Jerez, Spain
This risotto, cooked to perfection was enormously enhanced by the white truffles which had been harvested only 36 hours ago and retained superb taste, texture and aroma - to die for!

PAIN PERDU ACCOMPAGNÉ DE FOIE GRAS
French toast, green apple purée and foie gras with eight spice and jamón Joselito ibérico 2007 François Chidaine Montlouis ‘Les Tuffeaux’ Loire Valley, France

Another outstanding dish, the 'Pain perdu' a sweet French toast topped with a great Iberica jambon matched and contrasted with the puree and the eight spice for added flavour.

MERLAN ET BASIL BALLOTINE
Whiting and basil ballotine, tomato infusion and mozzarella noodle
2007 Adegas Valmiñor ‘Davila’ Galicia, Spain Served with a tomato stock infused through herbs in a Cona coffee percolator this is a dish of balanced gentle flavours eaten slowly to enjoy all its variation.

ÉCREVISSE RÔTIE
Roasted marron with bisque glaze and radish served on hot river stone
1998 Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis Grand Cru 'La Moutonne' Burgundy, France

The marron sat on a bed of marron mousse and was accompanied by dollops of homogenized sea urchin which, while retaining the distinct flavour of the sea urchin, were not over whelming. The rock, from the Yarra river bed near Heidi Gallery, had been thoroughly sterilized by being roasted at high temperature before being accepted for table service. The baby turnips, also from the Heidi gardens were a crisp delight and the lightly cooked marron as good as it gets.

JUS AU VERJUS
Liquid verjus at - 8°C
Prepared at the table the addition of this super cooled verjus resulted in the formation of a little iceberg in the glass. A favourite at Vue for good reason.

PORC AUX SAVEURS DE LA TERRE
Western plains pork with flavours of earth
2007 Kanonkop Pinotage Simonsberg, South Africa
A rack, in this case one small pork chop, a piece of loin, like belly but not as fatty, and pork neck were a fine trio with a slice of crisp bacon and cep mushroom powder added to this dish completed with an excellent sauce.

AGNEAU RÔTI ET RIS D’agneau
Poached loin and rillette of lamb with Pedro Ximenez reduction
2002 Raymond Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve ‘Rutherford’ Napa Valley, United States of America read less