Scallop dish from Jacques Reymond restaurant in Windsor. Source: HeraldSun
A LOT of Melbourne restaurants have come and gone over the past 20 years. As a keen observer of the changing scene, Matt names 10 dining rooms that really matter.
Jacques Reymond at his restaurant in Prahran. Source: News Limited
1. JACQUES REYMOND (Windsor)
"Always proud to march to his own beat, always pushing his unique ideas and at the top of its game for so very long, Jacques Reymond has always been the finest Melbourne reason why fine dining matters.''
Cafe Di Stasio in Fitzroy Street, St Kilda. Source: HeraldSun
2. CAFE DI STASIO (St Kilda)
"Melbourne is the epicentre of Australian hospitality and at this unchanging Italian den, Mallory Wall and Rinaldo Di Stasio are still the two sides of that coin of service excellence. Like so many of Melbourne favourite restaurants, Di Stasio's is where the love of its members is returned in spades."
What's your favourite Melbourne restaurant? Tell us in the comments below.
Cumulus Inc restaurant at 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. Source: HeraldSun
3. CUMULUS INC (city)
"Andrew McConnell is Melbourne's meal Midas but this original laneway diner gave us so much more, from shared lamb shoulder to counter dining. Hip, unpretentious and so very, very Melbourne."
Chef Ben Shewry, owner of multi-award winning restaurant Attica, at Ripponlea. Source: Supplied
4. ATTICA (Ripponlea)
"Another Melbourne gem that has found itself standing lauded on the world's stage, thanks to the fact that Ben Shewry is always moving forward. It helps that his food - whether built on Thai techniques, childhood memories, foraged wildness or unique own-grown produce - is always delicate, always delicious and always ahead of any trend in this country."
Chef Anthony Lui from the Flower Drum restaurant. Source: News Limited
5. FLOWER DRUM (city)
"For a decade, Flower Drum was the greatest Cantonese restaurant in the world for the food and the service of Mr Gilbert Lau and his team. Its still so polished and its still a joy to eat the suckling pig, crab omelette or Peking Duck here."
Chef Nicky Reimer at Melbourne Wine Room, Fitzroy Street, St Kilda Source: HeraldSun
6. MELBOURNE WINE ROOM (St Kilda)
"When I arrived in Melbourne, this was my favourite place to eat and drink. It seemed so perfectly and uniquely Melbourne. Cool without being pretentious and perfect at any time of day or (late) night. A hugely influential early example of a bar with food and it was Karen Martini's food, too! Oh, and don't forget the amazing bakery next door. Good times!
Caffe E' Cucina, 581 Chapel St. Sth Yarra. Source: News Limited
7. CAFFE E CUCINA (South Yarra)
"The place that launched a thousand copyists. Sexy, darkly intimate and especially loved because it was where I'd have early morning coffee at a pavement table - served by the wonderful Arnaldo - as I drove my wife to work in St Kilda Rd.
Luxe Cellar. Source: News Limited
8. LUXE (St Kilda)
"With The Botanical (in South Yarra), this hotspot showed us that eating elegantly and well didn't have to have white linen and equally starched waiters. You could eat smart without old world pomp and, correspondingly, treat good casual dining as something to do a lot more regularly than just for special occasions. And, man, the food at both those places. Wow!
MoVida restaurant. Source: News Limited
9. MO VIDA (city)
"Over the last decade, every time Sydneysiders started to bang on about their amazing restaurants and how THEY were the food capital of Australia, you only had to mention one name to shut them up. They had no answer to MoVida. Now they do, as we've sent chef Frank Camorra, his laneway cool and his eye-poppingly delicious Spanish tucker up to the Emerald City. A culinary missionary like Tony Bilson, Bill Granger, Maurizio Terzini and others before him."
I Carusi owner Tristan Care Source: HeraldSun
10. PIZZA ESPRESSO (Lower Templestowe) and I CARUSI (Brunswick)
"Food has always been a prime mover for me, a reason to cross town to eat in suburbs further than a $30 cab ride and these two northern beauties introduced Melbourne - in fact, Australia - to the joys of artisan pizza where the dough and the oven temperature were as important as the toppings. Or an elegant restraint with them."
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