Venue: Vue de Monde
Style: Modern French, Molecular Gastronomy
Address: Level 55, Rialto, 525 Collins Street, Melbourne [
Google Maps]
Phone: (03) 9691 3888
Hours: Lunch Tue-Fri & Sun 12:00pm-2:00pm / Dinner Mon-Sat 6:00pm-11:00pm
Prices: Lunch Express $60 / A la carte 4 courses $150 / Gastronomes 10+ courses $250
Bookings: Absolutely necessary, should be made
online
If your significant other is anything like me, Vue de Monde may not be the place to take them, unless you like the idea of feeling cuckolded by a plate of brioche.
At the base of the Rialto, we're a little confused by the numbers in the lift well, which end at level 54. We're approached by a woman in a neat black skirt-suit who advises us she's just sent the elevator up but that it will be back for us shortly. Having checked our booking and muttered into her handheld transceiver, she confirms that
our mission, if we choose to accept it we may ascend.
The Lui Bar is a stunning space to enjoy pre-dinner drinks of Irish whiskey (1995 Knappogie Castle) and a Negroni, served with blanched almonds in Campari and orange toffee. Unlike the restaurant proper, the bar does not take reservations and is open to all and sundry. And with a snack menu that includes head-scratchers like "Roadkill terrine," I'm bound to pay another visit soon (for investigative purposes, obviously).
Shannon Bennett's shift to the upper echelons of the Melbourne skyline only see him amplifying the depth and complexity of flavours on show; the food is bolder than ever, which suits the dramatic, low-lit interior and the tables dressed in kangaroo hide. Accents of fur-lined seating and tableware fashioned out of vine sticks and river stones are all the more rugged looking, set against the yawning, glittering view across the city.
It is a given that my attitude towards this establishment is rapturous. After Shannon visits our table to welcome us and finish plating the first course, I explain to my darling Dom that the guy is a rock star as far as I'm concerned. This is Dom's first time at Vue de Monde and while his lust for food is on par with my own, he has no taste for pretension and spends much of the evening sweetly mocking me.
To wit, we're both stumped by the coin-slot openings in some of the river rocks on our table. The waitress clarifies that they're for holding steak knives, but Dom has already decided that they resemble something less than savoury.
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| You decide |
The meal begins with five different amuse bouche:
- crisps with mayonnaise,
- crunchy pumpkin pieces,
- smoked eel encased in white chocolate and topped with caviar,
- venison tartare sandwiched between dried wagyu, and
- translucent pouches of oyster and lime.
Dom places the venison sandwich in his mouth and asks if we might have ten more of those. He is also impressed by the smoked eel and white chocolate, which I am enjoying for the second time with its lip-smacking combination of salty, oily, smoky and sweet. The pumpkin pieces are bland by comparison, but the crunch has its place amongst the softer appetisers.
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| Mixed amuse bouche |
Finished with a grating of lime zest, a plate of spanner crab is crunchy, salty and bright, the kind of delicate opening to a meal that I favour. Dom can take it or leave it and is having a much better time with the hot, plush sourdough and quenelle of cultured butter at the centre of the table.
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| Spanner crab, broccoli, beetroot, crustacean dressing |
Our attendant returns with the Cona Vacuum Coffee Percolator and I assume we're to enjoy VDM's signature bouillabaisse, but the broth is too dark for that and the upper chamber contains pine needles. New plates are placed before us, with a selection of mixed mushrooms (wild, pine, enoki) and we're told that the kitchen staff refer to this dish as a 'walk through the forest.'
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| Percolating pine needles... |
This was a polarising dish. I didn't drool all over myself per se but I found the aroma and depth of the broth to be very seductive. The pine needle flavour was definitely there, as well as a caramel-sweetness and some nuttiness. Perhaps it was too aggressive for Dom, because while he finished off the whole mushrooms, he insisted I finish his broth, as I clearly enjoyed it far more (he also maintains that he needs a much fancier spoon to eat with).
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| Pine mushrooms, walnuts, bird's cress, cona infusion |
The last time I enjoyed VDM's extravagant surf and turf, I ate each component separately. I can safely say now that eating all three parts at once is the way to go, even though it means the experience is a little briefer. The marron remains the veritable king of crustacea, with its meaty flesh that is less sweet and more savoury; I slather it in the hazelnut butter and crown it with the beef sandwich.
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| Marron, beef tongue, brown butter emulsion |
As for the next course, be still, my beating heart. I'd had a variant on this dish before but it's been refined and the sex has been amped up, with the depth of flavour of the onion jus, the creaminess of the purée, richness of the egg and the decadent earthiness of the truffle shavings ricocheting around my mouth like a culinary multiple orgasm.
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| Fried duck egg, lamb sweetbreads, pickled onion and fresh black truffle |
Along with our cutlery being reset, we receive, without a word, a wooden pestle...
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| Mystery pestle |
We're each served a bowl that is pretty as a picture, which is ironic in that I didn't have time to capture a photograph of it. A mix of miniature flowers and herbs is finished with a cascade of dry ice, which we're then asked to grind up using our pestles. Once reduced to a fine-ish powder, scoops of cucumber sorbet are placed on top, forming our delightful palate cleanser course.
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| Cucumber sorbet, crushed herbs |
Having taken a break on the outside balcony, we reconvene for the arrival of one of the stars of the evening. The colour says it all: perfectly seasoned, succulent, yielding kangaroo flesh, with crisp accompaniments and the conversation ceases as we eat with gusto. Unfortunately, the daubs of lemon mousse are a misfire, much too bitter and tasting of a chemistry set.
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| Kangaroo, radish, swede, turnip, lemon |
Thoughts of misfires evaporate however with our final savoury course: pieces of Blackmore wagyu beef finished with cherry sauce, crisp chestnut slices and fragrant garlic foam. I closed my eyes and chewed each piece well beyond what was necessary to aid digestion. I did not want the experience of eating this beef to end. Flavour to make your knees weak and luxurious marbling.
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| Blackmore wagyu beef, chestnut, wild garlic, cherries |
As for dessert, I ask our attendant to surprise me. In the meantime, Dom discusses options for a cheese plate.
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| Cheese chatter |
His selection includes a mild goat's cheese, a rich and creamy Délice de Bourgogne, a sharp gruyeres and a very generous piece of unpasteurised Roquefort. Accompaniments include pear mousse, rhubarb in syrup, apple matchsticks and candied fruits, with the fig really standing out. The unpasteurised cheese is like no blue we've tried before, exceedingly moist and a little bit fizzy in the mouth. Dom prefers the gruyeres for its wonderful sharpness, whilst I cannot get enough of the Roquefort.
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| Mixed confit, cheese selection of goat's, Delice de Bourgogne, gruyère & unpasteurised Roquefort |
For dessert, I receive a VDM classic: their elegant chocolate soufflé finished with warm crème anglaise, spiked with plenty of vanilla. It wobbles slightly as my spoon dips in, coming up with a big helping of soufflé, sauce and crème.
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| Chocolate soufflé with chocolate sauce... |
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| ...finished with warm crème anglaise |
In spite of the fact that we're too full to even consider tea and coffee, our attendant brings us a selection of gorgeous petits fours anyway. She really ought not to have done so, because Dom does not have a sweet tooth and I am just about forced to eat them myself, as I cannot abide waste. The slippery, sweet and sour lemon jub-jubs return along with thyme marshmallow puffs and "lamingtons," which are actually little squares of chocolate mousse topped with jam and coated in coconut. New to me is the VDM Golden Gaytime, a little bite of buttery smooth ice-cream with a crunchy coating.
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| Petits fours |
With another exquisite meal at Vue de Monde at an end, I'm interested to know Dom's thoughts. While not everything was to his taste and he would have preferred double helpings of anything featuring meat, he called it an experience like nothing he'd had before. The circus claims another disciple.
