We love muscles, yes, but do we love dessert even more? Culinary experiences are among the biggest motivators for travel and also provide some of the fondest memories. Remember that chocolate éclair in Paris…and what you did with it?
Though Australia is (rightfully) criticised on several fronts with regard to domestic travel vis-Ã -vis international travel, one area in which the country inarguably excels is food, and Melbourne is one of Australia’s great food cities. There is no shortage of excellent establishments to satisfy the appetite; they range from the simplest of fish and chip shops to the exquisite preparations of Jacques Reymond, with a healthy dose of ethnic foods from Ethiopian to Nepalese also available thanks to the city’s cosmopolitan population.
Melbourne’s large Italian community has made Italian cuisine well appreciated in the city, nowhere more so than at Grossi Florentino, where chef Guy Grossi leads a team of restaurant professionals in providing outstanding food and service to patrons in the historic main dining room lined with painted scenes of Florence and bedecked with chandeliers or in the private dining room where the building’s original windows open to the treetops above Bourke Street. This restaurant is as authentic as my grandmother’s dining room; Italia comes to life with both modern and traditional dishes served to perfection by Old World servers who can’t do enough for their guests.
After enjoying the sublime talents of Melbourne’s culinary creators, it may be time to take in some of the city’s other expressions of creative talent. As Australia’s most cultured city, Melbourne’s fans of artistic skills enjoy the city’s fine arts and performing arts with as much gusto as its football matches. The outstanding Ian Potter Centre, the National Gallery of Victoria’s museum of Australian art.
One of the oldest and most famous museums in Australia, the Ian Potter Centre displays examples of work showcasing the entire compendium of Australian art from colonial times to the modern day, including several of the most famous paintings of Australia’s Heidelberg School, an artistic movement capturing the essence of Australian life in the late 19th century and also known as Australian Impressionism. The movement’s name is a reference to the area of Melbourne known as Heidelberg, formerly virgin landscape in the time before urban encroachment turned the idyllic arboreal setting of eucalypts and other Australian native trees into a suburb of the city.
The Centre’s Aboriginal art collection is a superb overview of the many styles of Australia’s unique native art. It’s not all Australia, all the time at the NGV, though; the museum’s blockbuster Vienna: Art and Design exhibition opens on 18 June, and those who visit before 7 August will also be able to take in the Eugene von Guerard exhibit as well as the ManStyle fashion exhibit on display until 30 October. If all this art makes you hungry, the National Gallery’s Persimmon restaurant is a fine dining venue where excellent food is served.
Jacques Reymond Cuisine du Temps, a member of Relais & Chateaux, is located in a grand old home in Prahran; the airy rooms presage the light cuisine beautifully presented by attentive staff, a virtual battalion of good looking servers ferrying dish after delicious dish from the kitchen, the presentation of the food matches that of the house in style and sophistication.
One of Melbourne’s most luxurious hotels, Park Hyatt, is also home to another of its fine restaurants, radii, where the cuisine is prepared with the freshest of Australia’s excellent produce, meat, and dairy products. Park Hyatt’s excellent location at the edge of the CBD makes it a great base for exploring the city in any direction. Shoppers are only a stroll away from the fine shops of Collins St; outdoor lovers will be happy with the hotel’s proximity to Melbourne’s expansive parks; and the many restaurants of Lygon St are just up the road.
Not all of Melbourne’s gastronomic experiences take place while seated at a table. Some of the delicious food prepared at Melbourne’s restaurants passes through its beloved Queen Victoria Market, which has been restored to the grand building it was when opened for business 130 years ago. While most of the market is given to bargain hunters, the food halls stand out as a paragon of quality and, as such, are so popular that Foodies’ Dream Tours are offered for a deeper understanding of the history of the market as a food source for the city.
Consumers love the abundance of fresh produce sourced so close to the market, while those with a business perspective are impressed with the solar energy, water accumulation system, and recycling programs that make Queen Victoria Markets not only a shopper’s destination but an urban planner’s as well. With a surprisingly intricate and extensive sustainability and recycling program for refuse generated in day-to-day business, Queen Victoria Market sets an example for all businesses in environmental friendliness.
MORE INFORMATION
www.grossiflorentino.com
www.jacquesreymond.com.au
www.melbourne.park.hyatt.com
www.ngv.vic.gov.au
www.qvm.com.au
Robert La Bua
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