Moonah owner-chef Tobin Kent’s breakfast menu makes a visit more accessible.Marnie HawsonMoonah owner and chef Tobin Kent experimented with a $100 breakfast menu. It’s been so successful,he’s added it to the permanent offering. “The dining room faces east,so it’s beautiful in the morning,and the billabong we overlook is calm and quiet at that time,” he says. “A fine dining breakfast isn’t common,but it’s a good opportunity to offer people a cheaper alternative that’s a bit more approachable.”
It costs more than your regular cafe eggs on toast,but Kent says people often comment on the value of a menu that includes house-made croissants,pickled seafood and more. “It includes a glass of sparkling,as much coffee and tea as you want,and three courses of food,and we use the same handmade crockery we do for lunch and dinner.”
Chayse Bertoncello (left) and brother Blayne Bertoncello in the dining room at O.My,Beaconsfield.Chloe DannO.My co-owner Chayse Bertoncello launched a cheaper four-course menu this winter and believes it’s the smartest business decision he has made in 10 years of running the farm-to-table restaurant. “We’ve got old regulars returning to the restaurant,” he says. “It’s a bit more approachable for the punters.”
The $150 shorter menu is still a generous meal. “Four courses is just a number,really,” says Bertoncello. “There are snacks,bread,three savoury courses,then dessert and another dessert.”
As it happens,80 per cent of people who book a four-course meal end up upgrading to the longer menu anyway. “Once they’re here,they think,let’s just go for it,” he says. “It’s about getting that foot in the door.”
Amaru in Armadale has a sibling wine bar across the road.Chloe DannAmaru offers a shorter $225 menu at lunch but also has its sibling wine bar,Auterra,across the road. A similar ethos of careful sourcing and clever cooking drives the wine bar’s kitchen,resulting in dishes such as pickled ox tongue with a sambal emulsion and roasted cashew puree ($10) and drop-dead delicious stuffed barbecued chicken wing with caramelised onion butter (a steal at $9).
“A lot of people don’t have $300 to drop on a night out at a restaurant,” saysGood Food Guide co-editor Ellen Fraser. “People will still save for those once-in-a-lifetime experiences but for the day-to-day,they like being more relaxed and snacky and have the option of dipping in without breaking the bank.”
At Etta,owner Hannah Green is happy for people to experience the restaurant in the way that suits them at the time.
“We started as a neighbourhood restaurant and we still do share plates and loud music but I would like to think that the produce we serve,the wines on the list,the education of our staff is the same calibre of any fine-dining restaurant,” she says.
More than half her guests opt for the tasting menu but if there’s a free table and someone pops in for a lower spend,Green’s fine with that,too. “It is what it is,it’s a sign of the times,” she says. “People tend to see us as a ‘restaurant restaurant’ these days but if there’s a spot and you want snacks and a glass of wine,that’s great. Come on in.”
Chef Rosheen Kaul and owner Hannah Green at Etta in Brunswick.Kristoffer PaulsenThe finalists
These are the five finalists forThe Age Good Food Guide 2024 Restaurant of the Year award. The winner will be announced on Monday night.
Amaru
Complex,nuanced dishes and matched drinks,often delivered to the table by the chefs themselves.
Shop 5,1121 High Street,Armadale,amarumelbourne.com.au
Brae
Refined,intelligent cooking using the bounty of the surrounding orchards and garden.
4285 Cape Otway Road,Birregurra,braerestaurant.com
Etta
The neighbourhood restaurant of dreams,with good food,fine wine and warm hospitality.
60 Lygon Street,Brunswick East,ettadining.com.au
Moonah
A celebration of land and sea at a destination diner overlooking a billabong.
95 Minya Lane,Connewarre,moonahrestaurant.com.au
O. My
At this moody fine diner on the city’s fringe,the brothers who grow the vegetables also cook and serve them.
70 Princes Highway,Beaconsfield,omyrestaurant.com.au
The winners ofThe Age Good Food Guide 2024 Awards will be announced on October 30,presented by Vittoria Coffee and Oceania Cruises.The Age Good Food Guide 2024 will be on sale from October 31,featuring more than 450 Victorian venues,from three-hatted destinations to regional wine bars,lively noodle specialists and 30-year-old icons. Venues listed in the Guide are visited anonymously by professional restaurant critics,who review independently. Venues are chosen at our discretion.
The Age Good Food Guide 2024 will be on sale from October 31.