Bentley reopens at Radisson Blu
Brent Savage, left, and Nick Hildebrandt are today reopening flagship restaurant Bentley at Sydney's Radisson Blu Hotel, having operated for seven years in Surry Hills
JUST when you thought all the openings and closing for the year were done ... the Bentley Boys strike again. Most restaurateurs who couldn't get their new projects firing for the start of this month gave up on 2013 altogether, but Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt aren't just any combination. With Monopole and Yellow bedded down in Potts Point, the flagship restaurant Bentley reopens today at Sydney's Radisson Blu Hotel, having operated for seven years in Surry Hills. They've described this as "the crowning achievement in their eight-year partnership". For chef Savage, it's going to be a busy Christmas. "We're trading right through," he says of the opening. For Savage, it means a return to full-time cooking in one restaurant, for the time being. "Bentley has always been our baby," he says. "I've got head chefs I can rely on." Adam Wolfers runs the new Yellow bistro; Alex Munoz heads up the kitchen at Monopole, the pair's "wine bar", while Aiden Stevens will be in the spotlight at Bentley.
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MORE movement in the CBD hotels of Sydney town? We can't get a response from the parties concerned but we hear the deal to find a consultant chef/restaurateur for the Four Seasons, replacing Hamish Ingham at The Woods, has been done. Two prominent individuals made the shortlist. Mark Best said no, thanks. Which leaves the mystery Melburnian. "This is not at this stage correct," Guy Grossi told us. "At the moment we have simply been discussing some possibilities." We reckon you'll see Grossi's first venture north of the Murray in George Street by Easter.
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NEXT year's Tasting Australia festival in Adelaide has flagged its philosophical direction with the announcement of two key guests: American farmer and thinker/author Joel Salatin and Australian landscape architect and host of Gardening Australia, Costa Georgiadis. "Tasting Australia is taking a new direction in 2014 and we'll be celebrating the origins of our renowned produce," TA creative director Simon Bryant said. "This festival will be about eating and drinking, not just food and wine. It will focus on experiences, not purely events, and on participating rather than simply being there." Salatin is known internationally for his role in the documentary film Food, Inc. He has written nine books; his latest is Fields of Farmers, which further expands his message and focuses on the importance of farms and knowledge being passed on to new generations.
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WANT 50 per cent off your restaurant bill, and we're not talking McDonald's? OK, it's in Israel, but all you have to do is turn your phone off at Abu Ghosh in Jerusalem and it's half price. Run by Arab-Israeli millionaire Jawdat Ibrahim, he says he has gradually seen customers talk to each other less and less during meals since the introduction of smartphones. Almost every customer has taken Ibrahim up on his offer, and he believes that while the price cut has meant the restaurant has taken a financial hit, it will make the venue more popular in the long run.
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CHIN Chin restaurant's self-published Chin Chin: The Book will represent Australia at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in the category Best Innovative Cookbook. The local win sees the book progress to international judging next year, with results announced in May.
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IT'S had Russell Armstrong who, rumour has it, had an accident one night with a large number of very expensive Versace dinner plates. It's had Steve Szabo, the ebullient Welshman now at Surfer's Soul Temple. Now Vanitas, at Palazzo Versace on the Gold Coast, has a new lad at the helm. He is James Fiske. A Briton, Fiske has worked at the Cleveland Tontine, Baltic (Newcastle, UK) and the Michelin-starred Star Inn at Harome back home. We hope he's careful with the crockery.
Source: The Australian - 17 December 2013
