'Food prices should not come down, when everything else is going'

Top celebrity chefs who charge up to $525 per head argue in favour of high dining prices 

• Heston Blumenthal and Peter Gilmore said they don't believe food prices should come

• They attributed the high price of dining in Australia to the weekend penalty rates paid to workers 

• 'The quality you get is exceptional and you should be prepared to pay for quality,' Gilmore said

• Both chefs made an appearance at the launch of Perth's food and wine festival, the Margaret River Gourmet Escape

People should stop expecting food prices to go down when the price of everything else is going up, celebrity chefs Heston Blumenthal and Peter Gilmore say.

Speaking at the launch of Perth's food and wine festival, the Margaret River Gourmet Escape, Gilmore said weekend penalty rates for workers were pushing up the price of dining in Australian restaurants.

He hoped the government would reconsider labour laws because the days of working nine to five, Monday to Friday had passed.

Celebrity chefs Heston Blumenthal (right) and Peter Gilmore (left) spoke about the price of food in Australia at the launch of Perth's food and wine festival, the Margaret River Gourmet Escape

Gilmore, the executive chef at Sydney restaurant Quay, said that although dining was 'not cheap', the quality is 'exceptional'.

'I do say in the same sentence the quality you get is exceptional and you should be prepared to pay for quality,' he said.

Blumenthal said people had to have access to affordable food but expecting prices to come down while the cost of everything else was going up would only damage the food and farming industries.

'I do not believe food prices should come down, when everything else is going up,' Blumenthal said, according to Perth Now.

Gilmore, the executive chef at Sydney restaurant Quay, said that although dining is 'not cheap... the quality you get is exceptional and you should be prepared to pay for quality'

'I do not believe food prices should come down, when everything else is going up,' Blumenthal said

 

'It would completely damage the food industry and the agriculture industry.

'You rear a chicken, house it, feed it, then kill it, then package it, then transport it and sell it and I'll give you two pounds fifty - you'd go `forget it'.

'These guys need supporting. It's got to come from somewhere.'

His own restaurant, The Fat Duck, which will temporarily relocate to Melbourne's Crown Casino in February for six months, is charging $525 a head.

 

Gilmore's own restaurant, the Quay (pictured) charges $175 for a four course meal while Blumenthal's business, The Fat Duck, will charge $525 a head when it opens in Melbourne for six months in February 

The Margaret River Gourmet Escape is a three day long food and wine festival held in Perth each year

 

Source : The Daily Mail Australia and AAP     Lillian Radolova  20th November 2014