Est.

Ph: 9240 3010; Level 1, 252 George St, SYDNEY 2000 www.merivale.com

Contemporary, $$$, ** for Food & Ambience, Good Wine List
Open Lunch Mon-Fri noon-2.30pm Dinner Mon-Sat 6-10pm; Licensed; AE DC MC V
Chef Peter Doyle (29-11-08) Owner Merivale Group (29-11-08)

Mietta's Review
You've got to be impressed with the Hemmes' ability to put together packages that work for Sydney as demonstrated by the success of the many F & B outlets in 252 George St. The restaurant Est. mirrors the dimensions of the Establishment (bar)below but is fortunately a world away from the gigantic drinks scene played out at the base level of this establishment. The restaurant is in a typical 19th Century wharehouse space - very deep and narrow with supporting columns, excellent pressed metal ceiling, generous windows at each end. Unfortunately the addition of ductwork suspended beneath the Victorian ceiling manages to destroys the room's natural grandeur. If this worries you just keep your eyes firmly fixed on the plate where scenes of great beauty and depth of flavour are played out. Peter Doyle is unquestionably one of Sydney's best chefs and now relieved of the day to day pressures of running his own business he is blossoming. You will eat very well here at normal top end Sydney prices (mains in the $40s). The experience can be tempered by slightly uneven service. A problem somewhat ameliorated by the presence of sommelier, Franck Moreau - a true professional.

Other published opinions

Courier Mail Food and Wine Guide 2009 Queensland "Calm, assured and creative are three words that fit Australian cooking hero Peter Doyle's food in these strikingly beautiful rooms in the original Bulletin ' magazine building"

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2009 Score: 18/20, Three Hats "The tentacles (or should that be vines?) of the Hemmes family's Merivale empire now extend, to its latest pleasure-dome, Ivy. But jeepers,creepers, Ivy will have to work hard to eclipse est.'s star - a magnificent, heritage-ceiled space above the generously proportioned downstairs bar"

Gourmet Traveller 2009 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: *** "It's not easy to feel exclusive these days. Cut through the madding crowd of Establishment's bar, check your name with the clip-boarding staff at the lift and be elevated to a state of rare refinement"

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 18/20, Three Hats "est. is the perfect trinity: a splendid space, good-humoured service and refined food. The grand dining room buzzes with attentive waiters who soothe first-timers and seduce old hands"

Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: *** "There's something t be said for restraint. And refinement. Both words describe the E $t"

Sydney Eats 2008 "If there were a prize for the calmest, most laid back veteran Sydney chef and founding father of the Sydney school, it'd be taken out by Peter Doyle"

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2007 Score: 18/20, Three Hats "est. is an oasis of excellence within the hyperactive maze of the Establishment Hotel. Once you are ensconced in the elegant dining room, with its silk curtains, chandeliers and capital-topped columns, you can be confident that the impeccable floor, led by Frank Roberts and sommelier Franck Moreau, will more than meet expectations."

Gourmet Traveller 2007 Restaurant Guide Score: *** "In a truly gracious dining room on the first floor of the Establishment complex, wait-staff deliver dishes en masse with a choreographed precision that extends to the food. Peter Doyle's deft, artful fare whispers rather than shouts but every syllable is emphatic."

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2006 score 18/20, 3 Hats, Restaurant of the Year "A corps of waiters brings entrees in one swift choreographed movement. A couple ooh and aah over upstanding, outstanding souffles, reluctant to disturb the trembling, sugar-dusted towers. Sommelier Stuart Halliday quietly notes a host's wine budget and picks just the right drop. A burst of laughter dissolves among the tall pillars in this grand old room, with its comfortable chairs and banquettes in muted tones."

Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide *** "Apart from running the bouncer gauntlet outside the Establishment complex to gain entry to the beautifully appointed colonnaded dining room, the Est. experience is marked by bendover-backwards hospitality and utter assurance from the staff."

Sydney Eats 2006 "It's somehow fitting that one of Sydney's finest chefs has turned up in one of Sydney's finest buildings once home to the old Bulletin magazine when Henry Lawson was a regular contributor."

SBS Eating Guide to Sydney 2005 "It's such a fabulous space: a huge old upstairs room, high pressed-metal ceilings and cream walls. And we love the cooking of Peter Doyle, who blends a care for good produce with vivid combinations and superb flavours. The desserts are gorgeous and the wines great too."

SMH Good Living Good Editors Favourites "Peter Doyle's crisp, sunny flavours, marrying classical technique with modern Australian joie de vivre, are embodied in his blue swimmer crab ravioli with a lemongrass dressing."

SMH Good Food Guide 2005 Three Hats Good Wine List score 18/20 "est. is a class act. Chef Peter Doyle is not only one of Sydney's finest cooks but among its most unique, blending a produce-driven menu with classical technique for a result that is deftly light, bright and far from uptight. The floor team is top tier, and if there's a better room in town (without a view) we'd like to see it."

Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant Guide 2005 *** Good Wine List, Good Vegetarian Options "The lift delivers you into an elegant and richly appointed space, where waiters glide about tending to your every need. The tone is buzzy and nowhere near as formal as it might be, making for a relaxed dining experience as well as a delicious one."

The Age GFG 2005 "WITH its white, bright look, arched windows and cast-iron columns, there's a sense of grandeur to est, the hottest of Sydney's fine dining restaurants."

Sydney Eats 2005 "Some regard est. as the crowning achievement of chef Peter Doyle's 30 years in the trade. Everything about the place whispers quiet elegance, from the splendour of its heritage setting to the alert but not alarming service."

SMH GFG 2004, score 18/20, 3 Hats-World Class, Good wine list,'An astoundingly elegant room, on the first floor of the frenetic Establishment Hotel...equally refined food...food is imbued with more claritty and focus than a wide-screen TV...Whatever you do, don't miss dessert.Nothing can compare'