Vue De Monde

Ph: 9691 3888; Normanby Chambers, 430 Little Collins St, MELBOURNE 3000 www.vuedemonde.com.au

French, $$$ +, *** for Ambience
Open Lunch Tue-Fri noon-2pm Dinner Tue-Sat 6.30pm-10pm, Closed Good Fri Xmas Day Boxing Day New Years Day; Licensed; AE DC MC V
Chef Shannon Bennett (7-11-07) Owner Shannon Bennett (7-11-07)

Mietta's Review
Shannon Bennett has moved his rather homespun take on haute cuisine and restaurants to the city. Here he is making statements about fine dining that have made Melbourne catch its breath. He only serves degustation menus the cheapest of which is $100 for four courses. The setting is linen, crystal and silver - the accoutrements of a fine restaurant. At this time, shortly after opening, Melbourne hasn't placed the establishment in its dining firmament. Comments range from John Lethlean's (The Age's senior reviewer) score of 18/20 to those of a less exalted diner - "It's bullshit and far too expensive". It will be interesting to see what happens over the next year or two - as Humphrey Applegate would say "It's a brave venture", even for a publicist as good as this.

Other published opinions

Gourmet Traveller 2009 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: *** "There has never been a restaurant in Australia like Vue de Monde. Set within modernised CBD law chambers, chef/patron Shannon Bennett is all about theatre, taking the dining experience to a new (fun) level"

Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 17.5/20, Two Hats "In a dramatic room resembling a stage set, the show begins: a dazzling parade of surprise courses channelling the outlandish creativity of chef Shannon Bennett"

Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide "Free-fall dining'. It might not be immediately apparent what they mean, sitting in this irrepressibly buzzy room at tables set with Laguiole cutlery and Echire butter"

Herald Sun Dining Out, Stephen Downes, 6/6/06 Score: 13/20 "Even in its Carlton days, Vue de Monde tabled some fine cooking. I was pleased to see it was less finicky this time, too. But nothing I tried set my heart racing. And at these prices Vues food should. The scallop and foie gras were also inappropriate. Lunch here, though, could be a bargain if portions are larger and the cooking is at its best. The wine list is huge and enormously expensive."

The Age Good Food Guide 2006 score 18/20, 3 Hats "Shannon Bennett has moved his quixotic Vue de monde to simple but oh-so-groovy premises in the GRID, consolidating his position in the Melbourne dining firmament, and attracting even more wealthy and aspirational diners in the process. The ante has been upped in every way, right down to the French cutlery. An evening begins with dialogue between diner and one of the myriad excellent waiters about the degustation to follow."

Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide *** "It has all come together for chef Shannon Bennett and his much talked-about restaurant. Not only has he relocated Vue de Monde to a sexy CBD space, the relaunch comes as Bennett's food a cheeky, highbrow reinterpretation of French classics has matured and evolved into something far better than his Carlton days ever offered. Lighter, more distinct, witty and flavour-driven, this is fine dining's great hope in Melbourne, and an expression ofa great (and developing) talent."

The Age Sunday Life, Australia's 20 best restaurants Mathew Evans 05 "ef Shannon Bennett isn't shrinking from anything; his style at this multi-roomed diner is brash and exciting. Bacon and eggs turns out to be a hollowedout duck egg brimming with bacon consomme and sabayon. There's humour and great taste in the accompanying goose-fat soldiers. They like to surprise with each course at dinner, each table getting their own, unseen, menu. Lunchtime finds a $28 set-price menu but it's a brave diner who can resist the temptation to spend more at Melbourne's finest."

The Age Epicure score 18/20 John Lethlean 9/8/05 "Glamorous, professional, ambitious, expensive: the quintessential big-night-out restaurant."