The 1998 Restaurant Year

Food & Drink is here to stay. Melburnians just love to go out eating and drinking so as more bars, cafes and restaurants keep on opening the need for good advice grows.

The gas crisis in October showed just how much people care about their food and drink. There were probably more column inches given over to how cafes and restaurants were coping with the emergency than to any other industry. Where you could still eat and what was on offer were the important questions. The resourcefulness and stamina of owners and staff who worked on makeshift equipment, adapted menus and kept the food coming, shows just how determined we are about getting a good meal.

This past year has also seen a resurgence at the top end of the market with a greater emphasis on classic dishes. Places such as est est est, Langton's, Circa, George's Brasserie and Pomme, where European cooking traditions prevail. The fusion fashion has abated and the new contender in the trend stakes in Middle Eastern.

Bars have boomed as liquor laws have eased, in the last financial year 238 Class 2 licences where issued, compared with just 8 four years earlier. There has been general growth throughout the industry, but most significantly in the new 'bar' style, which allows for a 'tavern' licence without the provision of accommodation or packaged liquor for take away sales. The new legislation planned to come into force next year will further loosen up the industry with book shops and hairdressers able to apply to sell drinks.

With more and more places able to sell food and drink, consumers and the industry really need a guide which reflects the changes. Their support has made possible the success of Mietta's Eating & Drinking in Melbourne, published for the first time this year with more than 650 places listed. Our book has heralded a new era in restaurant criticism by actually describing not criticising. It accepts that anywhere successful has a position, a place and a relevance and that our 'reviewers' should attempt to work out what it is and why. I'm pleased with the sales success of the book but also think it's important this style of restaurant discussion continues because the speed with which the industry is moving and consequent fragmentation means that traditional reviewing methods cannot keep up with what people are doing. They are going out continually for a range of experiences not just for a special meal.

Of course this reflects world trends, the recently published Dining Out: Secrets from America's Leading Critics, Chefs and Restaurateurs by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page says that some critics "have tried to opt out . . . and review only the food . . . in this era . . .that's a cop-out. Any critic can look at any dish and say that is the best or the worst . . . but . . . what it really gets down to, does the restaurant have heart? Does the staff care?" In the leading magazine Bon Appetit the September Letter from the editor says "(traditional) critics try to objectify restaurants, with ratings and stars and such like, (but they) can only tell you why they like a place, they cannot tell you whether you will." It is after all, only one opinion and we are all blessedly different. So we have gathered a wide range of opinions about the places listed in Mietta's Eating & Drinking in Melbourne. There are some listed I don't like but can understand why others do, eaters and drinkers who are younger, older, live where I don't, have kids, have lots of money or only go out for special occasions.

This past year has really shown how strong and mature the hospitality industry has become in Melbourne. It services such diverse needs and its consumers have now shown that they don't need elite views to make their choices.