Fat Duck, Melbourne

MTR

MTR

Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck coming to Melbourne for 6 months 2015. Had to be Melb, food capital of Australia;)

$525? per head, this does not include drinks, seriously expensive, at this price it will actually be the most expensive restaurant in the world.

What would you want on the menu??

Would you spend this money to experience perhaps what may be considered the ultimate food experience/sublime evening.

I would not personally spend this money on a meal at this restaurant I don't care how many Michelin stars??? Also, I think this guy is so gimmicky, I am just not a great fan.

BTW, I had the best kebab in Melb last time I visited, I think it cost me $12 with chips:) That will do.


MTR:)
 
As Heston says - "it's for 4 hours of entertainment" (with some food)

If people are willing to pay, and demand for seats exceeds supply.... good for him :)

The Y-man
 
Told you I went to Chin Chins last time I was in Melbourne yeah?

No wait, but straight after us it was 3 hour wait.

Great food but WAY overrated. 3 hours, sheesh.
 
I love good food, good service and will pay for it

However I will not pay some stupid price just because I eant to be seen as cool or trendy

It's these sort of wannabe hipsters who the next day will come in and say oh that place is well worth it, there. Is no way I could go back to a 300 pp meal again and have no idea of the food or what quality is
 
MTR said:
Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck coming to Melbourne for 6 months 2015. Had to be Melb, food capital of Australia;)

$525? per head, this does not include drinks, seriously expensive, at this price it will actually be the most expensive restaurant in the world.

What would you want on the menu??

Would you spend this money to experience perhaps what may be considered the ultimate food experience/sublime evening.

I would not personally spend this money on a meal at this restaurant I don't care how many Michelin stars??? Also, I think this guy is so gimmicky, I am just not a great fan.

BTW, I had the best kebab in Melb last time I visited, I think it cost me $12 with chips:) That will do.


MTR:)
Click to expand...
$525 will buy a lot of plants for my front yard, and will be there for years and give me loads of enjoyment.

A meal is in the pipeline the next day, and gone forever.

No offence, Heston.
 
Good luck was in reference to getting my money. My partner is a uni student $525 turns in $1050 + drinks. Happy to take spend up to $300 between us but cant justify $1k+.

I'm sure it will be packed every night, from the discussion I had with my brother last night he mentioned you can enter into a ballot to possible get to eat there.
 
it's an interesting one. at $550 a head it will still probably run at a loss due to the nature of the operation and will be heavily subsidised by crown.

ultimately it is what it is. some people will see value in it and some wont. personally i do agree on face value it is ludicrous, especially when you consider how much something like attica is (around a quarter of the price) but im still considering going in the ballot because from a food and business nerd POV im curious to see how they pull off this huge undertaking

a couple of the very top restaurants have done short term stints elsewhere like Noma in London during Olympics and next year in Tokyo but i cant think of any other instance where one of the worlds best restaurants moved its entire operation (all staff are moving) for a 6 month stint in another country.
 
BayView said:
$525 will buy a lot of plants for my front yard, and will be there for years and give me loads of enjoyment.

A meal is in the pipeline the next day, and gone forever.

No offence, Heston.
Click to expand...

so is alcohol! people have different priorities and what they want to splurge on ;)

do you drink at all BV? why spend $30 on a bottle of wine when you can get a coke for $3!

sanj said:
it's an interesting one. at $550 a head it will still probably run at a loss due to the nature of the operation and will be heavily subsidised by crown.

ultimately it is what it is. some people will see value in it and some wont. personally i do agree on face value it is ludicrous, especially when you consider how much something like attica is (around a quarter of the price) but im still considering going in the ballot because from a food and business nerd POV im curious to see how they pull off this huge undertaking

a couple of the very top restaurants have done short term stints elsewhere like Noma in London during Olympics and next year in Tokyo but i cant think of any other instance where one of the worlds best restaurants moved its entire operation (all staff are moving) for a 6 month stint in another country.
Click to expand...

how the hell can you make a loss at $500 per head!!!?!?!? the ingredients are better but its no way proportional, you are going to have a few extra staff!, unless you get a prviate room!
 
TMNT said:
so is alcohol! people have different priorities and what they want to splurge on ;)

do you drink at all BV? why spend $30 on a bottle of wine when you can get a coke for $3!



how the hell can you make a loss at $500 per head!!!?!?!? the ingredients are better but its no way proportional, you are going to have a few extra staff!, unless you get a prviate room!
Click to expand...

1) flying out an entire operation like that and housing the people for the duration. i assume there will also be a fair bit of training and testing before opening as there is a lot riding on it

2) these sort of operations are often very expensive to run anyway, rockpool flagshoip in sydney has run at a loss for most of the last 10 years despite an average per head spend probably in the $250-300 mark as a blind guess

3) fit out costs being amortised over such a short period. yes they will be using it as a more casual outpost after the 6 months but im sure there will be a lot of things that arent duplicated

there would be a hold host of reasons but those 3 immediately come to mind. to be honest thats part of the reason im tempted to go, to see what i can learn from observing


another example is el bulli which for most of the 2000s was considered the best restaurant in the world. despite having only 8000 seats per year and getting over 2 millionbooking requests and an average spend around $350 the restaurant ran at a loss the entire time as there were as many chefs as diners and it only operated for 6 months in the year.

fine dining is a notoriously difficult thing with really tight margins. people assume the operators are raking it in but something like say chin chin would make more money than the top 5 fine diners in australia combined.
 
Chin Chin is great but its not fine dining... just clarifying, right:)

Also, I would expect Heston makes the bulk of his money from his "name/brand", just check out your local Coles supermarket and whoever else has jumped on the Heston band wagon, a bit like Jamie Oliver. Next it will be saucepans etc. or perhaps its already happened... the power of a brand.

My guess is this exercise in Melb is purely a marketing exercise, pumps up profits and generates many more clients/business, a little loss in Melb probably a drop in the ocean.

BTW, those who would eat at his restaurant, what would you expect on the menu.... truffles, is that old school/fashion now???? have we moved on


MTR:)
 
TMNT said:
so is alcohol! people have different priorities and what they want to splurge on ;)

do you drink at all BV? why spend $30 on a bottle of wine when you can get a coke for $3!
Click to expand...
I love good food, and I have at times done the "too-expensive for what you get" restaurant experience...just not to the tune of $500 per head and no drinks. It's insane.

We went to a Japanese restaurant (I love Japanese food) for one of my mate's Birthday in the City one time (he is a Mr.Jones keeper-upper for sure - he selected the restaurant). It cost my wife and I $200 for our meal, and we had to stop on the way home and get some more food.

I do drink alcohol; same - I have tried a bottle of Chardonnay from the Nappa Valley (when we lived there) worth over $100 a bottle.

It was very nice for sure, but not ten times more delicious than the normal $10 bottle of draino I normally drink.

Methinks that a good number of the Heston patrons would be doing it as a bit of a "Mr.Jones keep-up" for the next dinner party conversation. :rolleyes:

I mean; who had heard of him before MasterChef?
 
BayView said:
I mean; who had heard of him before MasterChef?
Click to expand...

many many people

he has been highly regarded for over a decade actually, long before masterchef

well before masterchef people used to pay a fortune for the once a year dinner neil perry used to organise for one of the childrens charities with him, thomas keller etc cooking, from memory over $1000 a head.

there certainly is an element of keeping up with the jones' at some of these meals but there are also lots of people who simply love what these people do. if youre passionate about something wouldnt you want to see what the very best can do?
 
Heston is a name/brand just as Jamie Oliver is... it sells and their are plenty of corporations jumping on the band wagon..... cha ching cha ching:) I like the sound of that
 
frankly, if I hear or see a label of "master chef ownedinspired restuarant"
or something like that, I will simply not go to it unless, I hear raving reviews of the actual food, not the W!NK factor

I am not going to go just because someone from what I call a tacky reality tv show was on it,

unless this particular chef is an absolute genious or master, there will be another 100 restruarnats with better food, better chefs, better priced, better in every single way that doesnt have queues of tryhard, unshaven, vegan hipsters trying to be be "IN"

edit: and for the record, I went to Fifteen in melbourne when it first opened, managed to get a lunch booking on a weekday two days in advance when everyone was spouting a 2 week wait, and it was an absolutely overpriced and terrible meal, my fish tasted like a frozen McCain meal!!!! (for the record, I really like Jamie Oliver, and still do)
 
sanj said:
if youre passionate about something wouldnt you want to see what the very best can do?
Click to expand...
Absolutely, and I would probably do a Heston experience once in my life to see the best at their best.

The cost would be a bit of a deterrent.
 
BayView said:
Absolutely, and I would probably do a Heston experience once in my life to see the best at their best.

The cost would be a bit of a deterrent.
Click to expand...

Yeah it is a huuuuge amount. luckily for us fine dining is actually very good value in australia compared to "regular" meals, espercially when you consider wages here and compare to prices of similar restaurants overseas.
 
MTR, which kabab did you have here that you can claim is the best kabab?

The best kabab I ever had was from Sydney with garlic sauce, Yum!!
 
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