Restaurants That Last the Distance
Marilyn April 15th, 2006
One of the hardest things about the restaurant industry is … surviving in the restaurant industry. There are lots of examples of restaurants with great decor and rave reviews that don’t make it past their second birthday.
Baguette Restaurant’s main dining area
In the April 2006 Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine there are two articles about Sydney restaurants that have lasted the distance. The inimitable Claude’s which has had 4 chef/owners over 30 years, plus Bayswater Brasserie (an old favourite since 1982) and The Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay (a mere 8 years old).
Gourmet Traveller writes … “The James Beard Foundation Awards in the US are bestowed only on restaurants that have been in operation for a least 10 years … In the precarious world of fine dining — not least of all in neophile Sydney — any restaurant that can reach double digits is doing well. To do so while retaining a cherished position in the hearts (and palates) of a city’s diners is a greater feat still.”
Last year, in conjunction with Style Magazine in Brisbane, I ran a competition to find the oldest restaurant in Brisbane. It had to be a proper restaurant (not a cafe), be in the same location and under the same ownership.
The final contenders were … Gambaro’s, Lucky’s, Enjoy Inn, Golden Ox, Jo Jo’s, Little Tokyo and Baguette. Little Tokyo won by a mile (opened in 1966) although many felt Gambaro’s should have the crown — it was not really a proper restaurant until it moved across Caxton Street in 1982, although it opened in 1953 as a take-away and became a fish cafe and oyster bar in 1965.
I was pondering all this because our restaurant, Baguette, turns 30 years in September. My husband Francis recently said that he thought we were one of the real stayers in a difficult industry, until he was told that the longest running restaurant in the world is Ma Yu Ching’s Bucket Chicken House in China, which opened in AD 1153! Not though, we presume, still with the same owner.
Does Lucky’s really count though – it did move 5 years back I think. I always remember it just down from the Beat and now it’s on Brunswick.
You’re right, Lucky’s did not qualify although Lucky himself is a bit of an icon. His daughter I think runs Lucky’s in Brunswick Street and Lucky himself came out of retirement and opened an Italian trattoria in Albion about 2 years ago. Lots of plastic flowers but good “spag bol” and great value.
Marilyn
Hey Marilyn,
Whenever I’ve go to Little Toyko, I can’t help but wonder how exotic Brisbanites must have found it in those days- the traditional costumes, the decor, the food; it all must have seemed so very ‘foreign’ to a fairly conservative society like Brisbane in those days. Michiko O’Brien is a very brave and forward thinking woman. Incredible to think though that brisbane’s first restaurant was only 40 years ago!
Michiko at Little Tokyo is to be congratulated for persisting in the same restaurant for 40 years; it is a business that tends to wear people out. The other restaurants in Brisbane 40 years ago were mainly in hotels (Lennons, Park Royal) or in private, elitist clubs. These were very Anglo Saxon with dinner jacketed waiters, red carpet and very conservative food. There were a few ethnic places however — The Oriental and Mama Luigi’s come to mind. Does anyone know of others?