Marilyn July 2nd, 2006
Without any false modesty, we think that Bruce McKenna’s latest menu is a winner. Definitely his best since he started at Baguette 15mths ago. Our regulars think so too and are, without prompting, telling us so.
Francis and I had said to Bruce that with a name like Baguette many expect French dishes when they come to eat. And, as Winter is the ideal time for many French classics, why didn’t he put together a menu that was still contemporary but had French influences?
Despite the pic opposite, the menu does NOT contain any tinned snails or Chinese raised frogs legs.
You can see the result if you go our website: http://www.baguette.com.au/
Marilyn July 2nd, 2006
I am pondering this because of a piece written by Elizabeth Meryment in this Weekend Australian newspaper Travel & Indulgence – A few of our (least) favourite things: tips, teens, waiters with attitude. Elizabeth has written a few pedantically critical reviews of restaurants … and some complimentary ones, she is a woman of strong opinions.
From a restaurateur’s point of view I am on the customer’s side and have very little to gripe about, but if pushed these would be the things that raise my ire:-
1. Reviewers and some customers who think they are being ‘ripped off’ by the prices charged in all levels of cafes/restaurants. The assumption is that we are greedy and making too much profit. (The concept of value for money is another issue altogether.) The reality is that the more upmarket the restaurant is, the less profit it is making (and some are making very little indeed). I wish you could sit in on meetings we have with our key staff when agonising over whether we can raise prices, and pass on some of the recent hikes in produce, wages and rent.
2. No shows — people who, usually on our busiest nights, can’t be bothered ringing to say that they are not coming. We have turned (often good customers away) and this really costs us.
3. Customers who assume that if there is an error in their bill, that it has been deliberate — virtually accusing us of stealing. There is no excuse for bills not being checked by every waitperson that served the table, but human beings do make mistakes. Politely point it out rather than get aggressive. Oh, and when we forget to put that second bottle of wine on the bill …….
4. Customers who try to put together every voucher/special offer/discount they can and then get very angry when this practice is not accepted. If we did in some cases they could eat a 3-course meal, nice bottle of wine and we would owe them money.
OK, that’s off my chest … now what drives you nuts about restaurants?
Marilyn May 23rd, 2006
Why do people bring factory made cakes to a good restaurant and then get indignant when they are charged ‘cakeage’? Would the same person take their own shampoo, conditioner and hair dryer to the hairdressers and demand a discount? Why must restaurants in Australia, that afterall earn their living from selling food and wine, accept this practice?
There are many customer quirks that it would be impolite (not to mention commercial suicide) for me to comment upon. Fortunately there is a waiter in the USA who holds no such scrulples so if you want to know what REALLY goes on behind the scenes, just go to www.waiterrant.net for some very funny episodes.
Some of my favourites are: Continue Reading »
Marilyn April 24th, 2006
An hilarious article by John Lethlean in The Age (weekend of 22 April) highlighted the lousy literacy and pretentious bullshit of many menus. Bizarre translations drew a big response from his readers. As well as phonetic spelling and the inexplicable Tourette-like random capitalisation mid-sentence’ — guilty as charged!
My favourites are: ‘shatto Brian’ and ‘bosom of chicken’ but the one that won the prize was ‘steak of the day with an accompanying jew’ (the sender was desperate to ask if it was orthodox). For more read the whole article, preferably out loud to some friends after a few drinks — Arise, Sir Loin of Beef
Do you have any examples, or things that bug you about restaurant menus?
Marilyn April 20th, 2006
Bars are popping up all over Brisbane and the cocktail is back (well for some of us it never went out of fashion!).
Luke Spurway is Baguette’s resident mixologist.
You can learn the fundamentals of cocktail making, and have fun with hands-on experience making three cocktails — which of course you drink.
Luke runs workshops every Saturday at 4pm. Cost $28 includes tuition and 3 cocktails — bookings essential so phone Brisbane (07)3268 6168.
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 … Continue Reading »
Marilyn March 16th, 2006
Warning!
As someone who has been doing it for 30 years, it has always puzzled me why perfectly normal, intelligent people harbour a dream to own their own restaurant.
Perhaps they think it will give them a life of fun and glamour, with lots of good food and booze thrown in. Hang off the bar entertaining friends, and never having to pick up the bill ..
Unfortunately life wasn’t meant to be that easy, and the reality is quite different. In recent years profit margins in restaurants have become smaller and smaller — the industry average is 3% and if you’re really firing and are a good business person to boot, you may make 8-10%. That’s before tax. Continue Reading »