At Baguette we welcome the Brisbane City Council’s initiative to introduce the Eat Safe system, which will rate restaurants, cafes, takeaways and bakeries’ food hygiene. 

 Council inspectors already regularly check businesses where food is prepared, but this new system will be more transparent because restaurants etc will be encouraged to display their rating to the public.

 I do, however, have some concerns about how the 5 star rating system will be understood by the general public.

 I would have thought that we are either ‘compliant’ with the health standards … or not.  And therefore it is either safe to eat food produced by an outlet … or it is not.

 If a rating of 3 stars (out of a possible 5 stars) is ‘compliant’ then what do we have to do to be awarded an exulted 5 stars?  This information is not available yet.  I am guessing that in the case of Baguette, which is in a 34 year old building, a crack in the ceiling or a chipped tile would preclude us from getting the top 5 star rating.  But how will the public view us if we are awarded 3 or 4 stars?  Will they judge that food produced by us may be a bit suspect because we did not get 5 stars?

 Shonky businesses need to be forced to upgrade their premises and health practices, or go out of business.  Nobody would argue with that premise.  The devil will be in the detail.

* Duck liver parfait on apple galette, date confit   * Soft boiled duck egg, tarragon brioche & white asparagus soldiers   * Duck consomme with asian flavours, artichoke tortollini   * Confit duck leg, crisp potato mille-feuille, veloute of wild mushrooms   * Pan roasted duck breast with giblet & fig pie, cinnamon sauce   * Pear & duck egg clafoutis with brown bread ice-cream

WINES

The food was team with some very interesting wines made in France by a group of Australian and French winemakers …  for the Australian market.  Fascinating idea and highly successful, if comments on the night are anything to go by.  The project put together by Fosters is called Maison de Grand Esprit (loosely “a meeting of the minds”).  Ask for them at your independent bottle shop — they go under La Belle Voisine, Les Petites Vignettes and Les Seize Galets labels.