I was fortunate over this past weekend to enjoy some serious eating in Melbourne (Australia). On Saturday I had dinner at Loam on the Bellarine Peninsula and on Sunday I ate at Pearl in the Richmond neighborhood in Melbourne. I will eventually post a detailed description of my actual meals, but I was struck by the different experience I had at each restaurant and was inspired to comment. I should say I am traveling on business and ate alone. I know eating alone changes my perception of my dining experience, and may influence how I am treated by the restaurant.
Both restaurants have won multiple awards and served wonderful food. They are also quite different and some people may say it does not make sense to compare them. However, the area I found them to be most different was their style of service, and I think the difference in approach is relevant to every restaurant.
I am a very engaged food lover, and I was eating alone and really focused on my meal.
While the food at both restaurants was good, the level of attention and focus from the staff at Loam – and their sheer enthusiasm - was extraordinary and created a uniquely memorable experience.
Loam is a relatively new restaurant located off a dirt road in the interior part of the Bellarine Peninsula, a hundred kilometers from Central Melbourne. No one will ever end up there by accident unless they are really, really lost. Loam is a foodie restaurant, intensely focused on the provenance of ingredients. Every item served by the restaurant has a story and people behind it, people who are known to the Loam employees. This is not to say Loam is rustic. It was purpose built to be a fine restaurant, and the dining room is gorgeous. Chef Aaron Turner worked at Noma in Copenhagen and he draws on their hyper local approach. Loam uses the latest technology in the kitchen – sous vide for slow cooking and vacuum dehydration to create intense food powders, among other advanced techniques. While Loam serves a lot of local Bellarine and Geelong food, they are not isolated from global brands (they make their cocktails with trendy Hendricks gin).
Pearl in contrast is in the Richmond neighborhood in Melbourne, near the central business district. It is close to residential neighborhoods but would not likely be a place someone would happen upon by chance. However, it is in central Melbourne and does not require a big investment in time to visit. Like Loam it has received great reviews and media attention. Pearl is older than Loam, having been around for ten years, but it is still vibrant.
Both restaurants aspire to excellence, and they are both expensive. For one diner (me) Loam was $134.50 and Pearl was $174.20 including an after dinner cocktail.
At Loam I had the seven-course tasting menu, with wine for most courses suggested by my server (mostly half glasses).
At Pearl I ordered an appetizer, salad and main course off the menu, and wine off the menu.
At both restaurants, the kitchen execution was superb. Food was exquisitely presented, cooked perfectly and made from prime ingredients. Great care was obviously taken in the kitchen.
So what was different?
In a word, the 'front of house' was very different. This is restaurant speak for the host, maitre d’, wait staff, etc, i.e., the people the customer sees and talks with during their meal.
The front of house at Pearl was good by typical restaurant standards. They smiled, greeted me by name and were attentive. But the people I interacted with did not give the impression of passion about the food, or about me as a customer.
Service was professional but perfunctory.
The wine menu was presented (on an iPad!) but no suggestions were offered on what might go with my food order.
I asked my waiter about the ingredients in the tamarind granita served with my oysters.
It was awesome, unusual and something I would love to eat again.
But the waiter had to go to the kitchen for an answer; he was not prepared with this information himself. After dinner I moved to the bar for a drink and to write. I asked about cognac and the host set three bottles on the bar without any description or explanation of the styles or differences. (I later switched to a Manhattan, and the bartender came through with a lot of passion about the ingredients as well as perfect execution.)
I never felt my servers were trying to create a special dining experience for me.
The hostess and my waiter at Loam were different. They were extremely well informed about the food and knew what they were serving, where it came from and why it was special.
They took plenty of time to share this information, never rushing to get to another table. My interest in the food seemed to motivate them to explain in more detail what was being served and to suggest different alternatives in the food and wine. Not only did my server offer wine suggestions when I asked, he encouraged me to try specific wines when he thought they were the right complement to my food and even brought samples of these.
My dinner at Pearl lasted about two hours and my dinner at Loam about twice that. Obviously the number of courses was a big factor, but the time my server took at Loam to explain each dish, its ingredients and preparation were also a big factor. I had lots of questions about the food and I always felt they were welcomed and answered carefully.
Throughout all of this, I felt like my server and the hostess really loved what they were doing, and their enthusiasm for the food and for me as a customer contributed immeasurably to my positive experience.
At Loam I felt like I was treated as a valued participant in a wonderful food experience.
I was welcomed to engage deeply with the restaurant staff in the enjoyment of the food, almost like eating a meal prepared by close friends who were proud of the meal they were sharing. At Pearl I was a member of the audience, treated to wonderful food, but not encouraged to engage with the staff about the food in a way that would educate me or make me a more informed consumer of the food and wine.
My different experience at these two excellent restaurants reinforced for me how much the knowledge and enthusiasm of the staff, and their interest in engaging with their patrons, enhance fine dining.
Not every restaurant customer wants to be 'engaged' - but many do. I would visit either restaurant again if I was in its neighborhood, but I would drive the 100km to get to Loam's neighborhood.
(Not to mention that Loam was a bargain for the experience it provided.)