Business Traveller (Asia-Pacific)
PERTHIAN PALATE
You don’t have to head far for tasty treats in Perth. In fact, thanks to the one-time in-pouring of mining money, the city has an extraordinary number of fine dining and creative restaurants and bars.
Fraser’s Restaurant (frasersrestaurant.com.au) in Kings Park is a local fine dining favourite with an alfresco terrace beside the majestic gum trees. Chris Taylor’s six-course degustation menu is a journey through local produce that can be paired with wines from the 500-plus label cellar. Also spectacular is the 1800s Lamont’s Bishops House (lamonts.com.au) withh a veranda and à la carte French, tapas or fine dining Tuesday to Fridays, private dining upstairs and space specifically reserved for functions at weekends.
For the district’s best cocktails head to Mechanic’s Institute Bar (mechanicsinstitutebar.com.au), while the Shadow Wine Bar (shadowwinebar.com.au) serves up spectacular food, wine and brunches. Quirky Asian fare reigns supreme at Lucky Chan’s Laundry + Noodle Bar (luckychans.com.au) and innovative, bordering on crazy, flavours of ice cream can be found at Chicho Gelato (www.chichogelato.com). Fuyu by David Coomer, Co-Op Dining by Kieran Mainwaring and Must Eat b by WA Chef Russell Blaikie are also firm favourites in the city, ideal for a client meeting or team celebration.
Fine dining, varied entertainment and a growing hospitality scene – Perth is establishing itself as an ideal place to mix business and leisure.“People from elsewhere in Australia and around the world come to live here for the lifestyle,” says Brown at Como, nailing what Perth’s priorities are all about these days.“We have a good work-play balance, life is very outdoorsy and we get 3,000 hours of sunshine a year.”