Success to savour
Vibrant food culture in Melbourne reflects cultural diversity and dedication to simplicity and freshness.
We arrive at the House of Jack Rabbit on the Bellarine Peninsula after the normal lunch hour on a Wednesday but the tables at its café are almost fully occupied. From the outside, the panoramic view is unrivalled, taking in Port Phillip Bay to Geelong, the You Yangs and Melbourne.
Inside, families are treating their children to stunning seasonal menus, featuring an abundance of local produce including seafood, while the parents sample the cellar of sophisticated cool-climate wines and relax while enjoying the view through the glass wall.
“People walk in and automatically go ‘Wow … look at the view,’” co-owner and general manager Lyndsay Sharp says as she pours glass after glass of wine for a group of Asian journalists visiting Melbourne for the Food and Beverage Trade Week held last October.
Over dinners at Jack Rabbit, her guests from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and China sampled 10 different wines. The protocol is to take one or two sips of each to savour its character before spitting out the rest before the next sampling.
Bottles bearing the familiar logo of two long rabbit ears run the gamut of varieties including pinot grigio, rose, pinot noir, cabernet shiraz, sparking blanc de blancs, merlot and chardonnay. Named “Best People Place and Product Tourism Restaurant in Australia” in 2015 at the Australia Restaurant and Catering Association National Awards for Excellence, the House of Jack Rabbit comprises a small café, restaurant, and a vineyard.
“We do a lot of seafood, and it’s one of the best winemaking regions, so we are very proud of our wines and our food,” says Ms Sharp, also director of marketing, sales and hospitality with the Sharp Group.
The group, whose businesses also include a cider house, bought the Jack Rabbit property in 2010. Co-founded by her husband, David, the group today produces 20,000 cases of wines a year from a 120-acre vineyard, and a large volume of Flying Brick Cider from orchards in the region.
“It was a very old, run-down restaurant,” recalls Ms Sharp. “We took it down and rebuilt it. Called the House of Jack Rabbit, it was built on the footprint of the original houses.
“We always said, if anything comes up we will do everything we can and try our best. So when it came on the market in 2010, we jumped on it because it’s such a special place.
“So far, the business has been up to our expectations and beyond. I love it. I do. I’m very passionate about this region and Jack Rabbit in particular.”
People often compare the wines from the region to those of Bordeaux and Burgundy in France which are very similar, she says.
“Every wine here in this region is medium-bodied, so they’re not like wines from other parts of Australia which has a warmer climate. They are more elegant with a medium body.”
Australian wines, according to Ms Sharp, are becoming very popular in Asia.
“French wines are considered the top of the game and Australian wines now rank second. There are some right wines coming from Africa, particularly white. They are up there as well but not as good as Australia.”
In Australia, the younger generation has started to develop a genuine interest in learning about wine. “Food and wine matching has become standard at all levels of dining. It’s accessible to everyone and it’s one of the interests you will never stop learning,” she says. “With wines, there is no right or wrong answer. It’s just a lovely journey really.”
Some people believe food and wine matching is overrated, but Ms Sharp says people are genuinely interested in learning more.
“In the restaurant as well, we will recommended what should be the selected wines or appropriate options with every dish,” she says. “People come to taste the wines. I will have a glass of this and a bottle of that so it provides education and enjoyment, and that’s what people love about tasting. Every wine has a story.”
Apart from wines, Melbourne is well known for its food culture, which has been influenced by people moving from all over the world to settle in the capital of Victoria state. Among them is celebrity chef Guy Grossi, whose parents moved from Milan, Italy, to Australia in 1960.
Melbourne owes its rich culture to an influx from many countries including Italy, Austria, Germany, Spain, China, Vietnam and Thailand.
“If you walk on the streets of Melbourne and even the suburbs, you will find influences from different cultures,” says Mr Grossi. “For example, Chinatown has very good Chinese restaurants. We also have good Italian, great Greek restaurants and fantastic Spanish ones.
“But the best thing is the harmony in our city, with many cultures living together that makes it a very special place. That’s not the case all over the world.
“We are very lucky because we have amazing farmers who grow beautiful produce. I consider Victoria the best backyard of Australia. We have a fantastic veal industry, an amazing meat and livestock industry. We have farmers that not only grow amazing produce but are very caring and nurturing with good soil.
“Around Victoria the surroundings are very clean and beautiful. That makes it very attractive not only for people in other countries but also for chefs.”
The local market, meanwhile, is a rich source of ingredients that allow home cooks and professional chefs alike to create meals with authentic tastes.
“So we can make a real Vietnamese meal, not something like pretend Vietnamese food that is adjusted to local market availability,” Mr Grossi notes.
Restaurants in Melbourne, meanwhile, offer a wide range of casual, relaxed or luxury experiences.
“If you’re looking for something very casual and relaxed, or a luxurious experience, you will find it in Melbourne,” he says. “We have many choices in different styles, while in some cities you have very luxurious restaurants but very bad casualstyle offerings.”
Mr Grossi is excited by the cooking movement that has emerged in Melbourne.
“Not only in the family home, but also it’s evident among chefs cooking things simply and letting the produce speak for itself. That’s the right movement today. Luckily, we have the right environment — good weather, good soil, a good local economy — that creates good food.”
As well, Mr Grossi says local restaurants are more confident in the products they are offering.
“There is a very good push toward ‘produce first, style second’, so the most important thing is produce, making sure you source properly, grow things well, and then acquire the knowledge of the chef after that,” he says.
“I think this is very exciting. People have the confidence to do that, not to trick something up just to make something special. It can be special even it’s very simple.”
Young talent, he says, will be the key to keeping Melbourne’s food culture alive.
“There are many young people who work with me and inspire me because they are passionate about what they do,” says Mr Grossi.
“We have not only big chefs, but also people in family homes that actually take fresh produce and cook for their family. They inspire me more than anybody else. They are proud of what they do, because they cook with love and for people they love. They keep our food culture alive.
“This is very important. It keeps the traditions alive and well. We have to pass this on to our young people so they can continually keep that going.”
“With wines, there is no right or wrong answer. It’s just a lovely journey really” LYNDSAY SHARP Co-founder, Jack Rabbit