Approved By Matt

Without meaning to, I planned dinner at Society with FH and SY the day Epicure celebrated the 50^th birthday of the Age Good Food Guide and labelled this place as one of the Guide’s 10 Survivors. I had simply always wanted to eat at this wooden panelled, elegant place on Bourke Street which is now one of the DiMattina restaurant family.

While enjoying a pear martini and waiting for the girls to arrive, I browsed through Epicure. Most of the people I know tend to read Epicure on an almost religious basis, with Espresso being the most popular section within it by far. For my part, I tend to check out Matt Preston’s “Unexplored Territory” as that page is organised to recommend food and drink within the budgetary reach of a normal working person. It also helps that I do like his columns as much as I like those by Jeremy Clarkson, A.A. Gill and Sarah Wilson (the hostess of the first Masterchef Australia series whose candour and intelligence shines in her writing)

Imagine therefore my surprise and delight when, for this issue, I saw my own face in the photograph used for his recommendation. As most will know by now, the Foodie Team is an avid supporter of Dancing Goat as the Victorian State Barista champion-owner does such a marvellous job making Veneziano blends and single origin beans stand out in their fragrant, bittersweet glory.

But I digress. There I was in colour print on broadsheet, complete with my aquamarine bucket hat. The photographer (I remembered him as a bald man with two huge cameras) sensibly left out my right hand clutching onto a perfectly made Tanzanian short macchiato as my left hand was protecting a house blend latte. The photographer also left out JC who was sitting right opposite me and wondering what the photographer was doing.

The photograph also made me look like I had found the place first out of the Foodie Team, when FH was really the one who had found the place (in my defence, we were looking for the place during the same time period and I lucked out because the address does not match the physical location). FH was understandably irritated but soon shrugged it off in favour of enjoying her first proper meal of the day.

The rest of the meal is a blur to me as SY, FH and I chatted about the Good Food Guide’s latest winners and losers, work, the search for a good investment, house management affairs and the like. I do recall SY pausing over her mushroom main which she found most pleasing, and my wondering whether I could actually eat in one gulp the pasta marinara dish. Never judge a dish by its size, I was reminded later. Pity about the time the chef took to preparing our dinner, and the just ever-so-high prices for the main courses.

The dessert platter was hardly enough for three ladies but still presented a pleasant closing note to the meal. I commiserated with the waiter who had had to work at Bourke Street due to the gutting fire at il Gambero, another DiMattina establishment which served decent oyster mornay and was popular with the traditional Italian three-course (antipasti, pasta, il secondi) crowd. Served a decent coffee, I was in such a good mood from being in Matt’s column that little could have fazed me that night to be honest ;)

Food – 3 out of 5 stars, considering the price you pay
Service – 4 out of 5
Atmosphere – 4 out of 5; good but non-intrusive jazz, proper lighting, decent space between tables. I would go back for a drink and little bite there anyday.
Coffee – DiMattina’s, always a good medium-strong roast. 3.5 out of 5.