Cafe Vue 401
| Where | 401 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, 3000—View map |
Contact | 03 9866 8055 |
Website | www.cafevue.com.au |
Open | Breakfast Monday to Friday 7:00am to 12:00pm, Saturday and Sunday 8:00am to 3:00pm |
Payment | EFTPOS, Visa, Mastercard, Diners, AMEX, Cash |
Diet | Soy |
Seating | Inside and outside |
Kids | Welcome |
Pets | Welcome |
Bennett's brilliance just got leafy
Ellie Parker 27 November 2009
If you've ever wanted to climb under a queen's corset, now's your chance. Word on the street is that architects Elenberg Fraser had Marie Antoinette's smalls in mind when they fitted out Cafe Vue 401 for around $1.5 million. The cafe's focal "corset" dining area is one of many examples where folly has collided with cash and come up trumps. It's all quite marvelous. Ridiculous but marvelous. The toilet itself will make you laugh out loud.
The opening of 401 has been swift and silky (alcohol licensing issues notwithstanding). 401 is Shannon Bennett's most recent reminder that yes, he can. Quite simply, the man is not shy at being the genius. From the water glasses to the rotisserie, Bennett is all finesse. And when you have three-hated pedigree loitering in the scullery, quietly overseeing proceedings, its not surprising that even the bloody toast is going to wow. Add to this the kid-genius sommelier Raul Moreno Yague, who Bennett has drafted from Vue de Monde to assist with brunch tipples (and beyond), and you have one very sophisticated leafy locale.
Exciting morsels immediately jump out at you from the menu. Steak and eggs. Duck cassoulet jaffle. Croque-monsieur with Kurobuta ham. Moet & Chandon (2000) ‘Grand Vintage' Epernay Champagne by the glass. I mean, seriously, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I saw the grand vintage was on offer. It is just one of those menu items that makes you go cross-eyed with delirium. And then you see that the hollandaise, bois boudran (posh ketchup) and mustard are complimentary. And then you get really excited because no matter how sophisticated you think you are, free stuff is always fun.
Lets go back to the steak and eggs though. Quite possibly one of the cleverest breakfast thoughts ever had. There's something very no nonsense about a slab of meat and a couple of cooked googs. But then when you take a bite into this here piece o' meat, your mouth sings. The scrambled eggs taste of steak juices, all salty and meaty. The effect does what MSG only dreams of doing to your taste buds. The steak is a polite little minute, cooked to perfection. Together they go great guns. I had copious dollops of bois boudran because (a) it was free ergo I got a bit giddy and (b) it was truly delicious.
The Spanish eggs dish is the perfect example of what happens when serious chefs are allowed to touch breakfast.Cooked en cocotte with tomato fondue and a capsicum puree, they are a little intimidating in their perfection. The hidden molten lavas of tomato and capsicum underneath are also quite exciting as you're not sure which mouthful is getting which flavour.
The corn fritters with avocado and tomato on the other hand are a different sort of highlight. The fritters have more to do with Indian pakoras than the usual pikelet-style stack and there is barely any ‘inside' to them as the corn kernels are held together with a barely-there fritter batter. The avocado comes as a lurid green whip whilst the two upturned cheeks of tomato are like giant, glossy red lobes. Yes, some of you might roll your eyes at the theatre happening on the plate in front of you, but it's delicious so shut up and enjoy.
After all of this, I left with a take away duck jaffle, which was a first, even for me. My notebook tells me I'm going back for the 62° eggs with black sausage and as many macaroons as I can stuff into my chipmunk cheeks. And perhaps that $26 glass of Moet.
Don't forget to go to the toilet before you leave.