St Katherine's, Kew, Victoria

 St Kat's, and its food, below... for you, Deb C

 Puffed and BBQ'd corn salad, smoked almond dressing, herbs, shaved red onion

 Ground lamb pide, tomato, garlic, parsley, Aleppo pepper, lemon

 Leaves, hazelnuts,dehydrated shankleesh, sunflower seeds, pomegranate
Lamb and chicken off the rotisserie
Grilled salmon
Rice pilaf, dill, apricot, toasted pumpkin seeds
Leftover (from first course) Mahammura - roasted sweet pepper dip, walnuts, pomegranate molasses

Dessert - samples of: walnut cake, figs, yoghurt jelly, lemon sorbet, fruit jellies; (not pictured): choc chip mousse and jam doughnuts, whiskey jelly

Yes, you’re correct – it has been exceedingly quiet here at Rita’s Bite lately. There is a very valid reason for this. Not an excuse, but a reason. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you will know that I have been plagued with heart problems for the past 18 months. The upshot of all that was an operation in Melbourne two weeks ago to try and rectify a root cause of my problems. I won’t know for a few months if it was successful, but at least it provided me with a valid reason for being in Melbourne and eating a few great meals before my operation.

The first meal was a most delicious Yum Cha lunch in China Town. There were four of us, and we didn’t stint on anything. Everything that came past our table on a trolley was taken x 2 – ie we had two of everything – and guess what the grand total for the whole meal was, for the four of us? $85. One of our party was a big country lad, used to chowing down on a dinner plate-sized steak and chips for entrée! Talk about value for money!

But the piece de resistance was dinner at St Katherine's (aka St Kat’s) in Kew. Let me first set the scene…the only available meal space I had, prior to hospital admission, was the Sunday night. It was Easter Sunday. I found that most of my wish-list restaurants were either closed that particular day, closed on Sundays generally, or you couldn’t book – ie you had to queue up outside for a table which definitely wasn’t going to work with my general health issues! That narrowed the field of choice down considerably. Let me say upfront that I’m no fan of George Calombaris of Master Chef fame, so the fact that St Kat’s was one of his stable of restaurants didn’t sway me either way, but I liked the sound of the online menu, plus you could book online too, so that was locked in well and truly before I flew to Melbourne.

We cabbed from our hotel in Lygon Street to the restaurant, and were set down at an inauspicious-looking restaurant. We entered, and were immediately shown to our table which was next to a window onto the street. The atmosphere was calm, friendly, controlled and prompt. We waited for nothing all night, as did every other table in the place. It was the best example of a well-oiled machine that I have ever observed in all my years of restaurant life, whether it was working in one, owning one or eating at one.

The floor staff were friendly without being over-simpering. They were thoroughly versed in all aspects of every menu item, without giving you that withering “don’t you know anything about food, you dickhead” look when you enquired about something. We didn’t need to wait for a drink, or for the bread to be supplemented by another serving. (For general Tasmanian service the waitperson’s thoughts would go like this: Yes, that IS a half eaten plate of dip sitting in the middle of the table with no one eating it. Will I clear it back? Oh, there is no bread left to eat it with, you say? – what a brilliant idea to ask the customer if they maybe might like another serving of bread!!) There were around 10 floor staff on duty, with the equivalent in the kitchen.

The kitchen prep must have been enormous, because, as I mentioned above, no customer waited for anything all night. The food was bought out to your table when it was obvious you either wanted or needed it. When we slowed down appreciably round the end of mains, one of our waitresses suggested we take a stroll up the street, have a window shop and return to finish it up, then move on to our already-ordered desserts! So it was obvious they weren’t feeding us quickly and kicking us out so they could re-sell the table.

Our choice in venues was validated when well-known chef Guy Grossi sat down at the table next to us and proceeded to enjoy similar service and food.

What we ate was immaterial, but we selected one of their Ottoman-style sharing menus called “When Mum feeds me” at $58 per person. It entailed the chefs sending out whatever they decided constituted the best in their kitchen that night, including desserts. It was simply sensational.

We absolutely loved it, and had I been allowed out of hospital the day before I flew back to Hobart, we had intended returning there for more of the same. Unfortunately I got discharged from hospital directly into a taxi en route to the airport, and that burst that little bubble – but I can say I will definitely be returning there as soon as I can save up the required money for a weekend away.

To make it even more impressive, I received a follow-up email the next week from St Kat’s asking if I had any feedback or suggestions. What a fabulous marketing tool! I can’t think of too many Tassie restaurants who’d dare do that, even if they could find the time to follow up with customers who’d dined there recently.

So – if you’re planning a trip to Melbourne, and would like a suggestion of somewhere to eat – try St Katherine’s. I defy anyone to find fault with it!