With an increasing list some of Australia’s best known fine dining restaurants closing , are we seeing the end of an era and the end of fine dining?
Melbourne’s Woodland House, Sydney’s Sepia and Brisbane’s Aria have closed their doors. Woodland House was bought out from Jacques Reymond in 014, but the owners said it wasn’t financially viable for them to keep running. Matt Moran’s Aria Brisbane has decided to go out on top, with the end of their lease a good time to say goodbye.
These are some of Australia’s biggest names in fine dining, and they’re facing challenges to keep going. Is fine dining a thing of the past?
It seems as though the dining experience is evolving. While Michelin starred restaurants around the world were always considered the peak in fine dining, now we have Michelin starred food trucks. Obviously the food standard is the same, but the experience is different. And if the world’s biggest name in fine dining is hitting up street food, why wouldn’t diners?
What that means though, is that many traditional fine dining restaurants cannot compete when it comes to price. They have rent, wages, and other overheads to cover. With a push to work standard hours as well, it’s becoming harder and harder for premium venues to stay afloat. A boutique experience comes at a boutique price. That isn’t a bad thing, but the demand for it is not as high as it used to be.
There’s still a place for fine food, it’s the new experience that people want. This isn’t necessarily bad thing. Evolution and innovation is what keeps industries alive, and is something that Australia is particularly good at. There’s room for our favourite chefs to thrive, it just might not be in the same way.
So yes, perhaps it is the end of an era, but maybe it’s the start of something equally amazing.