EAT > Atria, Melbourne (15/20)

I am going to admit it. I have this built in bias about restaurants that sit on the top of towers featuring ‘an amazing view’. I this comes from visiting a number of revolving restaurants around the Australia – such as ‘The Summit’, now ‘O Dining’ (at the top of Australia Square, Sydney), ‘The Point’ (Wrest Point Casino, Hobart) and ‘C Restaurant in the Sky’ (Perth). And again and again what was promised to be fine dining turned out to be ordinary food quality and poor service catering to tourists promised a perfect vista.

But when Vue De Monde opened at the top of the Rialto Tower (level 55) in 2011 and replaced what was formerly an observation deck (not rotating but definitely a tourist beacon), I was wowed by the food, the service and then by the views (note Vue De Monde has just reopened after a major renovation so we hope to review that again soon).

But when I returned the second, third and fourth time to Vue De Monde it didn’t ever quite live up to that first experience. My problem was this was such a fancy destination restaurant and the first visit was so amazing that every subsequent visit felt a little hollow. Once that I had seen the theatre and magic in food presentation I found myself becoming overly critical of the quality of food and service. And that is not to say they did anything wrong.

This asks the question what makes a restaurant a place you want to come back to again and again? If you were a judge for the Good Food Guide, what would get your vote and why? If you are like my father this means a good restaurant should have proper linen, excellent service, quality bread and butter. Like my father I have similar expectations but I am probably even more fussy about glassware and the wine list which doesn’t need to be huge, but it needs to have quality in the grape varietals represented at a range of price points. I also think at least in Australia you can supply quality filtered water with or without bubbles without a charge per bottle.

Ultimately my personal preference is a restaurant where I feel immensely comfortable, where the staff have a level of familiarity, knowledge and hospitality professionalism that they really make you feel at home, the food is excellent, the wine list familiar but interesting, importantly there is good glassware and finally that it is really comfortable. Views and people watching are nice but entirely optional.

So on that basis, it does make me sceptical when a new restaurant opens and it sits on the 80th floor of an international hotel chain, but after a very positive recommendation we decided it was going to be the perfect place for a Thursday night catch up with a friend that my wife and I had not seen in a little while.

Atria Restaurant

Atria Restaurant is on the 80th floor of the new Ritz Carlton Hotel, located at the less fashionable end of Collins Street.  (for those less familiar with Melbourne, the top of Collins Street is often referred to as the ‘Paris End’ but at the bottom end of the city is sometimes referred to as the ‘Gutter End’). The tower is on the corner of Collins and Spencer Streets opposite the architectural marvel but grotty regional ‘Great Southern’ train station, this area has lots of promise but it remains dirty and squalid.

Hotel restaurants in Australia are rarely great (exceptions like the Bentley Restaurant which is located in the same building as Radisson Blu and operated entirely independent of the hotel), combine hotel restaurant with an iconic view and I was suspicious that this could be a disappointment.

When you arrive at the 80th floor (yes 80th saying it again for effect) you realise the massive level of  investment that has gone into making this restaurant feel special from the very first moment you arrive, yes it is clearly a hotel restaurant but one where immediately you feel very comfortable and the views are amazing.   

You can’t just buzz yourself up to the 80th floor, you need one of the Ritz Carlton staff to swipe you up in the express lift and in about 90 seconds you arrive into a space of massive ceilings, gold guilt walls and the 360° floor to ceiling views of Melbourne from the Dandenong’s in the East, Albert Park and Port Phillip Bay in the South to Mount Macedon in the North and the You Yangs to the West. 

Atmosphere

A drink before dinner is the perfect opportunity to enjoy the view and sunset is a great time to visit either the Ritz Carlton Lounge Bar or Cameo Bar both of which offer an excellent range of drinks with some nice wines by the glass and comfortable seats that are perfectly positioned to maximise watching the views and the bar snacks are extremely moorish.

Atria Restaurant is fancy, there is a maitre d to seat you and to introduce your wait staff, a dedicated sommelier and plenty of staff to ensure you should not have to wait long for service.   

Under the guidance of Mark Best (of the former famed Sydney restaurant Marque which closed in 2017) and executive chef Michael Greenlaw (who worked at Bibendum in London, Gilt in New York and Vue de Monde), Atria has the potential to be something special.

The dining room takes up two of the aspects facing North and West and there is a long bar table that allows diners to sit and face out along the western glass.   Other tables are generous with plenty of space between them, no one is going to be sitting on top of you here to listen to your conversation.  The chairs are very comfortable and just the kind of place you settle in while enjoying the second or third bottle of wine.

Speaking of the wine list it is substantial though while there were a few reasonable value wines and some stratospherically expensive wines on the list, there were few in the middle.  It felt like the middle had been dictated by the stock that the wine distributors had rather than being the basis of a great cellar (perhaps it will just take time).

The food much like the wine ranges from quite reasonable to outlandish, here you can enjoy starters including the iconic ‘cigar’ made with Jerusalem artichokes, apple, olive and parmesan cream ($12) a wagu bresaola and horse radish tart ($14 each), entrees include a Victorian crudo of fresh local seafood ($36), Darwin mud crab served with coral custard, finger lime, makrut leaf and a brown butter sabayon ($54), there is also a roasted pork jowl with poached quince, mustard and purple quail ($31) and Flinders Island wallaby broth with braised saltbush and fragrant herbs ($28). Mains ranged from a vegetarian option Stinging nettle Ditali rigati with cultured koji cream and wasabi ($44), Dry Aged Murray Cod with roasted cos heart nasturtium pil pil and preserved kumquat ($54), Dry Aged Macedon Ranges Duck with cara cara jus persimmon and dandelion ($56) or you can have a steak ranging from $89 – $190 (for an 800g Rib Eye).

The food was good with a strong on Australian ingredients. The flavours while not wildly creative were tasty and beautifully plated. The service however really lacked experience, it felt like we had lots of graduates from the XYZ hospitality school all out on work experience, they were all very sweet and very keen but lacked the experience of a fine dining hospitality professional.   Similarly a conversation with the sommelier left me convinced that he was only passingly familiar with some of the wines.  These are not huge criticisms but they do make you question the polish of a great venue.

Restaurants that truely connect with their diners do so by establishing a connection and delivering an experience.  How that experience works is part of the hospitality magic, the privacy of a business lunch, the theatre and magic of fine degustation, the comfort, connection and warm familiarity of a local bistrot. 

Attria is clearly working towards being a world class dining destination and they have many of the attributes for success, in time I hope they become a dining destination because it really does have potential.