Chef's Special: A View, Served Rare With Drizzle Of First-night Nerves
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday November 21, 2001
Guillaume Brahimi believes he has finally discovered the recipe for transforming Bennelong the Bermuda Triangle of Sydney restaurants into an unqualified success. He's going to be serving warmed-up ribs.
Not that they're actually listed on the menu. The ``ribs" in question are the giant moulded interior concrete supports that prop up the twin shells of the Sydney Opera House site.
Chefs who have failed to stay long at Bennelong include Gay Bilson, Janni Kyritsis and Michael Moore. Now it's Brahimi's turn. To succeed, that is.
Brahimi, whose eponymous restaurant, Guillaume at Bennelong, opened to a full house last night, claims an expert has fixed the excessive daytime heat generated by the restaurant's expansive glazing. And he says a lighting consultant has been hired to create effects that will ``warm up" the space.
``I don't think the space was warm enough at night before," Brahimi says. ``The lighting of the ribs wasn't right. They were too dark. We've now made the ribs a feature of the room. Everybody here at the Opera House wants to make this place work, from the executives right down to the electricians and plumbers."
The opening marked Guillaume at Bennelong as the latest entrant in the restaurant boom at Circular Quay, which has emerged as one of the country's most dynamic dining zones.
From his new kitchen, Brahimi can glimpse his famed alma mater, Quay, where he cemented his reputation as a top-flight chef. Soon, he will be able to keep his eyes on rivals on the other side of Circular Quay, with four new restaurants due to open from next month in the Overseas Passenger Terminal after a $22million refurbishment.
The four new establishments include Wildfire Bar and Grill, Yuki's at the Quay and C.inc, a licensed hotel. They will join Doyles and Quay at the northern end of the building.
Soon to open back at East Circular Quay will be the new Opera Bar at the site of the former Concourse Cafe and Bar.
But not every chef finds the area the Quay to success. The Museum of Contemporary Art is looking for a new operator for its MCA Cafe following chef Neil Perry's withdrawal from the site.
© 2001 Sydney Morning Herald