Neil Perry opens new restaurant
It's the restaurant Sydney has been waiting for.
Neil Perry has opened his latest restaurant Eleven Bridge replacing his famous high end eatery Rockpool.
Those turning up last night were not disappointed although they were surprised by some of items on the menu.
An entree cost anything between $26 and $54 and the mains ranged from $42 to $59. For those willing to pay for something really special, there was the Chinese roasted pigeon at $72.
Eleven Bridge of course is now in place of Rockpool which closed last week. After 27 years, it was one of the longest established eateries in Australian restaurant history.
Perry expressed some emotion about Rockpool, as you would expect. But Eleven Bridge, he said, was part of Rockpool's evolution. As far as he’s concerned, Eleven Bridge is just another chapter in the Rockpool story.
"The place is so beautiful and we don't have any intention for it to be other than one of the bets restaurants in Australia,” Perry told the Daily Telegraph.
“We are turning the next page in the history of the restaurant and it’s a good opportunity for (head chef) Phil (Wood) to move forward doing what he does in the kitchen without me looking over his shoulder.”
He said diners are getting a new and different experience at Eleven Bridge. The new restaurant will see the reintroduction of food being prepared at the table, just like they did 20 years ago at Rockpool when it was new on the scene.
“We used to serve at the table quite a bit in the 90s and early 2000s,’’ Perry said. “It will be back to that level of engagement with service.”
Perry is taking the opening at his own pace, it’s nothing he’s not used to.
“I have opened so many places in my life,’’ he said. “We have an absolute crack team down there. They’re ready for it.”
by Leon Gettler, August 9th 2016
