Grant has been in the business for over 3 decades now so The Melbourne diner is going to bring out the best in you yet.
During his time as the big ad at dining destinations such as the Bellagio and the Wynn Hotels in the magnate city of Las Vegas, he hasn’t felt the accessible rumbling in his tummy quite like his home project, The Merrywell.
And we find out how over a quick chat about all things Merrywell and his twist for diners…
How do you manage your time between your restaurants in Melbourne and Perth and catering for news around the world? That is a great question, it is all about planning and making sure to do the months in advance so I try to make sure all my hours in both are as accessible as possible, that way I can give the greatest service to diners that come through the door.
What are your future ventures ahead adding to the Aussie chain?
I’ve made this steak in the US and it was a ‘Caveman Steak’ to me. The New York steak was about 20 oz from a supplier in Melbourne. By the time I was around The Farm in Gippsland it weighed about 12 kilo, 35 per day steak that I call ‘Caveman Steak’. So we used that method to do it in The Merrywell menu. We used to call it the ‘Caveman Steak’ that serves 2 people, we thought it was cool.
The Melbourne diner is known to be quite honest, yet loyal when we find a good thing – how have you found the Melbourne diner so far?
Melbournians are often open to trying new forms, but I believe consistency is the key so whenever we dine out – more and more diners are choosing to frequent their local neighborhood diner. And that’s what I keep working on.
Your cookbook ‘Word of Mouth’ translates to ‘Moutli’ in cooking share around? What a concept. So how did you come up with the concept? We included the journey in where we crumbled black truffle in Melbourne, the parma in the diner? We also had the pyro in Crème Brule format that is also in the book. I included 70 or so recipes, from my travels. The second cookbook was also by old Crocker, and I put things like my burger in the book. The original book was ‘the dogs are fried’, so I wanted to revisit it in the second book. I’m very talented in fries.
Chicken and Waffles is a classic example of an American dish that has been reworked to the Aussie style. I look at it in the sense that the culture has not been received by the region. So I put it on the menu just to see how it might stand up for a new diner to try a friend. The dish has become successful in demand for diners so far, we’ve got the order…
