‘The power of Michelin’: Bookings triple at SA restaurants
Australia’s first Michelin-recognised restaurants are being inundated with keen diners, with one of the state’s newest restaurants clocking 500 extra bookings in days.
Adelaide MasterChef star Callum Hann’s newest venue, Pantry on Prospect, was only open six months before winning a coveted Michelin Guide mention earlier this month.
In “just a few days”, the 70-seat restaurant received “well over 500 extra bookings”, according to Hann’s business partner and managing director Themis Chryssidis.
“Guests are booking for tonight and for months ahead, which shows the power of Michelin,” Chryssidis said.
Chryssidis and Hann’s Sprout Food Group own and operate Sprout Cooking School and two other venues: Roma on Waymouth Street and Olive on Pirie Street.
But only Pantry on Prospect, which opened in April, received a Michelin nod in the Bib Gourmand category at the glamorous October 14 event at the Adelaide Convention Centre – named for the famed Michelin Man.
The Bib Gourmand award recognised quality food at affordable price points for 16 SA restaurants.
While it is heavily speculated that Michelin-recognised venues would raise prices after the awards, those listed under the Bib Gourmand would run the risk of losing their coveted spot next year by pricing themselves out of the category.
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Chryssidis said since opening “we haven’t changed a thing, and we won’t” about the way the restaurant is run, but said long-planned venue improvements and seasonal menu adjustments were in the works.
Asked whether demand had extended to recruitment, Chryssidis said it had not, but he believed the Michelin effect would change chefs’ attitudes.
“I can’t say we’ve had many more job applications; however, it does feel like the merry-go-round is starting again as ambitious chefs chase specific venues or job titles rather than systematic training and education that will better them for the future,” he said.
Other Bib Gourmand recognised venues, Africola in the CBD, Parwana on Henley Beach Road and La Popular Taqueria in Port Adelaide all reported booking surges.
The bump expected to be quarantined by the state government signing a deal with Michelin blocking other Australian states from getting a piece of the Michelin action through a 12 month exclusivity clause.
La Popular Taqueria chef and owner Daniella Guevara Muñoz said she was thrilled to see bookings “up over 50 per cent compared to the same time last year” after the Michelin recognition.
Meanwhile, venues that have received Michelin stars are needing to waitlist customers and ramp up recruitment to keep up with demand.
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Arkhé – run by InDaily 40 Under 40 alumnus Jake Kellie – reported bookings have “so far tripled” since the venue received one star, while Light Square’s Aurora are “close to booking out with a waitlist”.
Clare Valley’s Skillogalee Estate – run by head chef Dan Moss and British-born Executive Chef Ryan Clift, who trained under Marco Pierre White – reported an increase in bookings all round and has begun a hiring spree.
Skillogalee announced it was hiring chefs, apprentice chefs, waitstaff and bar staff since receiving their Michelin Star.
The Clare Valley restaurant’s adjoining cellar door is one of 22 regional restaurants to make the Micheline list, with 13 of them tied to the state’s top wineries, including Anvers in Kangarilla, Hentley Farm in the Barossa, Maxwell Restaurant in McLaren Vale and LVN at Bird in Hand in the Adelaide Hills.
Anvers Restaurant is also hiring front-of-house and kitchen staff post-Michelin, reporting their website traffic was “up 4000 per cent”, and the restaurant’s and chef Connor Bishop’s social media being inundated with “hundreds of direct messages and emails including from renowned international chefs congratulating them”.
These venues have also reported increased wine sales and visitation to their cellar doors, according to Tourism Minister Emily Bourke.
Bourke called the response “phenomenal” and anticipated international visitor bookings would increase as well over the summer.
“The increase in business extends beyond the individual restaurants, to their food and wine suppliers and for those connected to wineries, to their cellar doors,” Bourke said.
“We have even heard of an increase in bookings at restaurants in the vicinity of those featured in the MICHELIN Guide, as it’s bringing people out and inspiring them to explore or revisit places.”
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