Rockpool Sydney December News
As we roll into December, we contemplate the year that has been and the next approaching. In 2009, Rockpool turns 20! To say that Trish, my business partner and I are proud is an understatement. Running a restaurant takes a lot of time, money, focus – and you roll up just short of selling your soul to the devil at times. The slog is a hard one – but a great one. I wouldn’t be doing anything else. This restaurant has been my life and had there been 1 single fly sitting on the wall all these years – the stories it would have to tell…so 20 years – there is bound to be a party or 2. We’ll keep you posted.
In other news from the mothership…we will be reverting to opening for dinners only from December 24th, Tuesday to Saturday. The decision to close for lunches is driven by a desire to house 1 restaurant team only – the same crew working together every shift. There will be a stronger than ever focus on exceptional fine dining service and the wonderful food we are known for. Consistency is the key here and we are of the belief in this case that less is certainly more.
To assist in the transition, I am delighted to announce that Damian Moylan will be joining us as our new restaurant manager. Damian has been working at Rockpool Bar & Grill in Melbourne for the last couple of years and his experience is extensive having worked at Tetsuyas, The Botanical and Taxi Dining Room.
Tom Sykes, our current wonderful manager, is heading up the hill to the new Rockpool Bar & Grill at 66 Hunter Street in Sydney to join the senior management team up there for the opening in February next year.
Another recent and important addition to our service team is Paul Gardner, our sommelier. Paul joined us from Astral Restaurant at Star City just recently and has been a fantastic addition to the team. Thrilled to have him on board.
New Years Eve….located as we are, bang smack central party district – a few tables are still available for New Years Eve. We are taking sittings at 6pm or 9.30pm – time enough to get in and out before the kids o’clock fireworks…or catch them first, come a little later and mill around for the countdown to the New Year and the mother of all fireworks display at midnight! We are offering our usual menu and look forward to seeing you here.
Don’t forget our gorgeous private room for your Xmas parties as well. The girls at the restaurant will be happy to talk you through our event packages so give them a hoi on 9252 1888.
Last minute Christmas presents??? Forgot nana? Uncle Harry? Favourite sister?
Pop in anytime or contact us by phone or through our online store – I am more than happy to sign and personalize any of my books – including my latest – Balance & Harmony, Asian Food. It is a true labour of love this book – with photographs by the amazing Earl Carter and the styling, as always, done by my dear friend Sue Fairlie – Cuninghame. We are all very proud of this book and hope all those that buy it get years and years of enjoyment from it and turn the pages curly and stained with peanut oil through too much use.
Also available for purchase…Rockpool Gift Vouchers – a wonderful Xmas gift for the hard-to-buy for types!
That’s about it for Rockpool Sydney news just now….though it is a joy to be able to share an excerpt from a great letter we received recently. It’s always great to hear from customers who have a great night at Rockpool and understand our philosophy and our drive.
“Dear Neil,
I am writing to you regarding my ‘Rockpool Experience’ yesterday evening. I live quite a distance from the city on acres and fulfill all of the criteria for the statement ‘don’t get out much’. I work full time as a Nurse Unit Manager, I have three children, three horses and a plethora of animals to add to the menagerie and love my V8 Land Cruiser, I wouldn’t swap it for ten Mercedes. R M Williams is my hero and my absolute love is cooking……..usually for lots of people at once. It’s nothing to whip up a meal for fifteen people just because I can and our home is always full of people, my children will tell how much I despise takeaway especially the plastic food from those so called food chains. So when my two best friends commenced a campaign of harassment to get me out of the house my two stipulations were no shopping (I’m not your typical woman that loves to shop) and dinner at Rockpool because Neil Perry is one of the reasons I have become so dedicated to the culinary experience at home with my family. It has been a very tough year for us and dinner at Rockpool and some time off with my long time best friends was all I wanted to put the smile back so we made the booking.
From the moment I walked into Rockpool I felt like I was home, in fact for some reason I almost cried. It was a big deal for me to leave my family for the weekend being such a homebody as I am and then decide to ‘tick off’ one of my ‘ten things I want to do’. I felt humbled to be there which may be hard for you to understand but I am not a city girl, in fact my friends instructed me to leave my riding boots in the stables. Your staff were outstanding and I now know what ‘real’ service is supposed to be. The wine that we chose was superb and I can’t wait to buy some for my own collection. Then there was the food. The entree was the seared scallops with southern fried calamari and I have to say I didn’t expect what was put before me……a somewhat blue black dish that I was reticent to delve into but was rewarded one thousand fold by closing my eyes and really tasting the most extraordinary dish I have ever tasted. Just sensational. The main meal came at just the right amount time after the entree and I again thoroughly enjoyed the suckling pig and vegetables that we shared, the flavours …..my goodness the flavours were something else. I don’t know how you can present pork with so much flavour and tenderness…..my roast pork here at home will never be the same after last night. My friends were equally impressed with their choices and we left so happy to have been privileged enough to experience your gift of food.
So your new cookbook will be on my Christmas wish list that my husband will dutifully fill (my teenagers will make sure of it). I have learnt so much from watching your programmes on Foxtel and I want to bring my husband in to experience the ‘Oyster Bar’, I so want to share with him what I discovered last night.You should be a very proud man Neil Perry, you have created an amazing restaurant that has put a smile on my face which I haven’t done much of lately. You also made three fourty year olds giggle like teens as they walked through your doors and we had a very special night together. We will be back.
Many Many Thanks
Michelle Fitzgerald