The first iteration of one of Melbourne’s premier restaurants, Vue de Monde, was a modest French bistro opened by chef Shannon Bennett in Drummond Street, Carlton, just north of Melbourne’s CBD. The restaurant opened in the year 2000 and continued in its cramped terrace-house quarters for five years.
Bennett had spent the previous five years overseas, working in Michelin-starred restaurants for top chefs including Albert Roux, John Burton-Race, Marco Pierre White, and Alain Ducasse. The first Vue de Monde has been described as “merely a very good French bistro”, but it was impressive enough to earn Bennett the Gourmet Traveller accolade of “Best New Talent” in 2003.
In 2005, Vue de Monde moved to the city. Critic John Lethlean wrote that the new location, in a heritage-listed building, “makes its Carlton predecessor look like a toilet block”. Lethlean continued:
I’ve not always been the biggest fan of Shannon Bennett’s modern French food, particularly in Vue de Monde’s early Carlton days. I thought way too much of it was about recreating haute French food from London that required major technique – almost for its own sake – and name-dropping ingredients. After five years of cooking for Melburnians, increasing maturity and frequent travel abroad have loosened Bennett’s style.
The initial offering at the 430 Little Collins Street address was an $80 degustation of four courses, with the option to keep adding extra courses at $10 each up to a maximum of 14. The food was, Lethlean found, exceptional (the dinner he reviewed included foie gras, poached quail, loin of hare and other exotica). Two years later, Vue de Monde was named Restaurant of the Year by The Age Good Food Guide and awarded three chef’s hats.
But Vue de Monde was to reach new heights (metaphorically and literally) with a 2011 move to the Rialto building at the western end of Collins Street. On the 55th floor of what was then Melbourne’s tallest building, the new premises commanded extraordinary views over the city, suburbs and bay. The fitout had everyone buzzing, with its kangaroo leather table-tops and kangaroo skin chair coverings, while the new tariff of four courses a la carte for $150 a head or a 10-course degustation at $250 a head maintained the restaurant’s position as a destination for the serious gastronome.
Dinner at Vue de Monde was as much about the theatre of the event as it was about the food. The various courses were brought to the table by a succession of chefs, who explained not just the ingredients but how to eat them (sometimes with fingers). The food combined European influences with local ingredients, all with Bennett’s individual touch. The restaurant continued to win awards, being named Restaurant of the Year in 2013 and 2014. It has appeared in international awards lists including The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and La Liste.
Shannon Bennett largely stepped back from Vue de Monde in 2016 when he sold a majority stake in the Vue Group to Singaporean investors. While he remained involved in a creative director role, the change in ownership marked a significant shift in his direct operational involvement. In 2019, the kitchen was taken over by a Bennett protégé, Hugh Allen. In 2020, Bennett completed the sale of his remaining stake and ended his association with the restaurant.
In July 2023, Vue de Monde closed for renovations, reopening in October of that year. The “new look” retained the dark and moody atmosphere, but with the lighting upped a little in wattage (maybe to assist avid Instagrammers). The new menu had more emphasis on Australian native ingredients, included about 18 dishes, and was priced at $360. That’s without drinks.
Again, in 2024, Vue de Monde earned three hats from The Age Good Food Guide. It remains at the pinnacle of Melbourne dining. And where else can you find a vending machine stocked with Dom Perignon? For most of us, it’s something to save up for, but worth it, just for the experience.