Big-name restaurants and chefs have moved into the Burswood Entertainment Complex, but does that make it the new epicentre of Perth dining? Emily Morgan reports.
THE introduction of small bar licenses and raising of the bar in restaurant quality across the city – reflected in part by the recent arrival of international brands Rockpool and Nobu at Burswood – are helping redefine the local dining scene.
The big brands hitting the floor at Burswood Entertainment Complex as part of the business’s $480 million capital expenditure program may not be immediately recognisable to all, but having famed Australian chef Neil Perry’s operation and US-based Japanese franchise Nobu join the likes of the A(lure), the Atrium and the recently established Modo Mio has undoubtedly lifted Burswood’s status as one of the premier dining precincts in Western Australia.
Must Wine Bar co-founder and chef Russell Blaikie says he has been excited by what Burswood has been doing by bringing in the big names.
“I think it is fantastic for Perth,” he says, adding that the level of operations at the restaurants will lead to benefits for the broader Perth hospitality industry.
“It is fantastic to see high-quality operators come into town and train staff, as we (Must) have done in the last 10 years, and send those staff back out into our industry. It will serve to benefit the industry as a whole.”
Whether or not $100 steaks are your thing, the pricing structures being introduced at Burswood are undoubtedly impacting on the pricing benchmarks elsewhere.
Mr Blaikie says costs have been increasing as a result of hikes in electricity, food and wages, making cost recovery difficult.
“In all my years in hospitality it is one of the things that has always raised a sweat any time I have had to increase price,” he says.
“One of the things with the big players coming into town at Burswood is they have set a different pricing strategy and structure, it has really set a precedent in Perth for some unique pricing and some very high pricing in a sense.”
Inner-city restaurateur Steve Scaffidi says he doesn’t believe the new arrivals at Burswood have been a game changer, but that it has helped along what was already a moving feast.
“The introduction of Rockpool and Nobu has certainly helped, but I don’t think it is pivotal to how the hospitality industry has changed,” Mr Scaffidi told Business Class.
“The progression was already there and it is inevitable that we are going to grow. Burswood is an interesting location, but it is still delineated from the CBD. It is adding to the landscape and that is a good thing. I don’t think those big-name restaurants have changed the hospitality industry, they are just adding to it.”
Mr Scaffidi says rather than there being an ‘epicentre’ of dining in Perth, there is a spread of high-end dining across the metropolitan area. However he hopes there will be even greater development in the city, where he founded Bar One and, more recently, Sentinel Bar and Grill.
“There are pockets within Perth and each of those have good dining venues,” Mr Scaffidi says.
“No I don’t think there is a true epicentre of dining in Perth, I just don’t think that was the way Perth was built.”
He added that, while Perth’s inner city is still evolving as a dining precinct, the ultimate success will come when non-CBD workers and residents outside of the inner city are regular customers.
“I have invested a whole lot of effort, time and money in opening up a second place and my decision was to choose a CBD location, so I think that says everything of how much I believe in the CBD,” Mr Scaffidi says.
“The CBD has always been regarded as a bit of a void after 5pm or 6pm. Thankfully the likes of the Greehouse, Andaluz, myself and a handful of other people … believe in the future of the CBD and we are trying to create infrastructure from a hospitality point of view and provide venues for people.”
Mr Scaffidi says developments such as City Square, and its restaurant and retail precinct, and Perth Waterfront will change the way the sector operates in the CBD.
“I really believe in the CBD, we are really growing up which is great and I am a big believer in the car-yard theory – the more operators the better, so you need people to have choice,” he says.
For his part, Mr Blaikie says Beaufort Street, where the first Must opened, has become the epicentre of Perth’s dining.
“The texture of the operations up and down the street, it is such a dynamic, varied, multi-layered experience,” he says.
“It is like Disneyland for dining and hospitality, that is Beaufort Street, it has got everything.”
Australian Hotels Association WA chief executive officer Bradley Woods says pinpointing a specific dining epicentre is difficult as a result of the city’s urban sprawl.
“In the context of a physical location of the epicentre of dining in Perth, I think it is fair to say it is at multiple points. You can’t say it is just at Burswood, or all in the city centre, or is it Shenton Park or in Mount Lawley,” he says.
“There are many very good dining experiences spread throughout and I think that is a reflection of the nature of Perth itself given the spread of the population.
“People don’t want to have to drive an hour from the north to south or south to north.”
Mr Woods says the additional restaurants at Burswood have introduced a new benchmark for investment in décor, training and staff experience levels, but that Perth’s hospitality industry still has room to grow.
“There will always be local catchments, and local population catchments will always serve as a very good attraction. I don’t believe the success of those venues would have any dramatic impact on the success or viability of restaurants in other areas,” he says.
“I don’t believe the market is at saturation point in the context of just those venues coming into play. It certainly adds more competition and challenges but it doesn’t in any shape or form soak up the entire market.
“It comes down to good operators; good venues will succeed because they will offer what the consumer is looking for.”
Mr Blaikie was of the same opinion.
“There is always room for a high-quality, interesting, unique operation in our city, no question,” Mr Blaikie says, but adding that he is interested to see the effects of the Burswood restaurants.
“When you lob 1,000 fine-dining seats into a town like Perth, which is basically what they are doing between Rockpool, Nobu and Modo Mio, you are dropping a very big pebble into a very small pond.
“Perth is a small town, it is not a big city, so it will be really interesting to see what happens.”
