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Give us this day our daily bread ...... and a bill

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« on: August 23, 2010, 01:39:08 pm »


Bread charge is a restaurant rip-off, says Aussie critic

By KIM KNIGHT - Sunday Star Times | 10:13AM - Sunday, 15 August 2010

NO EXTRA: Jacob Brown, owner of The Larder in Wellington's Miramar, says he serves his own sourdough and ciabatta free to diners.
NO EXTRA: Jacob Brown, owner of The Larder
in Wellington's Miramar, says he serves his
own sourdough and ciabatta free to diners.


GIVE US this day our daily bread — and a bill for at least $7.

No thanks, says a top Australian restaurant critic, who warns the practice of charging for bread is about to bite Kiwi eateries.

Simon Thomsen, former Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide co-editor, says making people pay for something that is free overseas won't wash with international Rugby World Cup visitors.

"All the Europeans are going to have a WTF moment. If the Italian guys turn up and New Zealand restaurants are demanding seven bucks to put some bread on the table... there's going to be riots."

Thomsen, international guest judge for the Cuisine Magazine restaurant awards (announced in Auckland tomorrow), says without bread, "there is a barren space in the meal".

"It's a part of the natural hospitality of a restaurant. New Zealand lacks a sense of hospitality on that front."

As an undercover critic for the country's only national restaurant awards, Thomsen says "a couple" of establishments gave free bread — while others charged up to $10.

Steve Mackenzie, Restaurant Association chief executive, called Thomsen's complaint "bollocks".

"We've had overseas visitors coming here for 100 years and not one person has complained about being charged for bread."

"It used to be free, way back in the 1970s, but we've moved on. There is a level of skill being demonstrated in bread-making that means there is a true cost behind it, and we should be recovering that."

Simon Gault, MasterChef judge, and master chef for the Nourish group, including Euro, Shed 5 and Pravda, says he spends around $18,000 annually freighting product from Canterbury artisan baker Rachel Scott. "I'm not in the business of giving away free stuff, I'm in the business of selling good stuff."

And he says Australian restaurants can afford to subsidise bread, because the rest of their menus are so pricey. "Have you eaten out over there lately? The cost per head is outrageous."

Locally, fine dining restaurants are more likely than bistros to offer free bread. One neighbourhood eatery bucking that trend is Wellington's The Larder.

Chef Jacob Brown says he makes up to 18kg of sourdough and ciabatta daily, serving it free with butter or olive oil.

"I believe in that generosity of spirit. You've come to my restaurant, here's something from me, from my heart."

At Auckland restaurant Pure, Swiss-born chef Stefan Loetscher says his free bread "doesn't cost me that much to make, just a bit of time, and it's something special for the customer".

He says diners don't abuse the complimentary offering, which last week included a quark mousse. "They get two slices each... and if they want more, they get more, but mostly they're happy."

Last year's Cuisine awards guest judge Ralph Kyte-Powell was also unhappy with the way New Zealand restaurants served bread. "Just when you need it to mop up the remnants of the chef's outstanding sauces and dressings, it's gone — with never an offer of more."

A phone survey of top-end Melbourne and Sydney restaurants found all offered unlimited complimentary bread to diners. At Melbourne's Ezard, customers receive an endless supply of casalinga bread, served with infused olive oil, and a trio of dry dips.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/4026090/Bread-charge-is-a-restaurant-rip-off-says-Aussie-critic
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