Cape Wickham on King Island

[RJ_Daley]

Colin, I'm all in!  

Jud, I can't say if the ratings game for world class eateries is much more in line with reality than some world rankings by some golf course rating entities.

I will say that if a bloke can't find a delicious meal in the place s I visited, and affordable too, then you just aren't being too perceptive.  Excellent grub in OZ.  

[Jud_T]

Last I checked 7 of the 50 best restaurants in the world were in the US.  The number Down Under?  Zero....the top 100 is 16-1...

the US has 13.5 times the population of Australia so the 16-1 ratio is not far off the mark  

I included New Zealand for good measure. .  I had excellent fresh seafood when I was in country, but to disparage the food scene in the states without provocation shows either remarkable ineptitude or xenophobia, but I digress.  Let's keep the focus where it should be, on Mike's exciting project.

[Matt Day]

Last I checked 7 of the 50 best restaurants in the world were in the US.  The number Down Under?  Zero....the top 100 is 16-1...

the US has 13.5 times the population of Australia so the 16-1 ratio is not far off the mark  

I included New Zealand for good measure. .  I had excellent fresh seafood when I was in country, but to disparage the food scene in the states without provocation shows either remarkable ineptitude or xenophobia, but I digress.  Let's keep the focus where it should be, on Mike's exciting project.

I wasn't disparaging the food in the US, having been to the US 9 times now I'm a big fan of the food their.

As a good friend of mine Richard Chamberlain was involved in this project early on, its interesting to see what's evolving

[Mike_DeVries]

Mike -
Question for you: based on the before/after photos, it appears that all or most of the cool looking gorse-like bushes have been removed (holes 2 & 3 are good examples). Why is that? I thought those bushes gave the site a very unique look - almost a fairy tale/Lord of the Rings look. I was bummed to see them removed.

That is African Boxthorn - a very invasive plant with thorns that make gorse look tame, at times -- looks interesting from afar but not up close and definitely not good for the environment.  The ones that remain are on extremely steep slopes and unreachable. 

[Richard Chamberlain]

Hi Mike

I hope you've had a good time down there and the Turnpoint lads have looked after you.
In the end, how often were you eating the cheese, the lobster or the steak ? Any movement in the belt notch ?

The construction photos look simply breathtaking and I can't wait to see it.

[Brett_Morrissy]

Last I checked 7 of the 50 best restaurants in the world were in the US.  The number Down Under?  Zero....the top 100 is 16-1...

Jud,
The World's Top 50 Best by San Pellegrino is the truly global guide, and has relevancy.
http://www.theworlds50best.com/list/1-50-winners#t1-50

I don't think 7 - 1 is too bad for our little part of the world down under.
BUT - compare the chefs in the top 50: 3 to 3 - that looks like the swimming in the Olympics.
: )
Heading to get some Nashville Chicken this week in Melbourne - excited....
#4 - - Eleven Madison Park - New york - Daniel Humm - Swiss
#9 - Alinea - Chicago - Grant Achatz - American
#10 - The Ledbury - London - Brett Graham - Aussie
#13 - Nahm - Bangkok - David Thompson - Aussie
#21 - Le Bernadin - New York - Eric Ripert - French
#32 - Attica (almost in the Sandbelt) Melbourne - Ben Shewry (Kiwi and we claim him, lives here on the coast)
#30 - Per Se - New York - Thomas Keller - American
#40 - Daniel - New York - Daniel Boulud - French
#44 - French Laundry - Napa, CA - Thomas Keller - American
#49 - Coi - San Francisco - Daniel Patterson  - American

But not as excited as I am about finally getting a hit down at Cape Wickham - a really ambitious project for the region, I just hope the team down there gets the right growing conditions to achieve the results they are hoping for.