Vie Bar and Restaurant
Found within Palazzo Versace
94 Seaworld Dr, Main Beach QLD 4217
P – (07) 5509 8000
W – www.palazzoversace.com.au/
Dined there June 2012
Vie Bar plays second fiddle here at Palazzo Versace to the more classical fine diner that is Vanitas. Vanitas offers a truly gastronomic encounter that you’d maybe go on significant engagements. Vie Bar though a notch down offers more a destination locals on the coast could easily venture to seasonally to evolve with the menu as it welcomes new produce indicative of the season. The food, very stylish, present-day techniques are evident and as cited above, the fare progresses with the season and blends with its backdrop, alfresco waterside. Interior speaking the design is sleek with marble and stainless bar areas, deco furniture embraces Broadwater views.
What we ate
Crisp Bendele farm duck confit, pistachio emulsion, pink grapefruit, puffed grains
Unfussy but stylish. The duck leg is crisp and well matched with pistachio and the tart grapefruit cleanses with a good nudge of acid. The puffed grains texturally sound and offers difference…that is cool for the coast.
Fennel seed crusted haloumi, compressed watermelon, tzatziki veloute
A vegetarian selection easily that goes toe to toe with many carnivorous options on the card. Not at all to be looked at by just the meatless diners. Colourful, the veloute poured tableside and shows a well understood knowledge of balance and harmony. Chef de Cuisine Sean Chambers welcomed Destination Food into his kitchen to demonstrate this dish…view the video below.
Vie Bar and Restaurant – Chef Sean Chambers and his Fennel crusted haloumi w compressed watermelon from Destination Food on Vimeo.
13 hour braised Northern Rivers beef short rib, kiplfer potato salad, light vegetable pickle
Beef rib is a great cut of meat, way way underused on the menus of the Gold Coast. I ate this and tried to picture what images were being presented to me in my mind…the flavours reminiscent of something in my past. It was the sweet n sour that came with the pickle of veg and the dressing that bound the warm potato salad. First looking I thought twice, then welcomed the sourness and sharp twang that such and resonant piece of beef may welcome.
Line caught fish, fresh peas, grilled cos, smoked speck, caramelized crème fraiche
Nice use of cos, the peas were of the green and snow kind. Caramelized crème fraiche, maybe from the thermomix?
Roasted apple terrine, cinnamon cream, vanilla bean ice cream
Nice assiette of apple. The terrine rich and smooth, reminiscent of a more refined version consumed at Golden Fields (Melbourne) recently. Use of common flavours, cinnamon, vanilla in a form screening creativity and intelligence in the kitchen.
Light cheesecake, white grape sorbet, Anzac crumble, raisin puree
Favourite dish of the night here, easily a dish you’d head back for, though in writing this it is no longer on the bill of fare(sad face). A deconstructed cheesecake of sorts. Balance again clearly apparent, the sorbet is pure grape. With the use of pacojets these days creating sorbets with minimal sugar is effortless.
Seems that Vie Bar and Restaurant is resolute in exerting a pull on the local diners of the Gold Coast. Restaurant manager Simon Shanahan offers a face you may have seen around. Chef de Cuisine Sean Chambers does his job very well, his kitchen is humming, food is brisk and well refined. Worth a trip if you’re local to the vicinity. Stay current with all that is happening at Versace across its’ four dining locations by checking out Palazzo Versace Culinary Concierge on Facebook and on twitter @PalazzoVersace1
