A HEREFORD BEEFSTOUW RAISES THE STEAKS IN MELBOURNE CBD
Corporates, couples and meat afficiados! Melbourne's dining heartland is now home to a fresh, Nordic inspired steakhouse - A Hereford Beefstouw in Duckboard Place. Nestled amidst cobblestones and street art, A Hereford Beefstouw offers a relaxed Nordic style menu that celebrates high quality steak in a Danish designed setting. The World Loves Melbourne was invited to the launch, and then also to an epic intimate evening with a few media and Owner Tim Burvill. To dine with Tim and get the heart and ethos of A Hereford Beefstouw was fabulous, and we got to sample an excellent range of the menu. Surely one of the best steak and meat restaurants in Melbourne.
We love the grungy laneway entrance... Inside is a world of chic, open kitchen, sense of space, exposed brick, and a vibe perfect for that catch up or business lunch.
A Hereford Beefstouw is a steak specialist, but it does more than steak (amazing saltbush mutton, cured lamb shoulder, house Armagnac and more). Owner and Dry Ageing Specialist Tim Burvill said that while ‘in house’ Grass Fed Dry Aged Beef is central, seasonal cool climate produce and wholesome eating features throughout the menu, spearheaded by Head Chef Daniel Groom. “Creating a Danish-designed venue from pretty much the ground up we want to reflect that - embracing heritage, design and great quality of beef in a relaxed Nordic way."
Enter the restaurant to a chic bar area...
With Hatted/Rosette experience across Melbourne, Sydney, London, plus having lived and worked in Denmark, Daniel is a great fit for the team. "I’m pretty excited about the direction he is taking things,” Tim Burvill said. “Our own dry aged beef is the hero, raised on grass in the ‘Green Triangle’ of South West Victoria and South East South Australia, including Herefords from our family farm near Lucindale in South Australia’s Coonawarra region.
Open kitchen is a trademark!
Another signature is the Salmon gravad lax that is carved in front of you. The thick sauce that goes with it is exquisite with a sweetness - they could bottle this and sell it.
STEAK! We sampled high quality steak from the menu; wet aged eye fillet, 45 day dry aged rib eye and the 35 day dry aged mutton. I enjoyed them all for not only taste but texture. The saltbush mutton on the bone is something I wouldn't normally get to experience and it was delicious and distinctive.
As we know consumers are savvy, aware and expectant regarding the cuts of meat and their quality and location.
Wine List is on point with a fine selection of wines including local champions; but also check out the aeration apparatus they have for red wine.
Choice cuts are dry aged for between 40 to 100 days in our state of the art facility in the Adelaide Hills, then cooked simply and with restraint by our chefs.” “Being located in one of Melbourne’s unassuming, culinary-rich laneways is a great fit for us and we’re really happy with the way things are coming together”, Tim Burvill said.
We also loved these Danish style hot dogs with a tang.
Interesting even though A Hereford Beefstouw is a steak specialist, it does more than steak. Crisp flounder with Danish rye bread, shrimp, quail eggs, flying fish roe, asparagus and lemon is a fabulous dish with crunch, tang, and creaminess.
Heirloom Beetroot is also an excellent entree.
In preparing to open A Hereford Beefstouw Melbourne, Tim Burvill, with his Denmark based partner Lars Damgaard have completely reinvented a tired inner city former office space. Many of the A Hereford Beefstouw family of designers and artisans were in Melbourne for the build, which includes everything from lighting and cabinetry to tables, plates and cutlery.
Another highlight is the Cured lamb shoulder with parsley crumb, pea puree, spring peas, mint, crispy Kiser flesh bacon and red wine sauce. Melt in your mouth lamb!
Check out the impressive Salad Bar... (slighly different at the launch).
Tim and Lars already own one A Hereford Beefstouw restaurant together in Adelaide (which we have visited), which has built a stellar reputation over the past six years for serving high quality steak. Lars also owns another 14 A Hereford Beefstouw restaurants across Denmark and Scandinavia, with the first established fortyfive years ago on a family property at Lund, near Herning in Denmark.
Desserts are also top notch; the Dessert platter for two features a first class Creme brûlée and an exceptional Raspberry mousse.
Tim Burvill has been producing dry aged beef (as A Hereford Beef) since 2014, primarily for A Hereford Beefstouw Adelaide and also for a select few chefs and a small number of specialty butchers in Adelaide. A Hereford Beef has been recognised nationally for its quality as a finalist in the Delicious Produce Awards (2014, 2015) and by the Melbourne Fine Food Awards (Bronze 2014).
Then it was time to raid the house Armagnac... (If I was at a business lunch, and I often am, I'd be looking for this Armagnac).
In 2015, Tim built a state of the art dry ageing facility in the Adelaide Hills to meet the growing demand for dry aged beef at his Adelaide restaurant and in preparation for A Hereford Beefstouw opening in Melbourne.
Tim is an industry innovator, most recently conducting the first formal trials of Dry Aged Lamb and Mutton in collaboration with Meat and Livestock Australia. The results were so successful that Dry Aged Mutton has become a regular on the Adelaide menu. The virtues of Dry Ageing are being rediscovered and appreciated by diners and chefs alike, who are embracing production methods of old to achieve optimum flavour and texture results.
In Dry Ageing, the meat is hung in a cool room until the outer surface hardens, protecting the valuable meat underneath, while the flavour intensifies and natural enzymes begin to change and tenderise it. The result is a much more tender, naturally ‘beefier’ tasting beef. Tim uses only grass raised beef for dry ageing delivering health benefits of a leaner cut than grain fed alternatives. In looking towards opening in the coming month, Tim Burvill said “On the 21st April 2015, we stood outside the site where our restaurant now resides, above the doorway was a piece of street art above that inspired us with the words Dream Big. On the spot, we decided this was the location for A Hereford Beefstouw Melbourne.”
We had an epic night and left the restaurant well after midnight. Stories were told, confessions made and top notch food and wine consumed. And that's what A Hereford Beefstouw is about; conviviality and quality. Get on it!