Much is being made over the menu that at first was allegedly distributed at a Liberal party fundraiser several months ago and which now looks to have been an inside kitchen joke that somehow made its way into the drawer of a staffer in the Prime Minister’s Office where it sat for several months until it was deemed just the thing to get the boss out of a jam.
Some are still clinging (bitterly, perhaps?) to the hope the menu was the real deal, but it would seem reasonable to ask whether the sort of food the bill of fare suggests is even the sort of stuff the restaurant in question, Brisbane’s Richards and Richards, might be able to turn out.
Without debating the jokes, the supposedly scandalous menu indicates foie gras, quail, butter-poached crayfish, jamon Iberico bacon-and-eggs with caviar, and so on were served up on the night – in other words, it would have been a helluva degustation:
Yet the regular menu at Richards and Richards, where the whole thing started and whose boss denies the thing was anything more than an in-house gag, suggests otherwise.
With all due respect to the crew, this sort of night might be a bit ambitious for this kitchen: I’m sure they serve nice stuff, veal cutlets and steaks and pizzas and the like, but hardly anything that flash. Hell, half the place is a menswear shop.
And anyway, who goes to a political fundraiser for the food?
Prick With A Fork 
Nice bit of investigation there PWA..
It really is pity that everyone else in the media in their efforts to climb over each other to be affronted failed to do a little bit of the same before running with the “story”.
It astounds me that news organisations readily take unsubstantiated tweets as gospel without undertaking due diligence to check the veracity of such explosive claims. The immediacy of social media is partly responsible for the plunge of public discourse into the gutter IMO.
The “anonymous” Twit, who leaked the image, quickly revealed his identity as a die hard, Abbott hating Laborite in an effort to try and achieve some sort of notoriety, fame and attention. Pity that his story unravelled quicker than a poorly rolled spring roll.
I wonder why he no longer works at the establishment in question and whether his employment prospects will suffer in the long run.
Warhol would of been proud of Dave Carter’s efforts.
You can tell Gillard is desperate when she again unleashes the handbag hit squad. (I saw a report on ninemsn this morning – since withdrawn – that Wong and Plibersek were still pursulng Brough over the menu matter even though the restaurant owner claimed responsibility).
unbelievable the damage these stupid women are doing to any future prospects of us voting up future female politicians. When will they open their eyes to what they are actually doing ??….. it beggars belief.
For $1000 per head, I’d EXPECT a “helluva degustation”. Perhaps you should ask the organiser of this fundraiser why they selected a seemingly average place to host the event?
Eh? “Surf ‘n’ Turf”? On the menu in a QUEENSLAND restaurant?
Obviously a Mexican pretending to be a Qld’er. We have our own *far superior* phrase for that dish.
… For those not from Godzown state, use of the phrase “surfnturf” is akin to wearing a ballet tutu in public, or coming out of the closet, or something.
Great work! Still clinging (but not bitterly) to my sides laughing …over that line.
Yep Steve, it is Reef and Beef or nothing as far as I know.
With interest I read about Richards&Richards, its haute cuisine, and wine selection to suit the most discerning oenophile. However, the “Louis Latour from Beaurne” doesn’t exist. Louis Latour from Beaune does. “Sacrebleu” with stuff-ups like that on such a pretentious menu de degustation, anything might have appeared and the “fake” menu. Also, the grubby little snitch that claims to be a Chef I doubt could boil water, although he seems to be in it right now.
Political dinners are never about the food – they’re about raising cash and being able to have a word with the guests. They’re not referred to as “rubber chicken” dinners for nothing. Costs are minimised and revenue maximised.