Harveys
10 Murphy Street
South Yarra, Melbourne
03 9867 3605

It must be tough when you’re the owner or chef at a popular restaurant and you are best known for one thing when you know your establishment is much more than that. In the theatre world it’s called type casting.

At Harveys (no apostrophe) they must have long faced that problem. For years Harveys has been categorized by a dedicated army (me included) as one of the best weekend brunch places around.

Just a couple of parking spots off Toorak Road it buzzes on a Saturday with the so-called Beautiful People and some wouldbes if they couldbes as well as some regular  habitués. And their pets. Models with improbably short hemlines and impossibly high heels.

And for me it would have probably stayed that way if it hadn’t been for anther excursion by the FFFC the Friday Family Fang Club. The Club in which a member suggests and books a different venue. Although we did it on a Thursday.

It was one of those nights. You know those sorts of nights when you want to go out for dinner but you feel a bit jaded about the ‘same old, same old’ even though there’s nothing wrong with your favourite regular eateries?

Out of the blue Mrs. Nosebag announces she’s booked Harveys. A Saturday brunch place? On a Thursday night?  And you know what? It was a good a  call. Well…. She’s always right.

Harveys deserves much more than its weekend reputation. It’s a great dinner spot from the special winter soups to a brilliant chicken and leek pie topped with a golden crust of perfect pastry.

Brought back memories of Johnny Walker’s Angus Steak Cave in Sydney where his signature dish was a beef and burgundy pie accompanied by well-cellared big reds at never-ending Friday lunches.

I followed the same concept when I had Sardi’s restaurant in Little Collins Street.  We hunted around and found special, shallow, oven-proof bowls the size of two Frisbees. Each steak and kidney pie came topped with a football field of pastry. It looked spectacular but it really wasn’t that big. It was our best seller. That was 30 years ago and I think we charged $5.95.

At Harveys Mrs. Nosebag had a panfried snapper (I still call it schnapper) with a pea puree and a nifty but generous prawn risotto.

I had one of my favourite winter dishes -- favourite any time dishes actually: a Portuguese fish stew of mussels, prawns, scallops and flathead served with a saffron aoli. At $38 that’s a little under the price you’d expect at a quality place these days.

It was served with the latest bread trend which should be encouraged. A slab of wood-fired oven Turkish toast. Riva at St.Kilda does it well and gives it a kick along with some chilli oil.

As an inveterate entrée man I was tempted by two dishes. And I’ll go back for them.  King prawns wrapped in pancetta with creamed cauliflower and a watercress and apple salad.  And seared scallops which somehow work with sautéed chorizo sausage and some added heat in the form of piquillo pepper and paprika oil. The entrées  range from $17 to $22.

A bottle of Petaluma Riesling for the drinkers at the table and the Fang Club was happy.

Thankfully, unlike James Stewart’s imaginary six-foot rabbit Harvey (which Steven Spielberg is again making as a movie), this Harveys is not an illusion.

August 17, 2009