New look for Mead’s

CHANGE is afoot at well-known Mosman Park restaurant Mead’s of Mosman Bay.

High-profile former owner Warren Mead is out, with UK import Brent Pollard the new owner of the Mosman Bay restaurant, as well as West Perth’s Black Tom’s.

Black Tom’s has been refurbished, with a lighter, more contemporary feel, while the Mosman Bay restaurant is open Thursdays to Sundays until refurbishments finish in two or three weeks’ time, when it will reopen as Mosman Bay Restaurant.

Mr Pollard has even brought trusted chef Paul Sage across from the UK to take charge of the kitchen.

He said the chef was excited about the chance to deliver a standard of food in keeping with the amazing backdrop.

“Paul has been here since last year and spent the first two months becoming familiar with the local ingredients,” he said.
“He is very excited about the quality of the fresh produce available here.

“We will continue for a time with the menu that has been established, but it will be amended as Paul puts his stamp on it.

“He has held the accreditation of two Rosettes for eight years in different venues.

“This accreditation is not well-known in WA but it is highly regarded in Europe, not easy to get and even harder to retain.”

The chef is working alongside the existing team at the restaurant.

Also new at the restaurant are seven newly completed white cushioned carpeted boat pens with dedicated power and water to each pen.

Mr Pollard said he planned to make some pens available for regulars, as well as for new diners.

“We would like to attract some good-quality boats,’ he said.

“It should look quite spectacular with some nice boats moored there.”

Black Tom’s had some unexpected publicity recently with an email circulating complaining about the price of its chunky chips and pints of premium lager, with an anonymous diner complaining that two serves of each cost a total of $54.

In response, the restaurant was quick to announce a new $9.95 deal for a large serve of regular chips and release a statement that it was determined to be a value-for-money restaurant in these tough economic times.

Mr Pollard’s background includes owning hotels with restaurants back in the UK, as well as the large Kent tourist attraction The Hop Farm, which hosted concerts from the likes of Elton John.

“After 10 years of doing entertainment for large numbers of people, I wanted to do something of higher quality for a smaller number of people, so I have turned to these restaurants,” he said.

He said the beautiful location was a big factor in choosing the old Mead’s of Mosman Bay.

“Mosman Bay is just stunning,” he said.

What everyone else is thinking

Bruce in Hillarys

10/03/2009

OK, Mr Pollard, we'll reserve judgment until you've had a fair trial. Mead's previous owner publicly stated that his prices were so high to keep the "cake and coffee" brigade away. Your comment about "good-quality boats" raised my eyebrows a little. Ordinary people in ordinary boats not good enough??

We'll see.

Claire

I saw this Black Tom's email that was circulated, I didn't know whether it was a joke or not, it was in fact true.
The customer ordered 2x lagers and 2x chips (for him and his mate) it totalled $54! It did only have 8, count them, 8 chunky chips stacked in a box shape on each plate with a premium lager drink as a single serve. Artwork on a plate you say? Now $54 for two lagers and however many large chips (you could serve a few kgs of chips in my view) is still ridiculously OVERPRICED, definitely not value for money!
There's definitely a divide between the rich and the middle/lower class groups here.
Guess I won't be able to afford to go to the new refurbished Mosman Bay restaurant either.