The opening of BistroX at Melbourne’s The StandardX is something of a return for Shannon Bennett, creative director at Vue de Monde. Opening on Wednesday 23rd July, dinner service will be run Tuesday-Saturday, from 5pm-10pm. A pop-up slated to run for three months, Bennett says “the thought was there, a good challenge, to give the hotel some identity. It’s drawing on Melbourne and its food scene. It’s a perfect fit for us.” 

There’s a feel of getting the band back together. “The team from Vue de Monde have been like family to me and a few of them reached out and said that they were heading back to Australia,” says Bennett. “Cory Campbell was my head chef for close to 10 years and he’s been in New Zealand at The Grove, where he was very successful. We started to spitball, and he was super keen to jump on board. Ben John has been working with me for years and then went to Paris, worked over there for quite some time. He was looking for something, so I’ve got him on, and the kitchen has got a really great spine.”

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Diners can expect to get a sense of Bennett’s current outlook. “I’m a curator of ingredients and they tell the story,” he says. “I feel like what we’re doing now really suits where I’m at creatively. A simple menu with great ingredients. A bistro, brasserie, a fine dining restaurant should produce something that you can’t produce at home. I think that’s really important in this space that I’m entering. You could probably say with some things, I could do that at home, but can you get great seafood that’s line caught and been brain spiked on a boat and then aged for 50 days, and put it on a plate simply with some really nice side garnishes on beautiful plates made by Sam Gordon?” 

It’s a restaurant that Bennett says you could dine at every week, the menu leaning on “beautiful fish in burnt butter, parsley and lemon; chargrilled steak with chick pea fries and a couple of great side dishes.” The specials are set to impress as Bennett gives an insight into the current thinking. “We were mucking around with the idea of sourdough flatbreads grilled, poaching crayfish that’s in season with a dressing that has local black pudding through it.”

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Master Sommelier, Carlos Simoes Santos left Vue de Monde last year has shaped the wine list at BistroX. “It’s about 50/50 Australian to international,” says Bennett. “It’s kind of like my thoughts on a cheese course, in that I love the idea of the best of Australia up against the rest of the world.” At front of house, another old friend, Steven Kirkpatrick will run the floor “making the customer experience as streamlined as possible.” Bennett says, “tech is where my passion has been for the last three years, things like OnTheMonee, a hospo tipping app. I’m looking forward to seeing how that all works here.” 

Is there a future beyond 3 months? Bennett has ideas for other parts of the hotel offering but it’s a case of seeing how it goes. “I’m just going to work my arse off, enjoy myself, and do something creative that reflects in the product,” he says. 

BistroX at The StandardX, Melbourne
62 Rose St, Fitzroy VIC 3065
More info here