Thursday, December 07, 2006

Hot Gossip

Now that we've all finished fantasising about lapdancers (see previous comments), I thought I'd share a tantalising piece of gossip that recently filtered through the mire.

Ms Read (of Mercury fame) plus Ben (of fab coffee at Marque IV fame) are reported to be an item. We probably don't care. We probably don't care that Ms Read wrote a fabulous bit about Marque IV in the Merc on 18 Nov. We probably don't care that she quoted chef Paul Foreman waxing lyrical about the delish coffees produced by said Ben. We probably also don't care that apparently Ben is a part-owner of Marque IV.

Not that you care, cos none of us listen to gossip anyway.

GW ;-)

p.s. Got goss you want to share without getting busted? Email me.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Old News. B O R I N G !

Anonymous said...

Yes Boring indeed. It appears Ben is reported to ne involved with other journalists, who have also written "fabulous bits" about Marque lV. Weekend Australian, The Age Good Food Guide, Gourmet Traveller, 40 Degrees South, Scoop Traveller, Quantas & Virgin Inflight and of course the powers that be at AHA/RCAT. He must be a busy lad with all those coffees to make as well!

Makes you wonder what Paul foreman is up to in all his spare time?

Anonymous said...

cold gossip; ms creosote mentioned this ages ago

Anonymous said...

Well said HRV, seriously maybe Marque is getting great exposure because they deserve it. I for a fact know all the team at MIV work extremely hard and are well aware that they are under the microscope at the moment beacause of their success. In regards to Ben's relationship with a member of the Mercury staff, good for him! I am sure she is just lovely and they are very happy. As well as being aware that one works for a paper and one works/owns a restaurant that features in the paper- Hobart is a small place, I am sure if you looked hard enough there would be many examples of inter-business relationships. It is actually good to see that the Mercury has caught up with the rest of the nations newspapers and actually reported on one the best restaurants in Tassie at the moment. At least it is good to see that tall poppy syndrome is flourishing in Hobart. Whatever happening to supporting people and business' that are actually doing great things for the profile of our state?

Food Kitty said...

well said last anon

Anonymous said...

My god hobart people are gossipy and small minded. Ever occur to you that Marque iv gets good publicity because it is a great place to eat!!! This is about the worst piece of trash i have ever read on this site. You've really dropped your standard hrb.

Anonymous said...

What about Graham Phillips? Does he not "consult" for restaurants and slao reveiw them?

Anonymous said...

Last anon, I agree that Marque IV deserve every bit of credit they get-good on 'em. They are a stand out operation in Tasmania.

Though I dont agree with the gist of HRB's last post entirely, I still enjoy reading it. It's her opinion & her blog & has nothing to do with 'dropping her standards' as you say & everything to do with you not agreeing.

Surely the point of these blogs & respective comments is the frank exchange of opinions?

Anonymous said...

IS Paul sleeping with Graeme Phillips? Where will this lead?

Anonymous said...

Moorilla got a mention in the Australian for the Source Restaurant. Does that mean they are contected too?

Anonymous said...

We are a small community in Tassie & the world of good food & wine is smaller still.
Knowing this, is it then unreasonable to expect that those who endorse some products & services may also have a connection to those they are spruiking? It's life, surely readers & writers will respect & recognise professional boundaries, give us a little more credit!
As to Marque IV, why begrudge this Tasmanian success story? They are getting deservedly great National press.
Unless we unshackle ourselves from this parochial 'us & them' handicap we'll always be perceived as a quirky holiday 'province' where we still haven't woken up to our bounty, the envy of many mainlanders.
We are squabbling over crumbs, the bigger picture is the whole State finally getting the recognition it deserves for the commitment & passion of many amazing foodies, on par with anywhere else.
Lets lose this 'tassie-cultural-cringe' & quick!
While we fight over who did this & who did that, some canny mainlander is stealing our thunder & using Tasmanian produce as leverage to buy kudos-Shouldn't we be doing this? GG

Anonymous said...

Just new to your blog, and intrigued by what I read.... Do you venture out of Hobart and Launceston, and get to the remote areas - the real success stories of what Tasmania is producing... fine food in isolated yet beautiful locations, Swansea, Penguin, Binalong Bay, Cambridge etc... Love to hear some thoughts on these places... From anyone??

Anonymous said...

Do you have anywhere in mind? Do share.

Peppermint Bay is as 'remote' as I've managed to get in recent times.

Oh, and the place in Campbell Town, next to (but definitely not) Banjos.

PS: 'isolated' and 'beautiful' aren't words that come to mind when describing Cambridge.

Anonymous said...

Stephen - you're thinking of Zeps in Campbelltown, I think, which is next to (but definitely not) Banjo's.

Anonymous said...

..and whatever you do, enter at your own peril the cafe next door but one (in other words next door to Subway, which is next door to Banjos)! I went in there on Monday to get lunch because Zeps, Banjos & Subway were all crowded with their lunch time rush. Too late I realised why the cafe was empty! Run by 2 well-meaning but unfortunately gastronomically-challenged older generational people, my food was, to put it bluntly, CRAP! (Don't think I'm biased against older people either, by the way, as I'm 60 myself, but that generation can exhibit symptoms of their age in their production of food!)

Anonymous said...

Ross could also do with the Zeps touch. I'd much prefer to stop off there while doing the Hbt<->Ltn dash.

Anonymous said...

Stop at Ross anyway, they have a bakery that sells the best pies ever. Their scallop pies and venison pies are to die for. Even the good old potato pie rates. So that's where we always stop, sometimes even forgoing brekkie in Launceston so we can fit in a pie for morning tea.

Anonymous said...

i remember reading a post a year or so ago which seemed to indicate HRB had a soft spot for ben (who was then making coffee down at brew). is this exposure of him and his new love anything to do with the green eyed monster??

Anonymous said...

The point of this goss is not Ben or Marque IV (which is an ace restaurant, no question).

The point is that the journalist is having/has had a relationship with the owner of the restaurant that her published profile featured, but she didn't let us in on the secret.

All she had to do was note that she was having/had had a relationship with the owner of the business her article was promoting.
But she didn't, which leaves those who know wondering why.

Hobart may be a small place, but we're not all social butterfly's/gossip columnists and we shouldn't be left to second-guess these things.

Conflicts of interest need to be declared. Simple really.

Thanks for sharing Georgie.

Anonymous said...

Yes we should've run it by you, restaurant Stasi!

Anonymous said...

I agree with Anonymous - its a matter of disclosure. Of course, the goss might be wrong in which case the issue is moot.

Anonymous said...

Maybe not the best choice on cambridge, however Meadowbank itself is porducing some amazing food, and wine too... Penguin - Wild Cafe, Swansea - New Restaurant Ebb and the old favourite Left Bank, now moving to a dinner style will be impressive - the private dining room is fantastic. Binalong Bay - Angasi -When talking Seafood especially.. Word is the Mee Wah - The obvious choice for best Asian dining in Tasmania is set to open a second restauarnt in Hobart coming soon... These guys know what they are doing, serious wine list and serious Asian Food to rival the old flower drum days in Melbourne.. keep a look out for it. Anyone checked out Suwan Thai? Salamanca I think?

Anonymous said...

Assuming the goss about said journo and restaurateur is true, then I agree with its disclosure - good on you, HRB. Especially in a community as small and tight knit as Hobart it's important to know that, when a favourable review is written, that there's more to the relationship than just reviewer/restaurant. And I say this as someone who worked as a journalist in Hobart for some years.

Anonymous said...

working in publishing, it's quite often that the journalist actually doesn't have the control over the story they have written or are about going to write.
when pre-production meetings are held editors always use "connections" to pursue stories and suggest the angle to be taken, regardless of whether the journalist wants to write the given brief.
i can see a possible scenario involving such a meeting and the editor/publisher "suggesting" the story should be written because of ms reads relationship. who knows?

Popinjay said...

Conflicts of interest need to be declared. Simple really.

--

Here Here!