Erica and Matthieu Miller say they share their achievement with the town on Rutherglen.
After coming agonisingly close last year, Grace Bar and Eatery has won a ‘hat’ in The Age 2025 Good Food Guide Awards.
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For owners, Erica and Matthieu Miller, receiving a hat is a personal achievement they share with their town.
While there have been hats in Rutherglen before, this year marks a first for the main street.
“I think there's that sense within the town that it's ours as a community,” Erica said.
“There's a sense that here’s two kids from the town giving it a crack and kicking some goals.”
Every year, The Age sends anonymous reviewers around the state to review restaurants on a 20-point scale.
“If you score 15, you get a hat, then it goes to two hats, then three,” Erica said.
“It's recognition from food reviewers and critics that you're meeting the expectations of the food community.”
Erica and Matthieu have been humbled by their newfound fame, and while being acutely aware of what this means for their restaurant, they’re not letting it go to their heads.
“The outpouring of support and congratulations from this community has been overwhelming,” Erica said.
“To be recognised alongside our favourite restaurants, to be like these people that we look up to and we aspire to be … we're now in that category with them.
“But people who love to eat out will spend their hard-earned money where they want to.
“Just because restaurants have hats doesn't mean they're fancy.
“We're not fancy; we don't take ourselves seriously, we just love what we do.”
Erica and Matthieu Miller came close to receiving a hat last year, now they are the talk of the town.
Erica and Matthieu opened Grace Bar and Eatery in 2021 and feel proud to be part of a community pushing a new era of tourism.
“Rutherglen has always been a big draw card for tourism; 19 wineries are testament to that,” Erica said.
“But this is the first period I remember in my lifetime that the main street has the ability to support the wine tourism.
“It's the first time that we've had a spread of restaurants across the board, all offering different price points and different products.”
A focus on balance is key to the couple’s success.
The wine list is a spread of Victorian small producer wineries, and they’ve made fundamental changes to the business to benefit themselves and their staff.
Erica believes less is more and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, while still having the presence of mind to refine what is working.
Although the menu changes every six weeks to keep things fresh and interesting, there are a couple of items which must stay.
“Matt's pate and parfait, which use a lot of Stanton and Killeen muscat, are a signature of ours,” she said.
“And the truffle fries we’re not allowed to take off the menu.
“We wanted to change the flavour two weeks ago, but the outcry from the community was swift and they are still firmly at the top of the menu.”
Last year they were on the radar, now they’re the talk of the town.
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