A Father’s Day Long Weekend of Joyful Disobedience
What would a chef cook himself for Father’s Day?
After four decades at the pans, from The Savoy in London and The Royalton in New York to some of Sydney’s most celebrated dining rooms, Jeff Schroeter knows exactly what he would choose. For Father’s Day, we asked him to write the menu.
The answer is a three-course Table d’Hôte menu, with a choice of entrée, main and dessert.
Begin with Oyster Rockefeller with 1890s pedigree, steak tartare or Moreton Bay bugs with ginger, herbs and garlic butter. Then choose duck à l’orange with native citrus or Dijon-roasted Wagyu. Finish with whisky crème brûlée or steamed fruit cake with rum custard.
The duck has dressed for dinner. The crème brûlée brought whisky. Subtlety was considered, then politely shown the door.
Jeff will be at the pass, exactly where he likes to be. His son Jack will be running the room. The older bottles are waiting in the private cellar.
Three courses. A choice at every one.
Jeff’s Father’s Day Table d’Hôte menu is $96 per person and prepaid.
Five services. Father’s Day, his way.
A father, a grandfather and a father-in-law walk into a family group chat.
Nobody can do Sunday at one. So Father’s Day has been given the whole weekend: Friday lunch, Friday dinner, Saturday night, Sunday lunch and Sunday dinner. Come early. Come late. Celebrate twice and accept the compliments on your excellent planning.
A few magnificent temptations
Some fathers are models of restraint.
We assume they have made other plans.
The three-course menu is only the beginning. Add an opening course, replace the main or continue with cheese after dessert.
Begin with acorn-fed Joselito Ibérico Jamón Paleta, semi-dried fig, muscatels, parmesan crisp and toast. It is $80 for the table. Sharing is encouraged, although the jamón has seen families before.
Then there is the 500g Takeda Ten Pardoo full-blood MB10+ Wagyu scotch fillet, a World Steak Challenge winner, grilled over Bertha charcoal. Pommes dauphinoise. Sautéed spinach. Béarnaise or Périgueux sauce.
It replaces the main course for $380, serves one or two, and has absolutely no sense of scale.
Cheese may follow dessert for $60. The final selection is still being chosen. Several candidates have excellent breeding. Only the finest will be introduced to the Port.
Choose one of two optional wine flights, each paired to the three-course menu.
The Rakish Set
The current-vintage wine flight is $70 per person:
2025 Soumah Single Vineyard Viognier.
2020 Domaine de Beaurenard Rasteau.
NV Ramos Pinto Fine Tawny Port.
Fresh faces. Excellent posture. No intention of going home early.
The Well-Aged Delinquents
The back-vintage wine flight is $100 per person:
2012 Marc Brédif Collection Réserve Vouvray.
2017 Jim Barry The McRae Wood Museum Release Shiraz.
1995 Lindemans Show Reserve Vintage Fortified.
Impeccable manners. Considerable pedigree. Unreliable influence.
Each flight is paired with the menu: 150ml with entrée, 150ml with main and 75ml with dessert.
A cellar within the cellar
For Father’s Day, we are opening two Australian icons by the glass:
1997 Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz
$220 for 75ml | $430 for 150ml
1997 Wendouree Malbec Pressings
$85 for 75ml | $170 for 150ml
These bottles are rare, finite and almost never offered by the glass. Once opened, there will be no putting 1997 back where we found it.
The Whisky Encore
The plates have been cleared.
The conversation has ordered another round.
Continue with The Ben Buckler Single Malt Whisky, Morris Rutherglen Muscat Barrel Whisky and 1995 Lindemans Show Reserve.
$45 per person. Prepaid. Limited places.
Choose your moment
Friday 4 September | Lunch: The Alibi
The lunch that develops evening plans.
Friday 4 September | Dinner: The Early Edition
Father’s Day arrives ahead of schedule and orders the Wagyu.
Saturday 5 September | Dinner: Father’s Day Eve
Apparently that’s a thing now.
Sunday 6 September | Father’s Day Lunch
A rare Sunday lunch opening. The duck à l’orange has put on its Sunday best.
Sunday 6 September | Dinner: The Afterword
The official day finishes. The good stories rarely do.
Dates: Friday 4 to Sunday 6 September 2026
Price: Three-course Table d’Hôte menu: $96 per person, prepaid
Optional dishes, wine flights, rare pours and The Whisky Encore available.
