Restaurant Amuse is back. Sort of.

Three years after the celebrated East Perth fine diner’s final service, Restaurant Amuse owners Carolynne and Hadleigh Troy have launched Amuse Private Dining By Hadleigh Troy, a private catering service that brings the restaurant’s polished, seasonal degustations to dining rooms across Perth.

“We want to serve the people that used to come to Amuse for birthdays and anniversaries,” says Carolynne. At the start of 2018, the husband and wife team – she was the restaurant’s front of house manager, he was the chef – opened Victoria Park cafe Hampton and Maley. “Over the last three years, everyone has told us that Amuse was where they went for their special occasions. So, hopefully we’ll be able to relive that for people.”

Although Amuse’s food evolved significantly over its decade-long lifespan, the menu for Amuse Private Dining invokes the restaurant’s final three months and includes small dishes, savoury courses and dessert, plus Amuse’s legendary sourdough bread and butter. (Particularly astute eaters may notice they use the same crockery from the restaurant; bonus points if you already clocked that the chairs at Hampton & Maley are the same Eames-inspired models from the Amuse dining room).

Because menus are designed from scratch, Hadleigh can cater to dietary requirements and diner requests to the nth degree. The launch of the service also allows our man to reconnect with and demonstrate his range beyond the (admittedly elevated) cafe staples served at Hampton & Maley.

Cost includes the full restaurant experience, including the all-important leaving-the-dishes-to-someone else (guests organise their own wine, drinks and glassware). Amuse can also organise wait staff. While the service is pitched at those wanting to host intimate dinner parties at home, there is also an option to host an event at Hampton & Maley: the venue where the Troys were planning their Amuse revival of-sorts.

“After a year of talking about it, we were planning on originally opening four nights to do Amuse food. Then Covid happened,” says Hadleigh. “After getting used to being with family, I realised I didn’t want to be in a restaurant every night. Then I thought, what’s the next best thing I can do?”

Although Carolynne and Hadleigh worked together throughout their careers – their combined CV includes Beaufort Street fine diner Jackson’s and The Brasserie by Phillipe Mouchel in Melbourne – motherhood means Carolynne won’t be able to run service while her husband cooks. Still, she’s excited about reconnecting with guests.

“I can still keep my hand in and enjoy being part of people’s special occasions, which is what we’ve always been about,” she says.

Amuse Private Dining By Hadleigh Troy is available for groups of between eight and 20 diners. Prices start at $175 per person.

amuseprivatedining.com.au

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