Giraffe by Simon Gault

The viaduct on a sultry Friday evening is booming with baby boomers. Most restaurants and bars are packed. Giraffe, the latest venture by everyone’s favourite Masterchef judge Simon Gault, is no exception.

The old Mecca site is an awkward triangular space with an intersecting passageway to The Sebel. Yet it feels warm and comforting, elegant yet restrained. The open kitchen and wide bar area make the place bustle, while brass handrails and a spectacular curved bar-side table give a slightly nautical nod. And because it’s a Paul Izzard design it’s polished with an understated opulence.

I checked the bill. I paid the bill. They were still kissing. I was glad I'd finished eating.

Just before chef Simon Gault opened this restaurant, he told the Herald he wanted patrons to feel like they were in someone's home. I think he probably meant the dining room, not the bedroom, but it's the Viaduct, right? Loud and lurid, loose and louche. Anything (and anyone) goes.

In fact, Gault is hedging his bets. Because while his menu rewards hedonists (the "social feasts" sometimes run to an entire baby pig) you can also bring your children here for a $28 kids' TV dinner (two types of chips, two types of pasta and a treat on a tray).

In my student days, when I worked in the original Tony's as a kitchenhand, the eponymous Mr White would grudgingly allow us a small bowl of spaghetti at 5pm. His brother, David, who was in charge on Sundays, asked us to pick out the best steak we could find and cooked it for us, perfectly. Guess which Mr White we went the extra mile for when the going got tough around 9pm?

Perhaps Simon Gault had a similar experience once, because at Giraffe, if you show up before 6, they ask you to wait while the staff finish their dinner. It's a nice touch, I think, and it reassures diners that they are in a place where the boss wants the workers to be happy because happy workers produce happy diners.

Did you ever have one of those moments when you know you’ve married the right person? Early on at Giraffe a waiter came over with two flutes of Nautilus cuvee, gave one of them to me and dropped the other one into my wife’s lap.

And at the crucial moment, as the glass tipped irretrievably past the 45 degree mark and the pale straw coloured liquid began to spill out and over her beloved light grey Juliette Hogan coat, my wife caught my eye with an expression only I would ever be able to interpret. The expression said “Yoink. This one will be free”.

Giraffe, the curious name of Simon Gault's new Viaduct eatery, came from a source dear to the top restaurateur's heart — his 3½-year-old daughter Hazel.

It fits perfectly, he says, in terms of the way he's approached the changing habits of his guests by opening up the kitchen so patrons feel as if they're eating at someone's home.

"Everything is in full view and transparent — a 'giraffe's-eye' view, if you like. By doing this, the diners feel connected to the chefs, the kitchen and the food itself," he says.

"We’ll welcome and treat them like they are guests in our house, get to know them and look after them."

The new all-day eatery, which opens next Thursday, June 15, marks Simon's return to the Viaduct following a two-year hiatus.

Its menu will be made up of smaller dishes and shared plates that will feature premium ingredients sourced from producers and growers the kitchen team knows personally and with whom it plans to build long-term relationships.

Giraffe, the curious name of Simon Gault's new Viaduct eatery, came from a source dear to the top restaurateur's heart — his 3½-year-old daughter Hazel.

It fits perfectly, he says, in terms of the way he's approached the changing habits of his guests by opening up the kitchen so patrons feel as if they're eating at someone's home.

"Everything is in full view and transparent — a 'giraffe's-eye' view, if you like. By doing this, the diners feel connected to the chefs, the kitchen and the food itself," he says.