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Restaurant veterans


Hospitality is a tough game and even the most committed restaurateurs usually succumb to the physical demands of the job, the crazy hours and the financial peaks and troughs. However, there are a handful of tough nuts who are immune to these pressures, whose presence on the restaurant scene seems utterly immutable.

Sometimes these long-stayers are media colossi, displaying their commitment to the foodie cause on every channel and in every glossy food rag, but just as often they're quiet achievers. We thought it was time to tip our hat to a few of these stalwart restaurateurs.

1
 
Beppi's
East Sydney
Beppi Polese and his wife Norma opened this restaurant in 1956. When Polese first opened his doors, much of the produce that we now take for granted was not available. Many Sydneysiders owe him their first taste of mussels, which he harvested himself off the Spit Bridge. Now the younger generations have taken on the day-to-day running of the restaurant, but Polese is never far away.

2
 
Bilson's
Sydney
Tony Bilson has been hopping from one exquisite fine diner to another since the '60s, from Melbourne's Albion Hotel at the beginning of his career, to Bon Gout in the '70s, Berowra Waters, Canard, and many others in between. Now he has settled down at the simply named Bilson's in the Radisson Hotel, where he continues to serve his signature light yet complex French cuisine.

3
 
France-Soir
South Yarra
This restaurant has been around since 1986 - a pretty long time in anyone's book, but particularly impressive when you consider that restaurant years are more like dog years. Owner Jean Paul Prunetti has made this simple French bistro into an institution, which is as well known for its wine as its classic food. Prunetti's passion is wine and his list is a tome of more than 1500 drops.

4
 
Grossi Florentino
Melbourne
The history of chef Guy Grossi is really the story of the entire Grossi family. The chef gained his extensive knowledge of Italian food from his northern Italian mother and his southern Italian father, who is also a respected chef. In 1999, the family took over The Florentino, an iconic restaurant on the Melbourne food scene, which Guy Grossi has helmed ever since. With neat circularity, the chef recently expanded his empire to include Mirka at Tolarno Hotel, where his father Pietro once worked.