Jackson's was a

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisati ...

, an inner suburb of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia. It was established in July 1998 and closed in 2014. For much of its existence, it was Perth's number one "special night out" destination. It won many awards, and was described by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as ''"... perhaps the town's top table, with a formidable selection of Australian wines ..."''. The restaurant's owner and chef, English-born Neal Jackson, served his apprenticeship at the

Savoy Hotel The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 188 ...

in London, and later worked elsewhere in that city. He emigrated to Australia in 1971, and initially held various positions in restaurants around Western Australia. In 1981, he opened his first restaurant, the Anchor and Hope Inn at Donnybrook, and he was later the proprietor of Louisa's, a Bunbury restaurant ''"... that brought him a legion of fans, many of whom would drive from Perth to eat his dishes ..."''. He opened his eponymous restaurant in Perth in 1998. Signature dishes of Jackson's included rack of Amelia Park lamb with confit lamb belly and shank shepherds pie, and Turkish delight souffle with rose petal ice cream. Jackson's was the restaurant that introduced degustation menus to Western Australia. Prior to the end of August 2013, Jackson's degustation menu, nicknamed "The Dego", was a major feature of its offerings. Jackson's also had an a la carte menu, which included vegetarian dishes. Additionally, Jackson's was renowned for its wine list; its

sommelier A sommelier ( or or ; ), or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role of the wine steward in hau ...

, Kjell-Ove Almeland, was named Sommelier of the Year at the Australian Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards in 2009. Jackson's was given a two star rating, and the award for Restaurant of the Year, by ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

Good Food Guide 2011'', and retained its two star rating for 2012, 2013, and 2014. On 26 November 2013, Neal Jackson announced that he would be retiring after a 48-year career. He was expecting to sell Jackson's restaurant some time in the first half of 2014, but also intended to pursue some other opportunities. In commenting on the changes he had observed since arriving in Western Australia 42 years earlier, he said that produce had greatly improved, but that the biggest change had been in the public's awareness of food. After receiving protests from customers about the cessation of the restaurant's degustation menu, he also said that he intended to reintroduce it for the final few months before his retirement. In July 2014, a new restaurant, St. Michael 6003, was opened on the former Jackson's site.

References

External links

''Qantas Travel Insider:'' Critics' Choice: Event venues
– includes a review of Jackson's originally published in ''Qantas The Australian Way''
''The Food Pornographer:'' Jackson's, Highgate: The Say Goodbye Dego
– a review of the final version of Jackson's "The Dego" {{Authority control Australian companies disestablished in 2014 Australian companies established in 1998 Defunct restaurants in Australia Highgate, Western Australia Restaurants disestablished in 2014 Restaurants established in 1998 Restaurants in Perth, Western Australia

See also

References

External links