Fame on the menu- Friends on the Hill owner Michael Hester and staff Kate Butt and Brooke Burn

By Casey Neill
MONBULK’S Friends on the Hill are in the running for a top Brit award.
A customer nominated the restaurant for the Telegraph newspaper’s Best of British competition in the best restaurant category.
Owner and British expat Michael Hester was “absolutely thrilled” and taken aback by the move.
“I was absolutely over the moon,” he said. “It’s nice to get any recognition in this industry, but when customers do it for you it really means an awful lot.”
Mr Hester said the small eatery was facing tough competition from British-themed pubs.
“That’s what they do,” he said.
But he said the thrill was in the journey rather than victory.
“I think we’d be celebrating for a month of Sundays,” he said.
“But I was just moved enough to be nominated. I thought it was just an honour really.
“I’m humbled that customers went to the trouble.”
Mr Hester took over Friends on the Hill about a year ago.
He has 35 years’ experience in the hospitality industry and likes to “look after people”.
Mr Hester was waiting on his fruit and vegetable order when one customer ordered an Eton mess – one of several traditional English dishes on the menu.
So she wasn’t left wanting, Mr Hester left the restaurant and bought a punnet of strawberries to whip up the cream, meringue and fruit dish.
“My goal is to have the best service in the hills,” he said.
Faggots and beef and Guinness pie are two other Brit dishes on offer.
“We try to have as much English fare on the menu as we can,” Mr Hester said.
He keeps English newspapers in stock, but doesn’t like to go overboard on the UK memorabilia.
One British touch is a poster bearing the slogan “Keep Calm and Carry On”, printed during World War II to reassure the masses.
“It’s real English stoicism,” he said. “And I think it’s a message for today.”
Mr Hester moved to Australia 30 years ago from Nottingham.
“Customers like to come in and pick on me about the Poms,” he said.
“I learnt very early on in Australia that it’s a national sport, they will pick on you. But if you’re proud of where you come from and give it back they’ll respect that.”
Readers can visit www.telegraph. co.uk/expat, or see Michael Hester at 104 Main Road, Monbulk, to register their vote before 15 February.