It’s been a busy few days for Sydney chef and restaurateur Greg Doyle who’s been in the news this week after a story in the Sydney media announced he was "renouncing" the three hat status of his acclaimed fine diner Pier.

“I think it has been a little bit misconstrued,” Doyle told Hospitality magazine this afternoon. “What I’m doing is I’ve decided to take Pier in a different direction, in other words go slightly down market. And by slightly I mean slightly.

“My intention is to bring it back a notch or two and I honestly felt that as a mark of respect to both the [SMH] Good Food Guide and Gourmet Traveller’s restaurant guide that I should let them know and advise them about that we weren’t going to necessarily be following the three hat procedure any more.”

“I wasn’t saying didn’t want to be in the guides any more or refusing to be in them I was trying to say hey I’ve changed direction.”

Doyle’s announcement sparked some sharp comments from co editor of the SMH Good Food Guide and high profile restaurant reviewer Terry Durack. In a story in the Sydney Morning Herald website he said it wasn’t up to Doyle whether he retained his three hats or not.

“With his announcement he implies that it is his decision whether he keeps his three hats or not, which of course it isn’t, Durack wrote.

‘The only people to decide whether or not a restaurant gets three hats are the editors of the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, Joanna Saville and myself, based on the experiences and those of our trusty team of reviewers.”

“What Greg Doyle can do, of course, is renounce Pier’s current style of cuisine and the price structure of the menu that appears to have alienated his former regulars.

To read more about Greg Doyle’s plans see the June issue of Hospitality magazine.