CHEFS WITH CRED Richard Cornish @foodcornish
In this region, we pride ourselves on our vineyards, forests and rugged landscapes, mineral springs, and our food culture. Our towns and villages are dotted with award-winning restaurants, cooking schools and artisan food stores founded by outstanding chefs.
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ome are born here. Some are attracted by the lifestyle. Others spend half a lifetime learning skills in the best kitchens overseas before returning here to cook some of the best food in the nation. ANDREA 'DRE' REISS
It's early spring and the long, warm days of summer are still way in front of us. Yet there is a queue outside the Woodend Ice Cream Co. The ice cream is insanely good, made with fresh milk and cream and flavours like real Belgian chocolate and coffee and honey-walnut. Made with ingredients prepared in the Woodend kitchen. The customers are also here for the rich, creamy hot chocolate. It's prepared with Barry Callebaut chocolate, cocoa liqueur, and cream diluted with hot milk and sold alongside fresh crullers - doughnuts made with choux pastry and slathered in rich toppings like
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Photo by KGMG
salted caramel fudge. The products are sensational, and so they should be. The woman behind these rich pickings is Andrea Reiss. She was the founding force launching South Melbourne's outstanding patisserie Bibelot and popular café Chez Dre. Born in Singapore to Australian parents, Andrea grew up in Canada and came to Australia when she was 20. After studying hospitality at Holmesglen TAFE, she went on to be part of the opening kitchen team of Arintji, Federation Square, under famous French chef Jacques Reymond in the early 2000s. She left Australia to work at the two Michelin-starred Green House in Mayfair, London. "They offered me stocks or patisserie," says Andrea. "The stock pots were so big I feared I would fall into them. So, I chose patisserie." For the first six months, she cut marshmallows and fruit jelly with a hot knife into perfect 3.5cm cubes. "You learn precision doing a job like that," she says. Her career moved rapidly. Andrea's next stop was the Michelin-starred Hakkasan/Yauatcha group,
