DRINKS // In-house collaboration
It takes two
Tayim’s Little Ramos
Food and drink are a natural pair, but bartenders and chefs have only just begun to explore each other’s domains. WORDS Madeline Woolway THE LINE BETWEEN restaurant and bar
casual and depends on our schedules,”
“The one they use in the bar needs to be
staff often remain intact. While there
down in the office, doing some ordering
Ultimately, it’s the same recipe with some
has blurred, but the boundaries between are logical reasons for the divide — they are two different worlds with different
demands, after all — there are rewards for
says Ramirez. “It could be just us sitting together for the next day or having a casual conversation.”
At other times, it becomes the focus
rolled out, so it’s thin and not so intense. changes to the final steps, so it doesn’t stretch the kitchen team.”
those willing to collaborate.
of staff meals, which bring chefs and
And when chefs don’t have the capacity, they
Xander Ramirez, bar manager at Tayim in
“[We] talk about flavours or ideas when
reason. “If they want to come in and use the
Sydney’s The Rocks says time is the biggest barrier. Kitchens and bars tend to keep different hours, and so do their staff. There are physical constraints, too,
bartenders together in an ideal world. we’re all sitting down,” says Ramirez.
“We talk about where we want to take the direction of Tayim’s beverage and food.”
especially at bigger establishments. “In my
experience, you don’t have the opportunity to get to know each other,” says Ramirez.
“You’re always going to be tucked away at
the bar or on the floor selling cocktails and
the head chef is going to be in the kitchen.” Time and physical barriers are
one thing, language and culture are another. Ultimately, the former can
open the kitchen up to the bar team — within kitchen outside of service time, they can,”
says Fitzsimmons. The chef has also passed
unneeded equipment on to the bar team, too, facilitating even more experimentation.
In return, the bar team has stepped up
“Chef Ran has changed the way I understand a cuisine I don’t know much about.” – Xander Ramirez
to the challenge. “They know how to make their own caramels and all that sort of
stuff,” says Fitzsimmons. “They’ve come to
me with a couple of things I’ve never done before, fruit roll-ups for example, which I
could research and learn to do, but they’ve had a go and mastered it.”
Green Moustache bar supervisor
be accommodated if the two teams
At Green Moustache, the bar team come
Marcella Guilfoyle developed a fruit roll-up
dependent on leadership. Ramirez has
they can help. Requests have varied from
equipment such as a dehydrator.
are willing. Success in this respect is
established a rapport with Tayim head chef Ran Kimelfeld based on a mutual
to the chefs with ideas, who see how honeycomb to fruit roll-ups.
Head chef Pete Fitzsimmons is honest
goal. “Chef Ran and I share an ideology,”
about what his team can achieve given the
offering to be as premium as possible and
the kitchen’s workload to an unreasonable
he says. “We want the beverage and food as authentic as possible.”
Surprisingly, the solution is to take a less
structured approach. “Our process is quite 20 | Hospitality
demands of service. Some requests can take level. Others, such as a honeycomb garnish,
recipe and other garnishes, using kitchen
However, she’s quick to point out a good
relationship between kitchen and bar staff
is what’s allowed the team to learn. “Open communication needs to be there so when someone needs help they can ask for it.”
are no problem. “I use honeycomb in a
The results speak for themselves.
naturally aerates and puffs up,” he says.
Ramirez have been able to create a more
dessert, [but] it’s a different style; one that
By working together, Kimelfeld and
