Hospitality July 2018

NO.745 JULY 2018

Cheers!

WHY LOW-ALCOHOL DRINKS COULD BE YOUR TICKET TO ATTRACTING MORE CUSTOMERS

Native connection A CLOSER LOOK AT THE DAVIDSON PLUM

Romance is dead

HOW THE TRUFFLE WENT FROM ADORED TO OVERUSED

Sugar rush

THE TOP 5 DESSERT TRENDS EVERY OPERATOR NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT

Ed’s note

July Contents 4 In focus

6 Openings 7 Flavour of the month

O

n 8 June, the world learned of the passing of Anthony Bourdain. It still seems surreal the chef, writer and presenter has gone, and his suicide is a sad but timely reminder of the devastating impacts of mental illness.

The culinary industry is notorious by nature, rife with excess, pressure, long days and physically hot environments, resulting in heightened levels of emotion. It’s easy to feel helpless when situations such as these occur, but the importance of checking in with friends, family and colleagues cannot be underestimated and has the potential to make all the difference to someone who is struggling.

Initiating dialogue on mental health should and needs to become a priority in all workplaces. The more we talk about it, the easier it becomes for all parties involved; it’s as simple as starting a conversation.

This issue, we examine the glorious foodstuff that is the truffle. I speak with Peter Marshall from Terra Preta along with chefs Ross Lusted and Justin James about truffle oil and why knowledge is power when it comes to dealing with fresh truffles.

We also look at venues prioritising non-alcoholic beverage options, why workplace uniforms don’t have to be boring and chat with chef Jerry Mai about seasonality and her style of Vietnamese cuisine.

The Restaurant Leaders Summit on 30 July at the Park Hyatt in Melbourne is fast approaching, so I encourage you to register for tickets now at restaurantleaders.com.au. Don’t miss your chance to hear from Melbourne’s best chefs and operators.

Until next time, Annabelle Cloros Editor If you or someone else needs help, contact Lifeline: 13 11 14

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8 Business profile 12 Column 14 Drinks 18 Trends

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20 Best practice 22 Truffles 28 Dessert 32 Uniforms 36 Catering

7 8

40 Shelf space 41 Diary 42 5 minutes with …

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July 2018 Hospitality 3

in focus

Delivery domain Millennials are officially the most prominent users of food delivery services in Australia.

N

ew research from Roy Morgan shows nearly two million Australians over the age of 14 now use food delivery services including Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Menulog. The study was conducted from April 2017 to March 2018 and covered 15,067 Australians.

Young Australians are the predominant users of food delivery, with 16.1 per cent of millennials (age 28–42) opting to have a meal delivered to their doorstep in an average three months compared to 4.5 per cent of baby boomers and just 3.6 per cent of pre-boomers.

The research also showed those who live in a ‘metrotech’ community (22 per cent) are more likely to use delivery services than those who live in country areas (4.5 per cent).

A metrotech is defined as a young, single, well-educated inner-city professional with high income. They’re also described as being cultured and cashed up. Metrotechs also prefer using Uber Eats over Menulog (16.4 per cent), Deliveroo (7.3 per cent) and Foodora (3.8 per cent).

4 Hospitality July 2018

DELIVERY IS WELL AND

TRULY BOOMING AND SHOWS NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN Women are more likely to use delivery services

10.2% than men (9.4%)

City-dwellers are more likely to have meals delivered

22%

than those in country areas (4.5%)

16.1%

of millennials have used a meal delivery service in an average three months compared to baby boomers (3.6%)

Openings The latest venues to swing open their doors in Australia’s foodservice scene.

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1

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Saddles

Mount White, NSW Central Coast Country-style restaurant and bake house Saddles has opened on the New South Wales Central Coast, led by husband and wife team Cameron and Hayley Cansdell.

Saddles is the latest project by former Bondi Icebergs owner John Singleton, who says the new dining destination is his lifelong dream. The restaurant takes an ethical approach to food, highlighting in-season produce and heirloom varieties cultivated from the on-site kitchen garden.

2

Bistecca

Sydney CBD Liquor & Larder (Grandma’s, The Wild Rover, Wilhelmina’s) has added to its portfolio with a new Italian steak restaurant in Sydney’s CBD, dubbed Bistecca. The restaurant serves Bistecca alla Fiorentina, a Tuscan-style steak cut that will be cut and weighed tableside before being cooked over fire. Head chef Pip Pratt will be leading the kitchen, which will also pump out side dishes including braised cannellini beans, garlic and rosemary potatoes and wilted greens. A vegetarian dish of the day will also be on offer.

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Black Hide by Gambaro

Brisbane CBD Top-quality Australian beef is the focus at Black Hide by Gambaro at Treasury Casino in Brisbane. The 154-seat restaurant is the third venue for the Gambaro Group and focuses on paddock-to-plate dining. Alongside Wagyu, Angus and dry-aged steaks, the menu features seafood options such as Moreton Bay bugs, live lobster and oysters that can all be enjoyed with views over the Brisbane River.

4

Mama Mulan

Chatswood, Sydney Mama Mulan has arrived on Sydney’s North Shore, bringing Shandong-style dining to Chatswood. The 180seat restaurant specialises in handmade noodles, freshly prepared dumplings and live seafood straight from the tank. Former Lotus and Chefs Gallery chef Marble Ng has come on board to lead the kitchen as head chef, while design firm DS17 — responsible for Alpha, Lotus and Nour — is behind the fresh fitout.

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4

Ortzi

Surry Hills, Sydney The team behind Darlinghurst restaurant Sagra has opened Ortzi, a restaurant inspired by the Basque region.

Chef and co-owner Michael Otto is joined in the kitchen by chef Edward Saxton, also from Sagra, with the pair focusing on whole-animal cooking and dishes that will evolve throughout the week to ensure minimal wastage.

Flat cider (known as cidre in the Basque country) will feature heavily on the drinks menu alongside a wine list influenced by Northern Spain and Southern France.

6 Hospitality July 2018

5

DAVIDSON PLUM

D

avidson plum is a native Australian fruit predominantly grown throughout northern New South Wales and both South-East and Tropical North Queensland. Adding an acidic hit to savoury or sweet dishes, the vibrant fruit is popping up on menus across the country.

HISTORY The type specimen was first registered in 1866 by botanist John Dallachy who sourced the plum from Far North Queensland, where it was known to local Indigenous Australian people as ‘Ooray’. Davidson plum was part of their rainforest-based cuisine for thousands of years. Following European settlement, the plums were eaten fresh and were also used to make jam, jelly and red wine.

Flavour of the month Grown on the east coast of Australia, the native fruit adds a bold flavour and colour to a variety of food and drinks.

GROWING AND SEASONALITY The two species of Davidson plum used for commercial production are Davidsonia jerseyana and Davidsonia pruriens. D. jerseyana is grown in sub-tropical rainforest areas in far northern New South Wales and has trunk-bearing characteristics that allow for hand-harvesting from ground level. D. pruriens can be found growing in coastal and upland rainforest areas of north-east Queensland and is commercially grown in mid-north coastal areas of New South Wales. The fruit is larger and firmer and predominantly grows on the tree’s upper branches. D. jerseyana is available fresh in summer, while D. pruriens ripen in winter.

FLAVOUR PROFILE Chef Mark Olive says Davidson plum is a great palate cleanser as it strips everything from your mouth. “It looks like a plum, but like all indigenous fruits, there’s a twist,” he says. “It’s sour and bitter but pleasurable.” The fruit features an earthy aroma similar to fresh beetroot with a slight pickled note.

FOOD USES Davidson plums aren’t generally eaten fresh due to their intense acidity and low sugar content. They should be left to ripen for around a week to allow the sugars to develop. The fruits are generally made into a powder or purée. Davidson plums contain two flat seeds that need to be removed before production.

“They can be eaten raw if you like the sour flavour profile, otherwise stew them down when making sweets,” says Olive.

“Treat them like domestic plums, but remember to double the sugar because of the bitterness of the fruit.”

Cafés and restaurants across Australia use the fruit in a variety of dishes such as cakes and pastries, jams, sauces and ice cream. Side Room in Sydney’s Bondi uses Davidson plum powder in their smoothies and smoothie bowls.

Co-owner Andrew Hardjasudarma describes the flavour as “tart and very sour” and likens it to stewed rhubarb. “The powder form makes it easier for us to work with in terms of storage and shelf life. It’s also easier for us to prepare the product, too,” he says.

The Davidson plum powder is blended with blueberry, mango, oats, maple, almond butter and almond milk to make Side Room’s Sup N Go smoothie.

Information courtesy of Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, Australian Native Food and Botanicals and Rainforest Bounty. n July 2018 Hospitality 7

business profile

Applejack Hospitality

The Butler in Potts Point Endeavour Tap Rooms’ smoked meats plate

Over seven years, Applejack Hospitality has established a portfolio of venues across Sydney. We speak to cofounder Ben Carroll about the challenges of launching new concepts and what the future holds for the group.

By Brittney Levinson.

A

pplejack Hospitality was born in 2011 with the opening of Bondi Hardware, a small bar and dining venue in Sydney that Ben Carroll and Hamish Watts had been dreaming of for several years.

“We saw an opportunity in the market and believed we had what it took,” says Carroll. “I think we found out pretty swiftly that we didn’t have what it took, but we learnt very fast.”

But it seems they were doing something right, going on to open another five venues in the space of five years and consulting on a number of other venues across Sydney. After making the difficult decision to sell Bondi Hardware earlier this year, Applejack has a renewed strategy that suggests a promising future for the group.

STARTING SMALL Carroll and Watts were working together at a pub group when the idea of Bondi Hardware came about. “We saw a big change in the hospitality industry, particularly the small bars that were coming in and the customer movement away from the big pubs,” says Carroll.

Opening their first venue came with its fair share of challenges, but the pair were determined to make it work — even if it meant asking for help along the way.

“I don’t think you can ever go into a new business and nail it straight away; there’s always going to be that period where you’re learning on your feet and learning constantly,” says Carroll. “I think it’s those first few months where you’ve got to drop the ego and arrogance and absorb everything you can.

“Fortunately, we had a really great local customer base that we got to know well 8 Hospitality July 2018

Ben Carroll and Hamish Watts.

Photo credit: Guy Davies

business profile

and they’d give us feedback. Where appropriate, we would amend our operations and make sure we were providing what the locals wanted.”

Applejack went on to open a new venue each November over the period of five years, starting with The Botanist in Kirribilli. SoCal in Neutral Bay, The Butler in Potts Point, Della Hyde in Darlinghurst and Endeavour Tap Rooms in The Rocks followed.

In the midst of opening their own venues, the team also engaged in a range of consulting gigs, working with AccorHotels and Veriu Hotels & Suites to infuse their style and expertise into a number of venues, including Hacienda in Circular Quay. “Consulting was something we fell into,” says Carroll. “There is a huge demand, but we are slowly moving away from consulting so we can focus on our own venues and growth.”

SIGNATURE STYLE While you can’t deny each venue has an Applejack look and feel, Carroll says it wasn’t their intention. “It’s not that we aimed to make Applejack venues feel part of Applejack; I think it’s the amount of care and detail that goes into the branding, the interiors and the service standards,” he says.

Applejack aims to create a cohesive aesthetic that translates seamlessly from when customers look at a venue’s website to when they physically step into the bar or restaurant. “From graphic design to interior design, no element is missed,” says Carroll.

As for the food and drink offering, diners have become accustomed to fresh, colourful dishes that showcase seasonal produce. “The offering changes depending on the location of the venue, but the general policy is using topquality produce and reputable suppliers,” says Carroll.

THE KEYS TO SUCCESS Customers can provide valuable insight to a business, and listening to feedback has been integral to the success of Applejack’s venues.

“The restaurants we own are mainly focused in community areas,” says Carroll.

“If you look at The Botanist in Kirribilli, SoCal in Neutral Bay or The Butler in Potts Point, they’re really community-based venues. Having strong attachments to the local area and listening to our customers is really important to us.”

Margarita at SoCal SoCal’s rooftop terrace in Neutral Bay

July 2018 Hospitality 9

business profile

The bar at Endeavour Tap Rooms

While their roles as directors are separate, Carroll and Watts know it’s important to keep learning in order to grow their business. “When you stop learning, you start to get bored,” he says. “Hamish and I set up our tasks as directors and we try to keep them quite separate, but we swap our tasks around so we can both learn different aspects of the business.”

STAFFING

“I don’t think Sydney is up to date with some of the other major cities around the world such as New York or London where hospitality is seen as a career.”

– Ben Carroll

In order to maintain a healthy, positive workplace culture across Applejack’s team of 150 staff, Carroll says it starts at the top.

“Although the days of [Hamish and I] waiting on tables are few and far between, we are in the venues as much as we can be,” he says. “We attend staff meetings and communicate with staff about why Applejack is here and what we’re all about.”

Like many venues, one of the biggest challenges Applejack faces revolves around the skills shortage. And while Carroll says people might be tired of hearing about it, it’s a real issue within the industry.

“It started with the kitchen side of things and a lot of people were talking about that, particularly when the 457 visas were changing, but now you can see it among front of house managers and staff in general — there’s a real shortage,” he says.

In order for the situation to improve, Carroll believes we need to look at how the industry operates in other parts of the world. “I don’t think Sydney is up to date with some of the other major cities around the world such as New York or London where hospitality is seen as a career,” he says.

“A lot of people in hospitality in Sydney have fallen into the industry rather than getting taught skills around hospitality from school and 10 Hospitality July 2018

university — I think that’s key to changing people’s perception about what hospitality can do for your career.”

FUTURE PLANS

With the restaurant group going from strength to strength, Applejack made the decision to let go of Bondi Hardware earlier this year, selling it to a restaurateur in an off-market sale. When a restaurant broker approached Carroll and Watts with interested buyers who were looking for a way into Bondi’s thriving hospitality scene, the pair felt it was the right move, albeit a tough one.

“Selling a business is always emotional, particularly when that business was your first,” says Carroll.

“Hamish and I looked at the business model, looked at where we’ve been and where we’re going, and that’s when we decided to sell. Bondi is just booming at the moment and there’s a big demand for new businesses to come in.

“With Bondi Hardware showing strong revenue and very healthy books, we saw this as a promising exit strategy so we could focus on other areas of our business.

“We put as much effort into Bondi Hardware as we do some of our larger venues, and as you’d expect with the larger venues, you’re getting a larger return, so there was a financial reason [behind the sale] — our money could work harder for us elsewhere.”

Looking ahead, Applejack is going for a quality over quantity approach. “We have a growth strategy in place that doesn’t focus on a number of venues but on quality establishments that have higher turnover,” says Carroll.

But that doesn’t mean further expansion is off the cards. While details are still slim, Carroll says it is “likely” the group will open a new venue in the near future. Watch this space. n

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column

The beauty of being an

owner-operator His business card may read owner–operator of Marta, but Flavio Carnevale is far more interested in another title — storyteller.

I

n my earliest dreams, I longed to be an architect. In fact, my first studies were in architecture before I jumped across to the hospitality industry to follow my other passion. It might seem like a strange path to follow, but I don’t know that designing a building is all that different from designing every component of a restaurant from from the colour of the tiles to the dishes on the menu and the wine in the rack.

As owner–operator of Marta, I’m the architect of my business and of my life, and I’m invested in creating an atmosphere and an experience where customers can feel the love and passion in the details. It’s a sort of electricity a diner can feel when they’re in the hands of someone who is emotionally charged by what they’re doing.

I’ve worked in restaurants where each dish is tested by 10 people before they make a decision to put it on the menu. I can understand why they’re doing it, but it’s never been an option for me. Not only does it complicate something that should be so simple and led by instinct and emotion, but I’m convinced the vision of one person and what he or she is trying to tell you is far more inspiring than trying to get feedback from the masses and applying it.

At the end of the day, you can call us whatever you like — restaurateurs, cooks or chefs, but the truth of it is we’re storytellers.

When we throw open the doors to our restaurants, we’re really saying, ‘Come to my place and let me share a story we believe in’.

The stories I tell are of Rome. Not Rome as tourists know it or what’s been researched in a book, but the true Rome where I lived and worked in hospitality for more than a decade. I want to tell the story that Roman food isn’t like other Italian food and I want to tell the story that Roman food is peasant food heavily influenced by the cultures within the world’s first truly multicultural society, using grains from Northern Africa, spices from India and one that has a massive Jewish influence.

My job — my passion, really — is to cobble together these stories and present the fairytale in a way that makes people feel as though they’re sitting in my lounge room. Even though we thrive in an atmosphere loved by Romans called caciara (organised, joyful chaos), we want them to feel like they’re the only ones in the room.

When you’re an owner–operator, you’re always dreaming, inventing, creating; it’s so much more than choosing colours, dishes and chairs. It’s thinking about why people want to come to your place and keep coming back, how you want them to feel while they’re dining and what you want them to remember when they walk away.

Obviously I’m the face at the door and I want them to enjoy their food and wine, but I’m also watching facial expressions and sensing emotions. How are they reacting to the Marta experience? Do they look relaxed? I usually feel like the patriarch of a big, chaotic house where I’m watching over everyone to make sure the kids aren’t fighting and people are comfortable and happy — it just happens to be on a larger scale.

Actually, we could talk about logistics and we could talk about emotions, but you know what the beauty of being an owner–operator really is? It’s giving a shit in a world where so many often don’t. n 12 Hospitality July 2018

You can call us whatever you like — restaurateurs, cooks or chefs, but the truth of it is that we’re storytellers.

CONVENIENCE Our trucks supply you with fresh oil in minutes, while our used oil trucks remove all of your spent oil, giving you time to focus on the more important elements in the kitchen.

drinks Seedlip’s Ben Branson

Alcohol-free zone An increasing number of patrons are choosing to go alcohol-free, but they’re looking for more than sparkling water or a soft drink.

By Brittney Levinson.

W

hether it’s a choice driven by health, designated driver status or simply preference, more Australians are ditching their usual glass of wine or beer. According to DrinkWise’s Australian Drinking Habits study, which was conducted over a 10-year period, Australians are drinking more moderately than ever before and the rate of excessive drinking is declining. In 2017, 20 per cent of Australians had abstained from alcohol compared to 11 per cent in 2007.

With more people opting to go sansalcohol, there’s never been a more crucial time for venues to cater to the market. But a Coke simply won’t cut it anymore — consumers want thoughtful non-alcoholic options so they don’t feel like they’re missing out.

Thor Bergquist and his wife Livia Lima are the creative duo behind PS40 sodas. After working in hospitality for 15 years, Bergquist 14 Hospitality July 2018

noticed a gap in the market and a chance to get creative with his own range of sodas. “My passion always stemmed from the creative process, so we decided to start our own range of soft drinks, making them the same way we would cocktails, from scratch, by hand and using the best produce,” says Bergquist.

“We moved to Sydney to do this as it has a wide range of microclimates, seasons and native ingredients.”

Together with their business partner Michael Chiem, they’ve created a following for their house-made sodas, which are served on their own or in a range of cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks at the PS40 bar in Sydney.

Bergquist says demand is increasing for nonalcoholic options, which presents a whole new line of revenue for hospitality venues.

“Most groups will have one person who doesn’t drink, is driving or isn’t drinking that night,” he says. “The last thing you want is for the entire group to leave because one person isn’t catered for or doesn’t feel included.

“Alongside sodas, we also have an entire non-alcoholic section of the menu at PS40. It isn’t just our normal cocktails without alcohol — our non-alcoholic drinks are entirely their own identities and have as much thought and passion put into them as anything else in our menu.”

Catering to the demand for non-alcoholic

drinks, UK-based spirit company Seedlip has created two non-alcoholic spirits that are now making their way on to menus across the world. Founder Ben Branson began distilling herbs from his garden as a hobby, but it wasn’t until he was in a restaurant — and the only non-alcoholic option was a sugary mocktail — that he realised he could fill a gap in the market. “If you’re not drinking, the options are usually fruity, sweet and lack the theatre, ritual and sophistication so well known within the alcohol world,” he says. “With Seedlip, we’re aiming to show consumers what is possible with a drink beyond its alcohol content.”

Using a similar distilling process to regular spirits, Seedlip starts with a range of raw ingredients sourced from all over the world.

Peas and hay are from Branson’s own farm for Seedlip Garden 108, while berries from Jamaica are used in Seedlip Spice 94.

“It takes six weeks to make a bottle of Seedlip, and we have developed a bespoke process for each individual plant we work with to capture its true character, from individual macerations to individual copper pot distillation, filtration and blending without adding any sugar or sweetener,” says Branson.

A number of bars across Australia have added Seedlip to their drinks list, including

drinks

PS40, who will be hosting a special Seedlip pop-up bar this month. “N o l o by Seedlip is our inclusive new bar concept which will see an emphasis on a drink’s flavour and ingredients rather than the alcohol content,” says Branson.

Bergquist says PS40 will be serving a range of “delicious, forward-thinking drinks” for the pop-up. “James Snelgrove (brand ambassador for Seedlip) and I have made our own soda to go along with the Seedlip Spice,” he says.

“We’ve created a clarified milk punch with peas and Nordic spices and a reverse Martinez.”

Solander Dining and Bar in Sydney is another venue taking non-alcoholic drinks to a new level. Gin and tonic, Negroni, Bellini and Aperol spritz all feature on their zero-alcohol cocktail list and are designed to mimic the taste and look of the traditional alcoholic versions. “For the Negroni, we use the aromatic Seedlip, so it’s close to the aromas of Campari, and then we add some bitters that gives the ruby red colour and a bit of soda water to blend everything together,” says bar supervisor Matteo Rosini.

Rosini says customers are always surprised at how similar the drinks are to their alcoholic counterparts. “It’s something different and out of the ordinary for them,” he says. “We’re trying to give them something different other than the classic soda water.”

But non-alcoholic drinks don’t Solander Bar’s always have to imitate alcoholic non-alcoholic Negroni cocktails. Biota Dining, located in the New South Wales Southern Highlands, offers a juice-matching program for its non-alcoholic option, with a drink paired to every course. “People can have a regular soft drink anywhere,” says sommelier Ben Shephard. “When they come to our restaurant, they are expecting something unique.”

Much like the menu at Biota

“If you’re not drinking, the options are usually fruity, sweet and lack the theatre, ritual and sophistication so well known within the alcohol world.”

– Ben Branson

Dining, the juices change seasonally. “We don’t necessarily wait until the first day of spring and then change ingredients,” says Shephard. “Mother Nature doesn’t know when the first day of spring is, so we introduce new ingredients as exciting produce becomes available.” The current juice list features ingredients including smoked plums, celery, apple scraps, elderflower and lemon myrtle.

Shephard says feedback from customers has been very positive towards the offering.

“A common scenario is for a couple to share a matching wine and a matching juice, not for any particular reason, just so they can taste everything on offer,” he says. “It’s also great for expectant mothers and even young kids to experience a matching experience.”

Without the alcohol, customers might expect the prices to be considerably lower. However, given the thought and process behind this new wave of non-alcoholic beverages, venues are able to charge a relatively similar price to the alcoholic counterpart.

“Our non-alcoholic drinks package is about 10 per cent less expensive than the wines,” says Shephard. “There is a lot of labour and love in each of the juices, and we need to be making them regularly to maintain freshness and quality.”

Today’s choice-driven customer wants options when it comes to non-alcoholic beverages. “If a restaurant has one vegetarian dish, would you want to keep going back there on a weekly basis for that same dish?” says Bergquist. “We should be able to offer different selections of non-alcoholic drinks as every person has different tastes and will visit hopefully more than once.”

So give some thought to your non-alcoholic range — a variety of seasonal juices or sodas will go a long way to ensuring each and every customer feels like they have plenty of options, regardless if they’re drinking alcohol or not. n

Sodas at PS40

July 2018 Hospitality 15

RECIPE INSPIRATION

Prep: 5 mins | Cook: 35 mins | 4 servings

Chicken Schnitzel & Roasted Apple Burger

INGREDIENTS

with mustard fennel mayo

METHOD 1. Cook apples in a pan with oil and butter for 30mins. Heat Ingham’s Ready to Eat Chicken Breast Schnitzel as per instructions.

2. Preheat grill or salamander on high heat. Toast cut sides of buns until light golden. Place bun bases on plates.

3. In a processor blend mayo, mustard and fennel until fennel is smooth.

4. Spread buns with mayonnaise and top with lettuce. Place

1 tablespoon olive oil 20g butter 2 green or red apples cored, sliced in rounds 4 Ingham’s Ready to Eat Chicken Breast Schnitzels defrost completely 4 hamburger buns, split in half 1/4 cup whole-egg mayonnaise 2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard ½ fennel bulb or 2 teaspoons of fennel seed slightly toasted 4 leaves of cos lettuce

schnitzels on lettuce and top with roasted apple slices. Cover with bun tops, and serve with chips.

Ingham’s Ready to Eat Chicken Breast Schnitzel

Your chance to win

Simply purchase Ingham’s DEVIL WING DINGS, SATAY KEBABS or RTE CHICKEN BREAST SCHNITZEL 180g between 01/07/18 and 11.59pm AEST 30/09/18

Conditions apply, see www.inghams.com.au/foodservice/100-years/t&cs. Open to registered AU businesses. Limit 1 entry per invoice/transaction. Retain purchase invoice/s. Draws: S5, Erina Plaza, 210 Central Coast Hwy, Erina NSW 2250. There will be 3 entry periods with different purchase requirements and a separate draw conducted for each on the following dates: 5/7/18 (for entries between 1/4/18-30/6/18), 4/10/18 (for entries between 1/7/18-30/9/18) & 10/1/19 (for entries between 1/10/18-31/12/18) at 11:30am AEST/AEDT (as applicable). Prize (1 per draw): $10,000 worth of Visa Gift Cards (awarded as 10 x $1,000 gift cards). Winners published at https://inghams.com.au/foodservice/100-years from 10/7/18, 10/10/18 & 14/1/19. Promoter: Inghams Enterprises Pty Limited (ABN 20 008 447 345) of L4, 1 Julius Ave, North Ryde NSW 2113. Permits: NSW LTPS/18/22852 ACT TP18/00502 SA T18/441.

CHANGING THE WAY CUSTOMERS VIEW CONVENIENCE In celebration of its 100th anniversary, Australia’s iconic poultry products supplier Ingham’s is sharing some of the success stories of hardworking Aussie foodservice professionals.

Innovative presentation and service concepts are rapidly changing the face of the traditional convenience market, and Jill & Jack’s is a great example.

From the creation of its first store in Alice Springs, Jill & Jack’s was about breaking with tradition and changing the way customers view convenience.

“What we wanted was to make independent petrol stations more competitive in a market where the major players were becoming so dominant,” explains Jill & Jack’s Vincent Cardinale. “The way we achieved that was to recognise that half the customers who came through our doors were female and we weren’t catering for them. We didn’t have a product range or offer which was enticing, and that needed to change.”

With many people today juggling long commutes in heavy traffic with the need to spend more time with their families, Jill & Jack’s is focused on providing an attractive one-stop shop environment where customers can come not only to fill up on fuel but grab a good quality coffee, breakfast or lunch.

salads, and we use Chicken Tenders in wraps and baguettes and as a pre-packed grab and go meal.

At our bigger sites which have a roadhouse-style presentation we serve Ingham’s Wing Dings as either an individual purchase or pre-packed with wedges, and they’re also sold with a beverage as a combo meal deal.”

Vincent describes the quality and consistency of Ingham’s products as “fantastic” and adds: “If it wasn’t for the quality of their products, we wouldn’t be able to have a consistent offer across all our stores. If you were to fly to any of our sites, whether in Alice Springs, Port Douglas, Tasmania or Sydney, and buy a baguette or a wrap or a salad they would all taste the same, and that’s down to the consistent quality we get from Ingham’s products.”

Being able to provide this kind of consistent offer to customers is vital to the success of the business, Vincent emphasises: “We want our customers to feel secure in knowing that when they come in here, they’ll get a good quality meal every time and the Ingham’s products enable us to offer that. Product consistency also makes meal preparation easier for our staff – they aren’t chefs or cooks, so having a good quality, consistent product makes it easy for them to manage our menu.”

Ingham’s is Jill & Jack’s number one protein supplier across all stores. “Ingham’s have been fantastic – they were with us from the conceptual stage right through to where we are today. They could see the potential for growth in the market and wanted to align themselves with a concept that they knew had legs, and it’s turned out pretty positive,” Vincent says.

“We use a wide variety of their products, which has allowed us to develop and extend our menu. We use their Chicken Schnitzels in our baguettes, wraps and

Your next chance to win $10,000 in Ingham’s centennial celebration!

Purchase Ingham’s Satay Kebabs, Devil Wing Dings or Ready to Eat Chicken Breast Schnitzel between 1/7/18 and 30/9/18 and go in the draw to WIN! Register your details online and upload your supplier’s invoice as proof of purchase.

Enter online www.inghams.com.au/birthday For full terms and conditions visit www.inghams.com.au/birthday

INGHAM’S HAS THE ANSWER

No matter what your professional requirements, Ingham’s has the answer in its extensive range.

Find out more about Ingham’s products including recipe suggestions, support and professional advice by visiting www.inghams.com.au/foodservice

trends

Back to fat

Butter has a new lease of life thanks to chefs churning the boundaries. By Annabelle Cloros.

Clayton Wells Photo credit: Nikki To

Shaun Quade

B

utter has experienced a recent surge in popularity thanks to artisan producers such as Pepe Saya and King Valley Dairy hitting the market. But it’s what chefs do with the humble log, wheel or block of butter that takes a quality product to the next level. Butter can be teamed with ingredients including wakame, bush tomato and smoked eel to create spreads and sauces that add depth and complexity to a dish.

CROWD PLEASER There’s something familiar and ritualistic about a bread and butter course. Although many diners make the mistake of filling up on bread and lashings of butter before they reach entrée, a level of comfort is established, which is an important feeling for customers to experience.

Chefs Shaun Quade from Lûmé in Melbourne and Clayton Wells from Automata and A1 Canteen in Sydney and Blackwattle in Singapore were both met with outrage when they tried to take off or change their bread and butter dishes, which proves the power of approachable food, especially when dining at venues that challenge convention.

Flavoured butters are present across Automata’s, A1’s and Blackwattle’s menu in numerous forms, with Automata currently offering chicken jus and anchovy butter for the bread course.

“In a tasting menu, a bread course is now a bit of a thing,” says Wells. “People spend a lot of time making beautiful bread and want something that goes really well with butter, the flavour profiles of the restaurant and what’s on the menu.”

At Lûmé, the bread and smoked eel butter course isn’t where you’d expect it — it appears three-quarters of the way into the menu.

“We play around with the food a little bit and we do a lot of different things, so I think the bread and butter course is something people can relate to,” says Quade. “The bread is like ground zero — it’s a comfort blanket.”

OUT OF THE BOX Naturally, butter has a high fat content, which makes it the ideal partner to team with ingredients that can compete and establish contrast.

Blackwattle has a number of butter-based sauces dotted throughout its menu, including celeriac, XO, salted egg yolk and wakame, and Wells is constantly working on new flavours such as kombu and bush tomato.

“At Blackwattle, we ferment celeriac which is quite sour and has a strong flavour, so the butter calms it down and enriches it,” he says.

“I’ve also done it at Automata with mushrooms, which we ferment for a week and extract the liquid to use with butter.”

Automata is also running a snack option of grilled baby gem lettuce brushed with a bush tomato butter. “We blow torch the butter on to the lettuce so butter drips through the leaves,” says Wells.

18 Hospitality July 2018

Smoked eel butter at Lûmé

Lûmé opts to work with smoked eel sourced from Skipton, just outside of Melbourne, but their butter is a hybrid product. Quade makes a Catalan custard with milk, egg yolks and smoked eel flesh that’s baked until it’s caramelised before being mixed with butter. “It’s heavily caramelised, so it has toasty, roasted notes,” he says. “We serve it with sourdough made with Jerusalem artichoke juice that replaces the water in the dough, so it’s earthy and sweet which goes well with the smoked eel butter and onion honey. If you want to serve an infused butter, make it taste strong.”

CULTURED, UNSALTED OR SALTED? There are myriad options available when it comes to butter, and each have their place, especially when it comes to working with flavoured options — it all depends on your partner ingredients. When making truffle butter, for example, cultured butter is the prime option as lactic acid is able to absorb the flavour.

Both Quade and Wells opt to use unsalted butter when creating flavoured options. “If we used cultured butter with a flavoured option, it might throw out the acid balance of the sauce as cultured butter is more acidic,” says Wells.

Blackwattle’s salted egg yolk butter is cured overnight in a salt and sugar mix and takes on a salty flavour profile from the get-go. “The mix draws all the liquid out, so it’s cured and a bit gummy,” says Wells. “From there, we add in white wine vinegar before blending the unsalted butter in. We have to look at the salinity level of what we’re serving.”

Thanks to the creativity of Australian chefs who aren’t bound by culinary tradition, there are a number of innovative butter options appearing on menus across the globe. n

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best practice

How to cut restaurant wage costs With wage costs showing no signs of slowing down, it’s important to balance and cut costs in others areas of your business. By Ken Burgin.

H

ow can you bring wage costs below 30 per cent of sales?

Is it really possible? Not unless you prioritise sales building as well as tightly managing expenses.

We have conflicting pressures in Australia — wages are high as a percentage of restaurant business costs. Plus there’s a very high cost of living for staff, mainly from big-city rents. Our cooks and floor staff are some of the lowest-paid people in the country, and the way forward is through efficiency, not cutting their incomes.

The Restaurant & Catering Association’s State of the Industry 2018 report suggests wages are a crazy 44 per cent of sales in restaurants and cafés and there’s little prospect of official wages coming down.

The only way forward is through better management and a focus on sales improvement.

Consider these tips, which are sure to boost efficiency across the business. Remember, what gets measured gets managed, and what is managed can improve.

WIND UP SOME MENU PRICES But make sure you maintain service and product quality. If some items on the menu can’t justify a price increase, they may have to be replaced. When you know the accurate cost of each item, you’ll be more confident with pricing.

IMPROVE STAFF SALES SKILLS Does your team sell your menu or just take orders? Encourage staff to focus on a second coffee, side orders and relate enthusiastic descriptions. You could even teach employees some scripts if they’re not confident in their selling skills.

SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR LEASTPRODUCTIVE STAFF MEMBER This person is usually the one you’ve let stay for too long. Two snappy and experienced waiters can do the work of three amateurs — pay them a little more and you’ll still be well ahead.

USE REAL-TIME CLOUD-BASED ROSTERING No more rear-vision-mirror management when you find out wage costs after it’s too late. Rostering systems like Tanda or Deputy are relatively low cost and enable you to understand staff costs hour by hour. You can also adjust with the pattern of sales. Integrate these with your POS and bookkeeping and you’ll know exactly how business is going.

20 Hospitality July 2018

What gets measured gets managed, and what is managed can improve.

GET THE MANAGER AND CHEF TO COMPLETE INDIVIDUAL COSTED ROSTERS Grant senior employees access to the rostering system and set a budget they can’t exceed. Give a chef $4000 for the week to cover all their staff costs and ask them how they will organise it. You’ll be surprised what they can do, and you now have the basis for incentive payments.

EDUCATE MANAGERS ABOUT ON-COSTS Work cover, superannuation and uniforms can add 20 per cent to the quoted award rate and should be part of their cost targets.

EXAMINE OPENING HOURS Take a hard look at the parts of the day where sales are low and wage costs high — do you really need to be open? Closing during these times may have implications for your brand, but is it worth having a seven-day reputation if two lose money?

RECONSIDER HANDMADE FOOD ITEMS Rethink the food you make from scratch compared to what you can buy in; there are many high-quality options available. This can be an emotional exercise, but ask yourself if you can say goodbye to your house-made ice-cream, hand-cut chips or the whole carcasses you cut into steaks. Maybe you have one person too many in the kitchen?

INVEST IN QUALITY EQUIPMENT Update production equipment to eliminate tedious work. Food processors, efficient coffee making and hand-held ordering devices ensure floor staff aren’t walking unnecessary distances.

CROSS-TRAIN STAFF Take the time to educate staff across kitchen, bar and front of house.

You’ll save wages if the bar guy can help out with dishes or a waiter can restock the bar. It requires skills training plus a shift in attitude, so make sure new employees understand this as it breaks from tradition. You’re a barista, but you also clear tables! n

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truffles

The truffle conundrum Truffle season is among us. But does that mean it should be piled high on everything from lattes to waffle fries? We look at how the truffle has gone from adored to exhausted.

By Annabelle Cloros.

T

he truffle really is a miraculous piece of produce, especially those harvested in Australia. The fact we even have a local truffle industry is a feat in and of itself, but in recent years a wave of inferior products have flooded the market, making it readily available in a number of forms — from weeds to oils and plain poorquality fresh truffle.

Tacking on the word ‘truffle’ has a realm of connotations that spring to mind — and operators know that. A bowl of fries goes from $8 to almost double the price when it’s hit with a slick of truffle oil, resulting in a high profit margin that’s almost too good to take off the menu.

The culinary world has a bad habit of turning prized produce that should be prepared and enjoyed in its purest form into something that’s a far cry from its original being — just look at Wagyu beef that’s now churned up into burger patties or wasabi that’s more horseradish and green food colouring than plant.

Every industry has its shortfalls, but maybe it’s time we go back to basics when it comes to the truffle and embrace it for what it is — 22 Hospitality July 2018

a treasure. We talk to truffle grower Peter Marshall and chefs Ross Lusted and Justin James about why they’d never touch truffle oil, the importance of seasonality and how venues should really be using truffle on a menu.

HOCUS POCUS You can smell it before you see it — the synthetic smell of truffle that’s not actually truffle at all, but the unmistakable scent of 2,4-dithiapentane, a compound that’s now commonly associated with truffle. And sadly, it’s a far cry from the real deal.

Although many oils on the market claim to be infused with real truffle, the truth is the flavour components of truffles aren’t soluble in heavy oil. Unsterilised truffles will mature and rot, resulting in a rancid product with a short shelf life. So what are those shards of truffle floating at the bottom of the bottle? According to Peter Marshall from Terra Preta Truffles, they’re Tuber aestivum, brumale or borchi; otherwise known as weed truffles worth nothing.

“In a day that we’re talking about paddock to plate, I’m amazed any chef would put a petrochemical-derived potion on food,” says Marshall. “The manufactured industry takes a single flavour essence, which is completely synthetic, puts that in with oil and then drops a few weed truffles in the bottom of the bottle so they can say on the label ‘contains truffle’.”

To survive in oil, the truffle fragments must undergo a sterilisation process that leaves little to be desired in terms of flavour profile.

“They’re sterilised in an autoclave; that’s highpressure steam,” says Marshall. “So what little

flavour those weed truffles had is completely destroyed before it’s dropped into the oil. As far as I’m concerned, truffle oil has one good function — bait for rat traps.”

Listeria is also a real threat when dealing with truffle due to their contact with soil.

Truffle peelings are commonly used in the creation of oils and butters as they’re cheaper and readily available, however failing to correctly sterilise truffle peelings can result in the presence of dangerous bacteria. “There’s a lot of truffle farmers who don’t prepare and sterilise the truffle correctly after it comes out of the soil,” says Marshall. “There’s a good chance of Listeria being on the surface of the truffle and on the peel. When you drop the peel into oil and it rots, you’ve just created a population of Listeria. I know some producers in Australia have breached protocol and have put contaminated oil, butter and pâte into the marketplace, which is terrifying.”

IMPOSTER SYNDROME In 2018, people expect to have access to anything and everything all year round, yet the most common buzzwords currently associated with the food industry include ‘seasonal’ and ‘provenance’. Supermarkets stock almost every fruit and veg 365 days a year, and if we can’t grow it, it’s imported.

Constant accessibility has become the norm, yet is in direct conflict with what most venues are preaching to consumers.

Ross Lusted from The Bridge Room in Sydney says truffle oil is an industry concoction that has one purpose — to make

truffles

Photo credit: Honey Atkinson – Will Work For Food

Photo credit: Honey Atkinson – Will Work For Food

money. “There are a lot of value-added products around truffle to extend the period of time we get to enjoy it,” he says. “But it’s one of those things that as soon as you remove the truffle from the ground and it’s transported, the flavour profile diminishes, so they have to artificially create the flavours, but there’s no comparison. It reminds me of a bad time in cooking in the ’90s when everything was flavoured with truffle oil.”

Justin James, executive chef at Vue de Monde in Melbourne agrees, and stays away from truffle oil. “My whole thing is about locality and seasonality and keeping true to Australian produce,” he says. “I’m always looking for the best ingredients possible that are in season and represent the product. For example, I only use tomatoes in the summer because it’s when they’re best. Truffles are best in the winter, how they are and not synthetically made. I wouldn’t ever use truffle oil. It just has this thing; maybe it’s been bastardised in pubs on chips or in mac and cheese.”

For Marshall, the concept of truffle oil is simply put, a con job. “It takes away from the magnificent value of the true fresh product, which is a superb foodstuff,” he says.

FRESH IS BEST Fresh truffles are incredibly complex in terms of flavour profile. Marshall says they have anything up to 40 different flavour components, offering incredible diversity. Terra Preta refuse to use any herbicides in their truffle patches and engage in an immense amount of physical labour, pulling out grass by hand to ensure the truffles don’t

Terra Preta

have any competition during their growth period.

The result is fresh truffles that are highly sought after across the globe. “A healthy fresh truffle has a deep, rich, complex flavour profile,” says Marshall. “We check every single one for aroma, density, form and taste. Truffle oil simply tastes like petrochemicals — to us, it’s just blatantly synthetic, unpleasant and nauseating.”

GREED Lusted embraces the seasonal nature of truffle, and says its rareness forms a core part of the truffle’s identity. However, the boom in Australia’s truffle industry has resulted in excessive use — especially when it’s in season. “There is a danger that we will have so much of this product that it actually dilutes the work the real farmers with integrity are doing,” he says. “The cultivated truffle in Australia and America changes the dynamic — we don’t have a wild product like they do in Europe. There’s going to be a greater demand, so how does that play out? There’s always going to be the value-add to it.”

The concept of adding truffle to a dish is becoming incredibly common, with operators encouraging diners to request grated truffle on any dish they please. But just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. “I think it’s so gratuitous that you can go to a restaurant and they say, ‘This is my fish dish and my lamb dish, and for an extra $20 you can have truffle grated over the top of it’,” says Lusted. “We have guests come in and ask for grated truffle on their beef and we say, ‘I’m sorry we don’t do that — it doesn’t go with that dish’. The

“There is a danger that we will have so much of this product that it actually dilutes the work the real farmers with integrity are doing.” – Ross Lusted idea of putting truffle on for value-added is a marketing spin.”

It’s the same story for James, who doesn’t encourage guests to tack on truffle to dishes it’s not meant to be on. “I’m not a big truffle supplement person,” he says. “We’ll make a dish with truffle or add it into a sauce — that’s the way you can have truffle.”

CORRECT USE OF FRESH TRUFFLE Truffle is incredibly selective with the ingredients it pairs well with, and needs fat, heat and something earthy for optimum July 2018 Hospitality 23

truffles

“Truffles are best in the winter, how they are and not synthetically made. I wouldn’t ever use truffle oil.” – Justin James

Honey Atkinson – Will Work For Food The Bridge Room’s robatagrilled quail, dressed leg meat, puffed buckwheat, verjuice, black truffle and mushroom salad

Photo credit: Fred Harden

results. “Cream, butter, alcohol and honey are all really good at releasing the flavour,” says Marshall.

Vue de Monde is one venue that goes through a significant amount of fresh truffles, with James admitting he uses a few kilos every week during peak season. “When I make a dish, I embrace truffle as it is,” says the chef. “We’re doing a new dish with broccoli and truffle purée with Wagyu tongue and fresh truffle. It can be aggressive, but when you eat it, you understand truffle and how beautiful it is.”

Over at The Bridge Room, Lusted is currently running salt-baked celeriac cooked in its own juice with pine mushrooms and truffle along with grilled quail with chestnuts and truffle. “Restraint is the key to truffle — it’s finding the vehicle that best serves the product in this short period of time,” he says.

COST Fresh truffle is obviously an expensive ingredient that’s not a reality for a large amount of venues. But if you do decide to purchase truffles, it’s important to be frank about profit margins.

Lusted has accepted the fact he will never make money off truffles, and instead focuses on the experience it brings to staff and customers. “I think its extraordinary farmers have risked so much to get this product in Australia,” he says. “Also, just for my chefs to look at a truffle and smell it and for the service staff to understand what it means to have it as a fresh product.” The chef also encourages operators to be smart with the other components of a dish; after all, some of the best pairings are with inexpensive ingredients such as eggs, parsley root and celeriac.

James believes incorporating truffles into a menu is all about being creative. “Simple things like potatoes, eggs or pasta all work,” he says. “With tasting menus, it’s about being the same way. If 10g of truffle is going to cost me 10 per cent of my $275 menu, for one other course, I have to be more creative on what I give. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be less or worse in creativity or quality.”

From a wholesale perspective, Marshall has deviated from the norm and has stuck with the same price for the past 10 years, leaving the value-adding to the chefs. “Value-add is the chef’s job,” he says. “They take their skill and add their experience to a dish to make it wonderful. Chefs love them because it’s a real seasonal treat and a good chef knows what to do with them.”

WHERE TO FROM HERE? At the end of the day, truffles are the definition of a seasonal product that can’t be put back in the ground to grow or ripen a little more; what you get is what you get. Lusted has a story that encompasses what truffles are all about from when he lived in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

“You get porcini and white truffle at the same time, and I remember buying porcini on the side of the road,” he says. “We had our truffle from Alba, and for breakfast that morning, I had mushrooms and eggs with reggiano and sliced a truffle over the top — it’s a gift.” n 24 Hospitality July 2018

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HOSTED BY A ONE-DAY CONFERENCE AND MINI-EXPO FOR LEADING RESTAURANT AND CAFÉ OPERATORS, CHEFS AND SENIOR MANAGEMENT 8.30-9.30am

Registration (with tea and coffee)

9.30-9.35am

Introduction Ken Burgin (Silver Chef) and Alex Herbert (Bird Cow Fish)

9.35-10.35am

Keynote Presentation: Cut the Noise – How to Focus for Greater Success Chris Helder (Business specialist and author)

10.35-11.05am

Staffing for Success — Nailing Recruitment, Training and Retention Jonno Forbes (Dinner by Heston Blumenthal), Hannah Green (Etta), Scott Pickett (Saint Crispin, Matilda 159 Domain), Liz Rodriguez (Grossi Restaurants)

11.05-11.35am

Morning tea

11.35-11.40am

A Note from the Editor Annabelle Cloros (Editor, Hospitality magazine)

11.40-12.05pm

Karaoke, Frozen Yoghurt and Pop-Ups — How and Why You Should Diversify Your Offering Simon Blacher (Commune Group), Peter Gunn (IDES), Shannon Martinez (Smith & Daughters)

12.05-12.30pm

Boost Profitability Through Pricing and Psychological Intelligence Bertrand Jeanpierre (Simon Kucher)

12.30-1.00pm

12 Amazing Marketing Ideas to Boost Your Restaurant Business Jeanine Bribosia (The Cru), Monica Brown (Lotus Communications) , John Flower (HotHouse Media and Events), Abby Islas (Huxtaburger)

1.00-1.10pm

Reinvention and Raving Fans — Q&A with Chris Lucas (The Lucas Group)

1.10-2.10pm

Lunch

2.10-2.40pm

Old-School Operators vs Millennials — What Can we Learn from Each Other?

Carlo Grossi (Grossi Restaurants), Thi Le (Anchovy), Victor Liong, (Lee Ho Fook), Fiona Perkins (Bacash Restaurant)

2.40-3.10pm

Stories and Service – Create an Experience and Supercharge Your Alcohol Sales Loic Avril (Dinner by Heston Blumenthal), Michael Madrusan (Made in the Shade Hospitality), Christian McCabe (Embla), Luke Whearty (Bunjil, Operation Dagger)

3.10-3.40pm

Speak Up — Sparking a Positive Change for Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Industry Melissa Leong (Freelance Journalist/TV Presenter), Mal Meiers (Food for Thought & R U OK? ambassador), Morgan McGlone (Belles Hot Chicken, Natural History Museum), Kate Reid (Lune Croissanterie)

3.40-4.10pm

Forward Thinking — Essential Trends and Technology for 2019 Nathan Cause (Tyro), Tim Domelow (OpenTable), Veronica Fil (Restaurant Lûmé), Eleena Tan (Brandworks, HWKR)

4.10-4.15pm

Closing Remarks Ken Burgin (Silver Chef)

4.15-6.00pm

Networking drinks

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LAST CHANCE!

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dessert

Sweet

success From reinventing classics to brand new discoveries, we’ve ranked the top five trends taking the industry by storm. By Brittney Levinson.

1. DEEP-FRIED ICE CREAM A classic at Chinese restaurants, deep-fried ice cream is making a modern comeback. Spearheading the movement in Sydney is food truck Duo Duo run by childhood friends Chris and Dylan Duong. “We grew up eating it in Chinese restaurants and wherever else we could find it,” says Chris. “But we felt the dessert needed a bit of a facelift and the ingredients could be improved, so we decided to make it ourselves and put a new twist on it.”

Everything at Duo Duo is made in-house, including the ice cream.

“We also make sure everything is sourced locally and all the ingredients are premium quality,” says Chris. “For example, we use Jersey milk to ensure the ice cream is the texture we want it to be.” The ice cream is shaped into a ball using a circular mould, which Chris says is a crucial step in the process.

“We take a lot of care to make the balls as circular as possible so they look aesthetically pleasing before we cover them in panko crumbs and drop them into the fryer,” he says. “We only fry them for about a minute — any longer than that and you’ll have a milkshake.”

28 Hospitality July 2018

Ruby chocolate with cocoa

The flavours at Duo Duo change regularly and have included Coco Pops with chocolate whipped cream and Coco Pops sprinkles, pandan and coconut with coconut sauce and classic vanilla with salted caramel sauce and butterscotch popcorn.

While it may seem like a simple dessert, there is a lot of labour involved, which means the business relies on a steady flow of customers in order to make the dessert profitable. “There’s quite a lot of work,” admits Chris.

After a successful six months operating the food truck at various locations, Duo Duo is in the process of opening a wholesale division.

“We realised we can’t be everywhere and some restaurants would appreciate having a good-quality fried ice cream on the menu while skipping the hard labour,” says Dylan.

Duo Duo are now supplying to Mama Mulan, a 180-seat Chinese restaurant that recently opened in Chatswood. “One of the owners tried our ice cream and really liked it,” says Dylan. “We only have one truck that moves around, so it’s good to get our name out there in another way.”

2. SOFT SERVE You can pick one up at McDonald’s for 50 cents, but customers are still willing to fork out $10 for a restaurant-made soft serve. Sydney venue Hartsyard was well-known for their extravagant soft-serve ice creams that changed weekly before the venue switched to a lighter menu.

American-born chef and owner Gregory Llewellyn added soft-serve options — varying from key lime pie and cookie dough with M&Ms and fudge sauce — to the menu to give Sydneysiders a taste of his home country. “When I thought about it, no one was doing this kind of thing here,” he says. “What I like about it is they’re simply loads of fun and you can get super creative with them.”

In the wake of soft serves leaving Hartyard’s core menu, the dessert was given a new lease of life at Llewellyn’s new venue in Enmore, Wish Bone, where the soft serve is a more restrained version of the original dish.

“The whole concept at Wish Bone is pared back,” says Llewellyn.

“Everything needs to be consistent; the Hartsyard soft serves would be too fussy for this venue.”

dessert

While the concept is more refined, the flavours are still creative. “We’ve just changed from a bourbon soft serve with smoked maple to a banana bourbon flavour with chocolate sauce and ginger crumble,” says Llewellyn. Priced at $8 a serve, the dessert is a profitable menu item for the restaurant.

3. RUBY CHOCOLATE For the first time in 80 years, a new type of chocolate was revealed last September by Swiss chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut. Dubbed Ruby chocolate, the new addition is made from the Ruby cocoa bean, which is sourced from different regions around the world. It features a unique reddy-pink colour and is described as having an intense yet smooth, fruity flavour.

According to Barry Callebaut, as the fourth type of chocolate, Ruby stands in sharp contrast to the staples. “It is described as having a unique intense fruitiness and fresh, sour taste and colour experience without adding any colourants or fruit flavourings,” says a Callebaut spokesperson.

“The striking ruby colour means professional chefs are able to create unique pairings of flavours and explore new ideas for confectionery, pastries and desserts.”

While Australian chefs are yet to get their hands on the chocolate, the spokesperson confirms Ruby chocolate will be available to chefs shortly. “Callebaut plans to introduce the RB1 chocolate to professional chefs in Australia before September 2018.”

4. SHAVED ICE From Japan’s kakigori to the Filipino-style halo-halo, shaved ice comes in many different forms. While some incarnations of the dessert date back centuries — kakigori is believed to have been around as early as the 11th century — shaved ice is now becoming more present in the culinary arena. One of the most commonly found versions is Korea’s bingsoo (or bingsu), which is a best-seller at Passion Tree dessert café in Chatswood, Sydney. After a few years of selling traditional bingsoo, which is simply shaved plain ice with toppings, Passion Tree recently updated its recipe.

“About four years ago in Korea, they launched a new version called snow bingsoo, which is a shaved milk-based ice,” says co-founder Chris Sheldrick. “So this year we invested in and changed our menu to sell snow bingsoo.”

“There has recently been a huge growth in demand for bingsoo in Sydney, especially in the nonKorean demographics.” - Kevin Oh Fried ice cream by Duo Duo

July 2018 Hospitality 29

dessert

Flavoured syrups are added to the mixture before it’s shaved and topped with various sweet ingredients. Passion Tree’s flavours include matcha, taro, cookies and cream, mango cheesecake and traditional red bean, also known as patbingsoo. Each are made using a lactose-free milk base to cater to a variety of customers.

LAB Bakery Café in Strathfield is another popular haunt for bingsoo, which is made using a recipe of water, condensed milk and other ingredients to create the snowlike texture. Flavours include Oreo, mango, tiramisu and traditional red bean.

“There has recently been a huge growth in demand for bingsoo in Sydney, especially in the non-Korean demographics,” says director Kevin Oh. “In our opinion, this is largely driven by the K-pop boom and the acceptance of Korean food and desserts from diverse cultures.”

To make bingsoo, both cafés use custom machines from Korea that freeze the milk mixture instantly for quick service. “Making a bingsoo is relatively simple with the right know-how and tools in place,” says Oh. “First the liquid mix is created according to our LAB recipe, which is then fed into a machine that instantly freezes it before it shoots out fluffy, snow-like shaved ice.”

Selling for up to $18 per serve, both cafés agree bingsoo is a profitable dessert. “It is a very popular product and profitable, but it is also quite cyclical as it is a cold dessert and tends to sell more over summer,” says Oh.

5. COOKIE DOUGH Straight from the United States, cookie dough is making its way across Australia and fast gaining popularity. Brothers and chefs Jasper Schreiber and Felix Tickner witnessed the booming cookie dough craze overseas and brought their version to Australia, opening 30 Hospitality July 2018

DoughLord in Brisbane late last year.

While the cookie dough in the US was too sweet for their liking, the pair experimented until they found the right recipe. “When we first opened, we had eight flavours and we were testing the waters,” says Schreiber. “We’re doing six doughs right now: vegan tiramisu; vegan Oreo; plain vanilla dough; quad choc; salty sweet, where we use a salted caramel fudge and a standard choc-chip.”

The store also have soft-serve ice cream on offer, which customers often use as a gateway before trying a whole tub of cookie dough.

“The soft serve is the bridge — people are familiar with soft serve and it’s not too weird for them to have soft serve with cookie dough,” says Schreiber.

However, commercially sold cookie dough has created controversy in the past due to the risks involved with raw ingredients. Schreiber says customers can be hesitant to try the dough if they think it contains raw flour or eggs. “You have to heat treat the flour, so we cook the flour in the oven for about 20 minutes and keep cycling it through so it doesn’t burn and we don’t use any eggs,” he says. “Essentially, the product is cooked but has the texture of raw dough.”

Sugar and dairy products are added to the flour mix to complete the recipe. “At the end of the day, cookie dough is quite a basic thing, which is why you have to go further with premium ingredients,” says Schreiber.

Made in-store daily, the cookie dough is served at two degrees Celsius, and while it can’t be served any higher than four degrees Celsius for food safety reasons, Schreiber recommends customers take it home and heat it in the microwave. “If it was served at ice cream temperature, you’d lose the flavour,” he says. “The warmer the dough is, the better the flavour.” n

Cookie dough at DoughLord

Bingsoo at LAB

uniforms

The merchandise display at Yardbird in Hong Kong

Staff in custom Yardbird T-shirts

Second skin Custom uniforms offer myriad perks to venues — a cohesive aesthetic, free marketing and happy staff are just the beginning.

Here, we talk to two operators and a designer about the value of workplace uniforms. By Annabelle Cloros.

S

taff dressed to the nines or those who have turned up to work in last night’s shirt can make all the difference between attracting and deterring customers. A well-dressed team is an important consideration when it comes to running a venue, and operators should be thinking about uniforms with as much emphasis as food, service and design.

Lindsay Jang from Yardbird in Hong Kong, Maurice Terzini from The Dolphin, Icebergs and Da Orazio in Sydney and Huw Bennett, founder of Worktones, tell us why custom is worth every penny.

ONE TEAM, ONE DREAM In 2018, diners are hypercritical and play close attention to minute details when dining out. A stained, tatty apron can result in a customer turning up their nose, and can unfortunately taint the rest of their experience at a venue.

At izakaya-style restaurant Yardbird, introducing a custom uniform was never a question. “Creating and developing our staff 32 Hospitality July 2018

uniform was very important to us from the beginning,” says co-owner Lindsay Jang.

“We wanted each element to be simple, modern, functional — and most importantly — comfortable and unrestrictive.”

Yardbird’s front-of-house uniform includes a black T-shirt with the venue’s signature chicken logo on the back, dark denim of their choice, an apron and sneakers from Vans who have provided staff with work shoes from day dot.

“In 2015, we even created two exclusive Vans x Yardbird shoe options for our staff, friends and family,” says Jang.

Along with the title of restaurateur, Maurice Terzini also runs his own label called Ten Pieces, and views custom uniforms as an opportunity to exhibit a venue’s unique stamp.

“We always say we sell a lifestyle, not just food and beverage,” he says. “Uniforms need to tie in with the product and everything needs to tell a story. I look at each individual bar or restaurant and know how I want the staff to appear.”

The uniforms differ considerably

between Terzini’s venues, with Da Orazio’s approachable aesthetic and Icebergs’ finedining ethos extending to their workwear.

Da Orazio has a unisex uniform that has to suit males and females and all body types.

“The white shorts and T-shirts are a reflection of Bondi and the style of service, which is fast casual and a bit sporty,” says Terzini.

“At Icebergs, we put the girls in Ten Pieces dresses which change in summer and winter.

We’ve found a good cut that suits everyone and the girls wear runners with their dresses.”

CUSTOM PERKS There are numerous benefits when it comes to custom uniforms, with branding and functionality topping the list.

Huw Bennett runs Worktones and boasts a client portfolio including Merivale and Andrew McConnell’s restaurant group, but most importantly, the founder stresses the importance of collaboration and benefits operators might not immediately think of.

“Custom allows more flexibility at both ends,” says Bennett. “They allow clients to have more options than what they get off the shelf. Whether it’s changing the thread colour, embroidery or the base colour of a garment — or completely starting from scratch and coming up with a new design — they get something they wouldn’t be able to access off the shelf.”

At Yardbird, Jang views uniforms as a useful tool to divide guests from staff members. “It’s important to us because it provides a physical separation between our guests and staff,

uniforms

which is especially useful during a busy night of service,” she says.

“It also creates cohesiveness amongst our team and eliminates any judgment with regards to style and appearance.”

JUST BREATHE In frantic and physically hot environments such as kitchens, wearing garments made from durable and breathable fabrics is a no-brainer.

Selecting materials that are hard-wearing and easy to take care of should also be considered during the design process.

Yardbird’s T-shirts all are 100 per cent cotton, as is one of Worktones’ signature aprons. Terzini also opts to use cotton as a core material along with jerseys and wools. “Our label will be 100 per cent sustainable by next year,” he says.

Bennett chooses to use Mercerised cotton, which is created using a treatment that strengthens the fabric. The process causes the fibres to improve in appearance and alters the structure, making it softer yet hardier.

“When you wash it, it gives a much greater life to the fabric, so you’re not going to have any bleed or fade and the garments aren’t going to shrink,” he says. “Generally speaking, they will look like what they did when you bought them. It might be a bit dearer than others, but the product will last the test of time.”

“Creating and developing our staff uniform was very important to us from the beginning.” – Lindsay Jang

Custom pieces by Worktones

BEOSNUARNEY FLOOR

One of Yardbird’s many T-shirt options

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July 2018 Hospitality 33

uniforms

“Uniforms need to tie in with the product and everything needs to tell a story. I look at each individual bar or restaurant and know how I want the staff to appear.”

– Maurice Terzini

Men’s and women’s uniforms at Icebergs

PRICE

MARKETING 101

Custom pieces naturally come at a higher cost than off-the-shelf items. But it’s important for venues to look at quality uniforms as an investment. If you pick long-lasting materials and implement uniforms that staff are happy to wear, they’re more likely to take pride in their appearance and the venue as a whole.

Terzini has deliberately kept Icebergs’ uniform prices affordable for staff. “It’s got to be costeffective, so it’s not costing them a fortune,” he says. “The girls pay $65 for the dresses.”

Terzini also says a workplace uniform puts the power in the employee’s hands, and staff are expected to meet certain criteria. “Staff need to take responsibility for their appearance, and by purchasing their own uniforms, they become responsible for them,” he says.

“Personal appearance is personal appearance, and if you’re professional and working at this level, you clean your own uniforms.”

Bennett admits most clients initially focus on the dollar value, but stresses the other elements that justify a higher price tag such as the materials and care that goes into crafting such pieces. “It goes beyond the fact we use quality fabrics,” he says. “It’s the process in which we make the garments, the people who make the garments and there’s a lot of thoughtfulness that goes into it.”

Producing a range of T-shirts is a relatively low-cost marketing exercise that can help promote your brand on a global level. Staff wearing branded T-shirts or other items as part of their uniform are a walking advertisement that almost all customers will engage with on some level. And if they enjoyed the food and service at your venue, why not buy a T-shirt and continue the relationship?

Selling merchandise under $50 provides an accessible price point that can also make you a few bucks in the process.

Yardbird has worked on a number of collaborations that are limited runs with artists and musicians including Prodip Leung, Cody Hudson and brands such as Stüssy.

“We are lucky to have created a brand that transcends the restaurant’s walls and our T-shirts are a big part of that,” says Jang.

“We have some of the best customers who will wear their Yardbird T-shirts all over the world, and this has definitely allowed us to create a global community.”

So if your team is struggling to find the right workwear or off-the-shelf just isn’t cutting it for your venue, now might be the time to consider rolling out a custom uniform and enjoying the benefits that come with it. Just ask Terzini, Jang or Bennett. n

34 Hospitality July 2018

Signature apron design

by Worktones

catering

Hanoi Hannah’s rice paper rolls and banh mi

Feeding frenzy

Catering can provide an extra source of revenue and greater exposure for restaurants — is it time for your venue to get into the game? By Brittney Levinson.

E

vent catering has evolved beyond uninspired finger food and stodgy canapés. The reality is consumers in 2018 want restaurant-quality food, no matter the setting. Restaurants are seeing the potential to bring in additional revenue by adding catering services to their business.

Here, we speak to three restaurant groups about feeding the masses and how to make catering profitable for your business.

NEW TERRITORY For Melbourne’s Commune Group, which counts Japanese eatery Tokyo Tina and Vietnamese restaurant Hanoi Hannah as part of its portfolio, catering was a natural extension for the business. “People were asking for it and then we realised Japanese and Vietnamese cuisine packages and travels well and holds its form,” says director Simon Blacher.

Commune Group initially started an offsite catering company that offered the 36 Hospitality July 2018

entire service, from food to drinks and even waitstaff. But they quickly realised running an entirely separate catering business was extremely demanding and, as restaurateurs, felt they were better suited to smaller clients.

“We’ve since shifted back to more platters and office catering, which is great because we can use existing resources,” says Blacher.

“We’ve moved away from doing big events because we’re restaurateurs and we like to control our environment.”

Sydney venues Yellow, Bentley Restaurant and Bar, Monopole and Cirrus also offer external catering services for events ranging from 10 to 1000 people. Nick Hildebrandt, cofounder of the four restaurants, says catering is a great opportunity to introduce the brand to new customers and clients while also appealing to regulars. “We cater for intimate celebrations at home along with larger-scale corporate events,” he says.

Catering became such a big part of Porteño

in Sydney that after moving the restaurant to a new location, the venue was turned into a dedicated events space now known as Porteño Events. “While we were at Cleveland Street [in Surry Hills], we did a lot of off-site events and we used to get lots of requests for that sort of thing,” says co-owner Ben Milgate. “So when the space came up at Holt Street [Surry Hills] and we moved Porteño there, we left Cleveland Street as an events space so we could cater to all those requests we were getting.”

GETTING CREATIVE Catering gigs at Porteño Events can involve anything from canapés and buffet-style meals to sit-down dinners and family-style shared menus. But Milgate says it’s important to be flexible when it comes to creating menus.

“You’ve got to be open to tailoring things and working with a theme,” he says.

Porteño Events recently hosted an event for rum brand Kraken, who requested a dark

catering

colour palette. “They wanted everything to look really black, so we had to try and incorporate that and make all the dishes look black but also really beautiful and edible,” says Milgate. “We did a spiced red wine-braised octopus with a little bit of squid ink in it and a rum baba with charcoal and a liquorice cream.”

Hildebrandt says catering opportunities are a great way for his restaurants to get creative and experiment with different dishes. “Off-site catering often presents more of a challenge than cooking in our own venues, so we have the opportunity to get creative with our menus,” he says.

EXTRA REVENUE AND GREATER EXPOSURE For many restaurants, catering can provide a steady, additional revenue stream. To ensure catering is profitable, Commune Group uses existing resources to make the food in-house before transporting it to the client. “If you can keep it running out of one kitchen and use your resources, then it’s beneficial in terms of extra revenue,” says Blacher.

Catering can also give your restaurant greater exposure to a broader range of consumers. Blacher says bringing the restaurant experience to an external event opens your brand up to new customers.

“You’ve got to look at it from the client’s side as well because they often want the restaurant experience outside of the restaurant,” he says. ”Because we’ve got relatively strong brands, it allows us to take those brands into different environments and bring a little bit of the restaurant into their environment. It definitely gives us more exposure.”

Catering options by Hanoi Hannah

C R E AT E YO U R O W N WORK OF ART This year’s challenge is to take inspiration from a piece of art and interpret this as an Ōra King dish All finalists will be flown to New Zealand to join in the Ōra King Awards celebrations from 14 – 18 October The competition is open to chefs in Australia, New Zealand, North America and Japan who use Ōra King Entries close 31 July 2018 Enter online at orakingsalmon.co.nz #orakingawards

July 2018 Hospitality 37

catering

Making food look ‘Instagrammable’ also goes a long way towards getting your restaurant’s name out there and attracting new clients. “People are always capturing their experience, so if you make a beautiful catering package or platter, people will snap it, share it and Instagram it — it all kind of feeds on itself,” says Blacher.

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES When catering for off-site events, it is crucial food travels well and is simple to set up once it arrives at the location. At Commune Group, the catering menu features a selection of food items that hold their shape when travelling and can also be easily consumed by guests.

Hanoi Hannah offers rice paper rolls, mini banh mi and mini salad bowls, while Tokyo Tina’s catering options include baos, noodle boxes and ssam platters. “Our food travels really well, it looks really pretty and once it leaves the restaurant, it doesn’t require much plating,” says Blacher.

The biggest challenge for Porteño Events when catering sit-down dinners is ensuring all meals go out on time. “It’s all very hard and fast, it’s not like an à la carte service where you start at 6pm and finish at 11pm,” says Milgate. “You’ve got an hour to pump out most of the food.”

Organisation is key when it comes to large events. “Have all your plates counted out and just be super organised,” says Milgate. “Elvis [Abrahanowicz] and I are doing all the events stuff and we’ve been working together for 15 years, so we know each other’s strengths and who does what. We just roll with it.”

Dietary requirements can also present

“If you’ve got a lot of gluten-free or dairy-free requests, you can really tailor the menu to not have any of that element so everybody gets the same dish and you’re not having any confusion or people feeling like they’re missing out.”

- Ben Milgate challenges for the kitchen when catering for large groups. At Porteño Events, they approach dietaries by tailoring the whole menu to be suitable for as many requests as possible.

“If you’ve got a lot of gluten-free or dairyfree requests, you can really tailor the menu to not have any of that element so everybody gets the same dish and you’re not having any confusion or people feeling like they’re missing out,” says Milgate.

WEIGHING IT UP When catering for events, it’s important to understand exactly what the client wants and expects from your business. Blacher advises venues to look at their capabilities before offering the service. “The last thing you want to do is provide a bad product,” he says. “It’s easy to say yes to everything, but you need to make

Elvis Abrahanowicz and Ben Milgate

38 Hospitality July 2018

sure you can provide what you’re promising.

Make sure you are putting the client’s needs in front of yours, so if they want something there at 11:00am, it has to be there at 10:30am.”

Overall, offering a catering service has been a beneficial move for Commune Group.

“It’s definitely worthwhile, it’s an extra revenue stream and if you can use your own resources, it can be quite profitable. But you’re serving your food in an environment that you don’t really control, so you’ve got to make sure you’re doing as much as you can [before it leaves the restaurant].”

Before offering catering services, weigh up the options and assess your capabilities.

By utilising existing resources and creating event-friendly menus, venues can bring in extra revenue and attract new customers in the process. n

Porteño’s event space on Cleveland Street

Delight your diners and grow your business with OpenTable, the simple solution used by restaurants everywhere. restaurant.opentable.com.au

shelf space

The sherry on top

Johnnie Walker Black has announced the release of Black Label Sherry Edition.

Crafted by blender Chris Clark, part of the blend is matured in sherry casks, generating rich fruit notes. The expression also uses malts including Blair Athol, Cardhu and Strathmill, resulting in a taste of complex fresh fruit with orchard character, sweet vanilla and gentle smoke. Black Label Sherry is a limited release, ABV 40 per cent and retails for $60 for a 700mL bottle. johnniewalker.com

Tickled pink

Gordon’s Premium Pink gin has officially launched in the Australian market after a successful debut in the UK and Europe. Strawberries and raspberries add sweetness with redcurrants evoking tang that’s complemented by the subtle flavour of junipers. The fruits add natural sweetness and colour to the gin, which has been crafted using an original Gordon’s recipe from the 1880s. Premium Pink sits at 37.5 per cent ABV and is $48 for 700mL. gordonsgin.com

Simply perfect

Stout about it

Little Creatures has released a winter dark beer called The Fuggle is Real. The inspiration behind the brew came from the team’s love of stout and the flavours associated with the cooler months.

The malt bill features pale malt, Munich, Crystal, chocolate malt, Carafa T3 and Golden Naked Oats, with a 5.8 per cent ABV. Hops include EKG, Fuggles, Loral and Southern Cross. littlecreatures.com.au 40 Hospitality July 2018

After rebuilding its Stanhope cheese facility in Northern Victoria, Fonterra Australia’s Perfect Italiano™ Traditional and Ultra Mozzarella cheeses will once again be made in Australia. Perfect Italiano™ Traditional Mozzarella has also launched as a 5kg block, replacing the former 10kg block. The smaller size is easier to lift and carry as well as fit into fridges. The mozzarella has the perfect stretch and is ideal to create quality pizzas thanks to its superior melting properties, consistent appearance and flavour. fonterra.com.au

For the diary Upcoming events in the hospitality industry.

Find out more at hospitalitymagazine.com.au Restaurant Leaders Summit 30 July Now in its third year, Hospitality magazine’s Restaurant Leaders Summit is heading to Melbourne for the first time. Leading figures within the industry will weigh in on a range of topics including staffing, adding value with alcohol, mental health and how venues can diversify their offering. The speaker line-up includes Shannon Martinez, Simon Blacher, Chris Lucas, Liz Rodriguez and more. Taking place at the Park Hyatt Hotel, RLS is a must for hospitality professionals who want to hear from leading figures, network with peers and walk away with valuable skills. Tickets on sale now. restaurantleaders.com.au

Food & Hospitality Queensland 5-6 August Food & Hospitality Queensland is a new event

to be held over two days at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.

The event will feature more than 150 exhibitors and showcase a range of food, drink and equipment for operators. Special events will be hosted throughout the exhibition including Queensland Chef of the Year and Brisbane Café School. Registration is free and restricted to those working in the hospitality industry. foodandhospitality.com.au

Fine Food Australia 10-13 September It’s Melbourne’s turn to host Fine Food Australia in 2018, which will see more than 1000 exhibitors on show over four days. Visitors can expect to see the latest in bakery, drinks, dairy, meat and seafood, technology, fitout and design, packaging and equipment. Taking place within Fine Food is the revamped and

rebranded Drinks Collective Show, which will showcase Australia’s $16 billion on-premise liquor industry. finefoodaustralia.com.au

Australasian Hospitality Industry Exhibition 5-7 March 2019 The Australasian Hospitality Industry Exhibition, also known as Hospex, is returning to Sydney. First held in 1985, Hospex is making a comeback to showcase the latest innovations, products and services for all providers of hospitality services including pubs, cafés and restaurants. Held at Sydney Olympic Park, the event will also include a conference and seminar series addressing issues of development, design, fit-out and technology. hospex.com.au

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July 2018 Hospitality 41

5 minutes with ...

I

Jerry Mai Annam

The chef talks about everything from changing diner perceptions of Vietnamese food to the importance of seasonal produce.

42 Hospitality July 2018

launched Annam because I wanted to share my style of Vietnamese food; a different kind of Vietnamese food that perhaps people weren’t used to. Vietnamese cuisine is so much more than popular stir fries and rice paper rolls; it is much more complex, wonderfully aromatic, nutritious and exciting.

We have built a loyal following of diners who have been inspired to try something new. We are having great fun with the menu, though there are a couple of dishes we can never remove such as our waffle-crumbed fried ice cream which has achieved a bit of a cult status on Instagram.

The dining experience differs greatly between Pho Nom and Annam. Pho Nom offers accessible Vietnamese street food in a fast-paced setting. Most people who come to Pho Nom are after a quick, tasty and nutritious bite. Annam is a dine-in restaurant with a ‘family dinner’ approach.

I want diners at Annam to fully experience the joy of sharing dishes.

The menus are also very different at each venue. Pho Nom has all the popular Vietnamese dishes people have grown accustomed to in Australia including pho, rice paper rolls and banh mi. Annam’s food is unlike what many expect from Vietnamese cuisine. We play off traditional dishes but give ourselves licence to experiment.

Although the two are very different, they are linked by a paddock-to-plate philosophy.

It’s incredibly important to cater to a wide audience. Not only from a revenue perspective, but I’m trying to show people that eating ethical, sustainable and nutritious food doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg. The broader the reach, the more opportunity to educate and spread the message.

At my restaurants, you tend to leave feeling light and energised rather than weighed down.

Also, the flavours we use are more diverse than standard Vietnamese fare. I love incorporating elements of Cambodian and Thai cuisines alongside traditional Vietnamese flavours. At Annam, we use the chargrill often and incorporate plenty of smoky flavour into the dishes. I love cooking with fire and burn specific types of wood in-house, so I can control the flavour.

It is so important to get to know the people producing your ingredients, and it is at the core of what I do. Producers are full of valuable information and can help you get the best out of the season. I have close relationships with many of my producers and have learned so much from them. A good example is seasonal purchasing of meat. It is widely known vegetables are seasonal but less understood that meat also follows a trend. Warmer seasons bring demand for steaks and premium cuts, whereas when it gets cold, the secondary cuts become more popular for stews and pies. My producers have helped me understand how I can alter my menu to ensure they are selling off the whole animal rather than letting certain cuts go to waste. n

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