Foodservice news March 2018

Chefs’ Circle – Nino Zoccali tackles the 457 visa aftermath Let’s talk about sex – Jill Dupleix calls ‘time’s up’ on hospo sexual harassment Chez Fred’s – Danielle Alvarez opens up about her award-winning venue Meet Gwyn Olsen – The head winemaker of Pepper Tree Wines

KINGFISH SASHIMI WITH MACADAMIA AND SWEET AND SOUR ONIONS

Recipe

PRINT POST APPROVED 100008067

March 2018

Small in size -

Big in stature

In the modern catering and food service sector, there is a capital element to be taken into account: space organisation.

Space has been getting smaller and smaller in order to reduce operational costs. To address this requires a new way of thinking about a product: multi-function, efficient & space saving.

In one word: Kompatto

3

foodservicenews.com.au

PUBLISHER HELEN DAVIES

EDITOR ANITA CONNORS (02) 9213 8335 anitaconnors@yaffa.com.au CONSULTING EDITOR JILL DUPLEIX

CONTRIBUTORS Tony Eldred, Tim Grey, Lisa Hasen, Anthony Huckstep, Amanda Kane, Yasmin Newman, John Susman

March 2018 Chefs’ Circle – Nino Zoccali tackles the 457 visa aftermath KINGFISH SASHIMI WITH MACADAMIA AND SWEET AND SOUR ONIONS

Let’s talk about sex – Jill Dupleix calls ‘time’s up’ on hospo sexual harassment

Recipe

Chez Fred’s – Danielle Alvarez opens up about her award-winning venue Meet Gwyn Olsen – The head winemaker of Pepper Tree Wines

cover.indd 1

ART DIRECTOR ANA MARIA HERAUD STUDIO MANAGER LAUREN ESDAILE DESIGNER STÉPHANIE BLANDIN DE CHALAIN

ADVERTISING PRODUCTION JOHN VISKOVICH (02) 9213 8215 johnviskovich@yaffa.com.au CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER MARTIN PHILLPOTT MARKETING MANAGER SABARINAH ELIJAH PRODUCTION DIRECTOR MATTHEW GUNN

SUBSCRIPTIONS www.greatmagazines.com.au Call: 1800 807 760 Email: subscriptions@yaffa.com.au

SUBSCRIPTION RATES Australia 1 year $99.00

Overseas 1 year NZ $110 1 year ASIA $125 1 year ROW $170

PRINT POST APPROVED 100008067

NATIONAL SALES MANAGER RHONNIE MERRY (02) 9213 8241 Mobile: 0417 617 077 rhonniemerry@yaffa.com.au

22/02/18 4:10 PM

@foodServiceAus

foodservicemagazine

@food_service

FOODSERVICE NEWS is published by Yaffa Media Pty Ltd ABN 54 002 699 354 17-21 Bellevue Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 Ph: (02) 9281 2333 Fax: (02) 9281 2750 All mail to: GPO Box 606, Sydney NSW 2001 ISSN 1328-9039 MEMBER CIRCULATIONS AUDIT BOARD

4

Table of Contents

FEATURES

REGULARS

18

14 INSIDER

FOOD DONATION – THE RULES

ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED FOR YOUR BUSINESS REGARDING WHAT FOOD CAN BE DONATED, THE CHARITIES INVOLVED, AND WHO YOU’LL BE HELPING.

22

MEET JERRY MAI

28

CHEZ FRED’S

34

CURD YOUR ENTHUSIASM

THE MELBOURNE-BASED CHEF IS DISHING UP A VIETNAMESE-CAMBODIAN FEAST ON LITTLE BOURKE STREET. MERIVALE’S DANIELLE ALVAREZ TALKS INSPIRATION, ASPIRATION AND RUNNING ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S TOP RESTAURANTS. CHEFS AROUND AUSTRALIA REVEAL WHAT THEY ENJOY MOST ABOUT COOKING WITH GLORIOUS, GLORIOUS CHEESE.

P. 16

THE FIGURES ARE STAGGERING, 89 PER CENT OF HOSPITALITY WORKERS EXPERIENCE SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT WORK.

20

HUCK’S RANT

ANTHONY HUCKSTEP CONSIDERS THE RUNNING ON RESTAURANTS WITH AND WITHOUT THEIR HEAD CHEFS.

40 MANAGEMENT

CRUNCHING THE RIGHT NUMBERS IS VITAL TO ENSURE THAT YOUR BUSINESS ENJOYS A HEALTHY BOTTOM LINE.

P. 8 P. 44

44 PRODUCE

JOHN SUSMAN RECOUNTS DISCOVERING THE MIGHTY BARRAMUNDI, AND DISCOVER WHY KORONEIKI OLIVES ARE GROWING IN POPULARITY.

P. 12

PLUS N E W

A N D

JI

N O T E D

OPENINGS JI

OF CHEFS AND MICE P. 20

WHERE I

MANA

GEMENT

TONY E LDRE D

FO O D SERVICE

AUS

MATT WILKINSON P. 12

PL

EI

X

INSIDER

R E S T A U R A N T S & B A R S

STARTERS P. 8

DU

LL

FOOD SERVICE

ARE YOU MAKING A PROFIT? P. 40

LL

P DU

LE

TO P

PROFILE CHEF

IX

LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX P. 14

GIVING VIETNAMESE FOOD A GOOD WRAP P. 22 ERVI ODS CE FO S I N C E 2 0 0 8

TRADE TA L K

CURD YOUR ENTHUSIASM P. 34

TOOL T A L K C

O

O M P A R I S

N

TOP UNIT P. 43

6

EDITORIAL

HELLO

In a stroke of the zeitgeist, the Barangaroo Delivery Authority hosted the very first Sunset20°North Festival last month.

Taking over Barangaroo Reserve, the so-tipped ‘celebration of music, food and culture’ ran across 12 sunsets and four weekends. What’s more, the event took inspiration from the namesake of the Harbour foreshore park.

Indeed, Barangaroo is named after the Cammeraygal leader of the Eora Nation who together with her husband, Bennelong, acted as an intermediary between the Aboriginal people and the early British colonists.

Accordingly, Sunset20° North Festival pulled

together a diverse line-up of female chefs, musicians and artists.

And curating the culinary program was Bloodwood and Popla restaurateur and chef, Claire Van Vuuren.

Supporting and promoting female talent in the foodservice and hospitality industries is something that she is passionate about, and one that she has firmly on the agenda.

“Last year was a busy year with opening Popla, my new restaurant in Bellingen,” she says.

“I had my head down while figuring out how to run two businesses. This year is going to be about enjoying both venues more and getting my hand into projects. I’m also looking forward to all the amazing events that we are putting on monthly for Women in Hospitality and continuing to encourage women to enter and stay in the industry long term.”

Van Vuuren invited Jane Strode (Fred’s, Sydney), Analiese Gregory (Franklin, Hobart) and Thi Le (Anchovy, Melbourne) to join her at Sunset20°North. They each created two dishes that showcased wild and native ingredients, such as samphire, wattleseed and Davidson plum. It was an absolute joy to taste the varied menu. Can’t wait to see what next year’s festival brings.

Anita Connors Editor

8

STARTERS

Just Opened

Luke’s Kitchen

Heart of Hall

Yarri

LUKE MANGAN’S NEW, EPONYMOUS RESTAURANT BRAND 8 Danks Street Phone: (02) 9002 5346 Waterloo NSW 2017 lukeskitchen.com.au

CAFE, SHOP AND COOKING SCHOOL 17 Hall Street Phone: (03) 9939 5819 Newport VIC 3015 heartofhall.com.au

TOP WA CHEF AARON CARR IS BACK ON THE PANS Unit 7, 16 Cyrillean Way Phone: (08) 9786 5030 Dunsborough WA 6281 yarri.com.au

N E W

A N D

N O T E D

OPENINGS R E S T A U R A N T S & B A R S

Hughenden Café BOUTIQUE HOTEL LAUNCHES BRAND NEW ALL-DAY CAFE 14 Queen Street Phone: (02) 9363 4863 Woollahra NSW 2025 thehughenden.com.au

NEW, NOTED, INTERESTING Across the country, here are Australia’s newest restaurants.

Colours by Atlas THE FAST-CASUAL SISTER VENUE TO ATLAS DINING 202 Commercial Road Instagram: @coloursbyatlas Prahran VIC 3181 eatcolours.com.au

Turning Point

Hopper Kadé

Romeo’s Fine Food

FORMER HAWK AND HUNTER TRANSFORMS 8-10 Glen Eira Avenue facebook.com/ Ripponlea VIC 3185 turningpointripponlea

FORMER LANKAN POP-UP FINDS PERMANENT HOME 253 Crown Street Instagram: @hopperkade Darlinghurst NSW 2010 hopperkade.com.au

NEW CHARCUTERIE CATERING TO FOODSERVICE INDUSTRY 45 Hutchinson Street Phone: (02) 9517 9447 St Peters NSW 2044 romeosfinefood.com.au

STARTERS

9

PHOTOGRAPHY: MERIVALE

With the Super Bowl over for another year, the big winner in many ways was Tourism Australia’s $36 million marketing campaign which targeted the game’s 100 million viewers to both visit Australia and enjoy Australian wine.

Industry Comes Together For Fundraiser In Memory Of Jeremy Strode The country’s top chefs are combining forces for a special fundraising dinner in memory of the late Jeremy Strode this month.

Set to take place at ivy ballroom in Sydney on Tuesday March 27, The Strode Family Dinner will celebrate the life of one of Australia’s most-loved and esteemed chefs, as well as raise money for his wife Jane Strode and their sons.

Nicknamed ‘The Truth’ for his direct and honest approach to cooking, and with a passion for mentoring and inspiring the next generation of chefs, Strode’s influence on the Australian culinary community has been immeasurable.

Hosted by ABC’s Simon Marnie, The Strode Family Dinner will feature 14 Aussie chefs donating their time, skill and knowledge to craft a feast in honour of the much-admired Strode.

Amongst the chefs involved are Christine Manfield, Colin Fassnidge (4Fourteen), Dan Hunter (Brae), Danielle Alvarez (Fred’s) and Martin Benn (Sepia).

Strode passed away last July following a long battle with depression.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of #TabascoSauce. First created in 1868 by Edmund McIlhenny on Avery Island, Louisiana, Tabasco has remained virtually unchanged for the past century and a half. It is now available in over 185 countries.

#Barangaroo celebrated Australia’s talented female #chefs and musicians last month with @sunset20north.

This unique food, music and cultural #festival kicked off with a #menu curated by @bloodwoodntown chef @clairvanvuuren.

PHOTOGRAPHY: TOURISM AUSTRALIA

Stay in touch with foodservice anytime

10

STARTERS

Rick Stein to open beachfront restaurant with Bannisters hotel

Three Blue Ducks fly north to open Brisbane restaurant

Boutique hotel chain, Bannisters, is expanding with the launch of Bannisters Port Stephens in late 2018. And amongst the attractions of the new 4.5 star venue is a restaurant by British celebrity chef, Rick Stein.“ The abundance of top quality seafood is a massive attraction as is the proximity to the Hunter Valley’s wineries,” he says.

“I will be working closely with head chef, Mitchell Turner designing a menu featuring local king prawns, yellowfin bream, flathead, calamari and school whiting, not to mention the fabulous oysters.”

Casual eatery and sustainability advocat, Three Blue Ducks, has announced that it is expanding with the opening of its first Queensland restaurant at W Brisbane in April this year.

“When approached by W Hotel to embark on a Three Blue Ducks venture in Brisbane, it was important to us to ensure that we shared the same values and sustainable business practices,” says Jeff Bennett, co-owner Three Blue Ducks.

“We share the same ethos for quality and we’ll be using locally sourced produce that is farmed ethically.”

Ovolo Woolloomooloo to home new plant-based restaurant Alibi

Artifical intelligence technology launch at NZ supermarket chain Foodstuffs

Ovolo Woolloomooloo is shaking up its dining offering with a new partnership with award-winning US chef and restaurateur, Matthew Kenney.

Opening in late March, Alibi will focus on plant-based dining using local and seasonal ingredients.

“Australia is seen as a leader in wellbeing and lifestyle and Ovolo came to me with the opportunity at the right time,” says Kenney. “The food scene is so vibrant here – great produce, chefs, sunshine. I’m enjoying exploring the amazing and diverse produce available in Australia.”

New Zealand retailer, Foodstuffs, has unveiled world-first, artificial intelligence technology that brings the checkout to the shopping trolley at their Four Square store in Ellerslie, Auckland.

Designed by company, IMAGR, the SMARTCART technology has been retrofitted to shopping baskets and carts which recognises products as soon as they are placed inside. It eliminates the need for barcode scanning, checkouts and queueing.

IMAGR is in talks to bring the technology to Australia.

ON THE MENU

Chiswick Art Gallery of NSW.

11

On The Menu WHAT GALLERY RESTAURANTS ARE CURRENTLY DISHING OUT TO AUSSIE ART LOVERS.

PHOTOGRAPHY: CHISWICK ART GALLERY OF NSW

GOMA RESTAURANT Stanley Place, Cultural Precinct, South Bank, Brisbane QLD 4101

Billabong – eel, watercress, onions, sorrel, beef $28 Brassica, capra, smoked honey $39 The sky is falling – chicken, avocado, macadamia, figs, sprouts, herbs $42 Wattleseed custard $19 CHISWICK ART GALLERY OF NSW Art Gallery Road, The Domain, Sydney NSW 2000

OLIVE YOU ADVERTORIAL-FOOD SERVICE-AUS-19X13 CM.pdf

2

Quail, chick and pork terrine,, green tomato, grilled sourdough $25 Eggplant, hummus, pickled shallot, fried chickpea, Thai basil $24 Pipi linguini, chilli, peas $32 25/01/2018 09:35 Custard tart, fig, lime sorbet, candied walnuts $16

12

WHERE I EAT WHERE I

F O O D S E RV I C E

AUS

CHEF AND OWNER OF MELBOURNE’S POPE JOAN, MATT WILKINSON, REVEALS HIS TOP PICKS FOR A BITE TO EAT.

BIRTHDAY

I’m one who likes to cook breakfast at home. When I do bring the kids in for breaky at Pope Joan, I grab a roll with bacon, fried egg and housemade brown sauce, the boys have some cheesy toast and hot choccies.

Start the arvo with beers and G&T’s at The Rochester in Fitzroy, then head in for dinner at Bar Liberty (let Banjo choose the booze for you) then back to the Rochey for a couple of drinks.

LONG LUNCH

CHEAP EATS

My new favourite haunt is Osteria Ilaria in the city - old school values in a new school venue. It has a delicious wine list and menu, great service, great atmosphere and is spacious.

Tahina on High Street in Northcote, I always have the red falafel pita pocket. Cedar Bakery in Preston is also great value, my pick is the special cheese, olive and tomato triangle.

FAMILY MEAL

UNIQUELY MELBOURNE

The team at Moor’s Head Pizza have a tasty take on Turkish pizza. I also take the boys to Kustom Burgers, they get the shakes and I get the F250.

I would do a Flinders Lane restaurant crawl to show off the wonderful diversity of cuisine. Places like Supernormal, MoVida, Coda, Cumulus Inc. are a great way to show off what Melbourne is all about.

PHOTOGRAPHY: LIZZIE HALLORAN

BREAKFAST

NUMBERS GAME

HOW EVENTS ARE SHINING THE SPOTLIGHT ON AUSTRALIA’S DINING SCENE IN 2018 THIS MONTH, MITCHELL NUNIS TAKES OVER TURNING TABLES TO HIGHLIGHT THE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT THAT INTERNATIONAL EVENTS CAN HAVE ON OUR LOCAL RESTAURANTS, BARS AND CAFES.

NUMBERS GAME

TURNING TABLES

Mitchell Nunis is the senior marketing manager of online restaurant-reservation service, OpenTable. Contact him via contact@opentable.com.

L

et the Games begin!

There’s a real buzz in the air this month and if you’re on the Gold Coast, you know what I’m talking about. For the first time in more than a decade and a first for a regional city, Australia’s sunny Gold Coast is hosting the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

With 1.5 billion viewers in 70 countries set to watch, the event is also expected to attract an extra 650,000 visitors to Queensland in April, injecting an estimated half a billion dollars into the local economy over the next four years.

This is great news for the local business and hospitality sectors.

It’s no secret that the Gold Coast’s dining scene has evolved over the years. It is becoming one of Australia’s most exciting dining hubs as we see an emergence of boutique restaurants opening up on the southern-end of the coast, particularly in places like Palm Beach and Miami, which are embracing new dining concepts built around the philosophy of collaboration and shared dining. As a result, we’re seeing

a number of restaurateurs come together to create memorable dining experiences for locals and visitors to the Gold Coast, such as The Collective, Rick Shores and Hideaway Kitchen & Bar. However, the Gold Coast isn’t the only region benefitting from events this year. The annual Noosa Food and Wine Festival, this year being run by Visit Noosa, further enhances the culinary culture of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

As we move through 2018 these type of tourism events will raise the profile of the outstanding culinary scenes of these regions both locally and in international markets.

Further cementing Queensland’s culinary capabilities, is the addition of 12 restaurants which made OpenTable’s Top 50 list in 2017, a strong indicator of the calibre of dining that the state has to offer, while these events give businesses the ideal platform to impress the world.

So how can restaurants capitalise on this sporting fever and influx of visitors? Here are some tips to help harness these topical events throughout the year:

• Travellers seek recommendations through brands that they trust.

Our recommendation marketing engine delivers on this, honing in and targeting diners beyond the reach of local venues, and more importantly targeting those coming into Australia to book at venues on OpenTable.

• Review your social media marketing strategy. Visitors turn to social media for inspiration when dining out in a new city, so by making sure you’re tagging your location, jumping on current hashtags and interacting with your diners online, it heightens your chances of bringing in new and repeat customers.

• Don’t be afraid to try something different. When major events are in town, it can be a great chance to get creative with an innovative menu, special offer or drink.

Remember, events always bring a sense of excitement and energy to the air. Make sure you get involved and have some fun with it - you never know who you’ll impress!

See you at the finish line.

13

14

INSIDER

INSIDER

15

LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX IT’S QUITE THE CONVERSATION STARTER THESE DAYS, AS TOP US CELEBRITY CHEFS AND RESTAURATEURS MARIO BATALI, JOHN BESH AND KEN FRIEDMAN, ACCUSED OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT, STEP DOWN FROM THEIR RESTAURANT EMPIRES. WITH 89 PER CENT OF HOSPITALITY WORKERS EXPERIENCING SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT WORK*, SAYS JILL DUPLEIX, WHEN WILL THE AUSTRALIAN RESTAURANT INDUSTRY CALL ‘TIME’S UP’?

JI

LL

DU

PL

EI

X

EI

X

INSIDER JI

LL

DU

PL

‘S

o who will be the first to fall?’ It’s the latest party game when hospo folk get together for a drink.

One media organisation has even put together a list of the ‘most likely’ figures in the Australian restaurant industry, ready to publish as soon as the victims speak out.

These big players are just the tip of a bloody, big iceberg, however. Because females still

Females still cop it, day after day and night after night, in restaurants, bars, clubs, pubs, training colleges and fast-food franchises ... The grabbing of bums, groping of tits, squeezing of legs. Endless comments made about shape, size and sexual proclivity that offend, humiliate and intimidate.

Jill Dupleix is a food writer, editor, cookbook author, restaurant critic and co-Director of Australia’s Top Restaurants.

cop it, day after day and night after night, in restaurants, bars, clubs, pubs, training colleges and fast-food franchises. Work colleagues bailing up a young, female apprentice in the cool room. The grabbing of bums, groping of tits, squeezing of legs. Endless comments made about shape, size and sexual proclivity that offend, humiliate

and intimidate. Porn in the staff room. And bosses who brush off complaints or look the other way when diners think that a 10 per cent tip gives them free rein to put their hands where they like.

As the excellent Pete Wells wrote recently in The New York Times, “Something has gone grotesquely wrong when chefs brag that the chickens they buy lived happy, stress-free lives, but can’t promise us that the women they employ aren’t being assaulted in the storage room.”

Then there are the tired old lines we’ve heard all our lives: “You seem to attract that kind of thing”; “Just laugh it off ”; “Boys will be boys”; “Take it as a compliment”; “It’s not his fault”; “Suck it up, it’s all part of the deal”; “You were asking for it”. These are things no girl or woman should hear in 2018.

They’re not asking for it. They don’t take it as a compliment.

And they’re not laughing it off.

The real dynamics here are power and gender. When you don’t pay women as much as men, when you hire a male

instead of an equally talented female, when you exclude women from management roles and overlook them for promotions, when you encourage (or fail to discourage) a blokey, sexist, work culture - you create the perfect environment for workplace bullying and its kissing cousin, sexual harassment.

Thankfully, girls will be girls, and there are helpful new initiatives bubbling up in Australia such as Paige Auburt’s Coleman’s Academy, dedicated to the education and support of women in the bartending industry, and Julia Campbell’s Women In Hospitality (WOHO) for women working in all areas of hospitality.

Because if girls and women continue to be treated as second class citizens by the industry, they will simply leave and do something else. And there will be only one thing left to say about the boys left behind: they were asking for it. *According to national trade union, United Voice.

16

CHEFS’ CORNER

Chefs’ Corner ONE YEAR ON FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S ANNOUNCEMENT, NINO ZOCCALI, OF SYDNEY’S THE RESTAURANT PENDOLINO AND LA ROSA THE STRAND, SHINES A TORCH ON HOW CHANGES TO THE 457 VISA SCHEME HAVE IMPACTED THE AUSTRALIAN FOODSERVICE INDUSTRY.

W

ell, the time has arrived. The 457 visa scheme is officially a thing of the past, replaced with a Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) visa which, most critically, doesn’t offer a pathway to permanent residency for cooks, restaurant managers and other critical hospitality occupations.

Data recently released by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection shows that the number of primary visas granted for sponsored workers from July to September 2017 dropped 35.7 per cent compared to the previous year. Primary visas granted to cooks dropped almost 30 per cent. For restaurant and cafe managers, it was about 16 per cent.

So it’s clear that times are tough for hospitality employers. And it’s not projected to improve any time soon, with Deloitte Access Economics forecasting a skills shortage of 123,000 by the year 2020

(it’s worth noting that this projection was announced in 2015, well before the announced changes to the 457 scheme).

Together with foodservice and accommodation, information technology, professional services, scientific services and technical services are expected to be hit the hardest by the changes. This isn’t just about hospitality, and it isn’t just about filling vacancies. The axing of the 457 visa means many young Australians won’t have access to the mentorship and training currently provided by industry leaders who up until now have chosen to impart their invaluable knowledge and skills in our country.

How is it, then, that the government can continue to flaunt hospitality as one of Australia’s best draw-cards, pumping tens of millions of dollars into elaborate international marketing campaigns that sing

the praises of our world-class (but seriously under-resourced) restaurants?

The $40 million government-funded ‘Restaurant Australia’ campaign shone a spotlight on our remarkable food and wine producers and brought the world’s best chefs and food media to our shores. Just last month, a Crocodile Dundee-inspired TV commercial featuring actor Chris Hemsworth imbibing at South Australian wineries and dining at Quay was viewed by up to 110 million Super Bowl fans in the US. This was part of a $38 million campaign designed to put Australia at the top of the to-do list for American travellers by 2020.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be promoting our industry abroad. Of course we should. But if the calls of some of the country’s most promising industries continue to fall on deaf ears, I’m not sure we’ll be able to deliver on the government’s promises.

P O T E TH

D N U 30

IN 0 3 ER

Y R T S DU

S R E Y PLA

WE’RE LOOKING FOR THE TOP 30 UNDER 30 INDUSTRY PLAYERS Open to chefs, innovators, entrepreneurs, restaurant managers, assistant managers, waiters, sommeliers, and bartenders, 30 Under 30 is dedicated to recognising and celebrating the best and brightest young foodservice professionals working in Australia today.

IS THIS YOU? The announcement of the inaugural 30 Under 30 class will take place during the tradeshow, Foodservice Australia at the ICC Sydney in May 2018.

The finalists will be flown (if out of state) to the event and provided with tickets to attend the exclusive cocktail event.

To enter visit: foodservicenews.com.au/30-under-30

ENTRIES CLOSE: APRIL 5TH 2018 GOLD SPONSORS

PHOTOGRAPHY: SECONDBITE

PHOTOGRAPHY: ADDISON ROAD COMMUNITY CENTRE

YOUR BUSINESS IS FOOD

FOOD DONATION – THE RULES

PHOTOGRAPHY: OZHARVEST

THE NSW ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AUTHORITY’S AMANDA KANE SAYS $3.6 MILLION IN EQUIPMENT GRANTS TO FOOD CHARITIES OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS HAS ENABLED THEM TO HANDLE AND REDISTRIBUTE MUCH MORE DONATED FOOD.

PHOTOGRAPHY: FOODBANK

18

YOUR BUSINESS IS FOOD

T

The Love Food Hate Waste team can provide expertise and support. To find out more, visit lovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.au.

here is no better feeling to counter the misery of having to throw away perfectly good food than the pleasure of knowing it will benefit the hungry.

This morning, as they do every morning, the homeless in Sydney’s Marrickville got to enjoy their breakfast from the Hilton Sydney kitchens thanks to a cooperative arrangement with the Addison Road Community Centre.

Charities like SecondBite, Foodbank, OzHarvest and community groups like Addison Road are at the heart of a booming food redistribution network that is ensuring thousands of meals made up of quality food are filling hungry tummies each day rather than the country’s waste bins.

The increase in awareness, food volumes and opportunity is being driven by government programs, like the NSW Environment Protection Authority’s Waste Less, Recycle More, which recognises redistribution as a much better environmental outcome for food waste than landfill.

The EPA’s Love Food Hate Waste: Your Business is Food program helps businesses to reduce food waste, achieving an average reduction in participating businesses of 21 per cent.

The program, available for free in NSW, helps businesses avoid food waste through simple actions, one of which can be food donation. It helps clarify the rules around food donation and provide confidence for the business to explore opportunities.

Here’s what you need to know.

as a food business, donated your surplus food in good faith to a charity, the charity intends to give the food away for free, the food is safe to eat when you hand it over, and you let the charity know of any food handling requirements or time limits for safe consumption.

FOOD DONATION ACT 2002 Food donors in NSW are protected under the Civil Liability Amendment (Food Donations) Act 2002. The Act limits the liability of individuals and businesses that donate food, provided you,

WHO ACCESSES FOOD RESCUE CHARITIES? Food insecurity is when people don’t have access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development and an active and

WHAT CAN BE DONATED? Food relief agencies take all sorts of donated food. From nonperishables, perishables, food that has not been served to customers or clients, and prepared meals.

It can be past its best before date (but not use by), in packaging, in your own containers or the charity can provide containers. It can be in quantities ranging from pallet loads to a shopping bag full.

TYPES OF FOOD DONATION CHARITIES There are large and small food rescue organisations. Some specialise in collection and distribution of donated food to smaller charities. Others focus more on collecting and distributing directly to people in need.

Donated food is provided via many ways, including food parcels, food pantries and prepared meals consumed on site or taken away.

Distribution points may be mobile or permanent. Food parcels and self-service shops are the most common type of food assistance provided, followed by meals consumed on site and then food vouchers. This reflects the needs of the most common client groups, which are the unemployed, low income and single parent families.

19

healthy life. These people may not be the people you first think of. Many are working families struggling to pay their mortgage, rent, medical or power bills. Two in five (40 per cent) households experiencing food insecurity are families with dependent children and most (89 per cent) of these children are very young (0-12 years old).

While there are many community groups and charities trying to help, many report they can’t feed all the people that come to them and the number of people needing food help is increasing.

WHAT CHARITY IS RIGHT FOR YOU? To find the right charity or community group for your business, consider: • Types of food: Do you have leftover prepared meals? Is it perishable or non-perishable surplus stock or food that is still safe to eat but not up to the required standard?

• Food safety: Can food be chilled and heated up later?

Do you have space to chill food before pick- up? Does the food need to be consumed within a set time?

• Pickup frequency and time: How often do you need the pickup? Daily for perishable items, or twice a week for unperishable items or just call as you need?

Depending on the type of surplus food and quantity you have, you may decide to work with more than one charity to suit your operation. For example, the Hilton Sydney chilled their surplus catering food for OzHarvest’s daily pick up and use Addison Road soup kitchen to collect the excess breakfast items for the ‘customers’ to consume immediately.

20

HUCK’S RANT

HUCK'S RANT

OF CHEFS AND MICE OUR RESIDENT GOURMAND, ANTHONY HUCKSTEP, CHAMPIONS THE WELLOILED KITCHEN AND ARGUES THAT A TIGHTLY RUN OPERATION SHOULD FUNCTION EFFECTIVELY WITH OR WITHOUT ITS HEAD CHEF.

B

ack when I was sharpening my incisors editing this ‘ere august tome, I’d eagerly peruse the views of those penning reviews and suffer a most irritable vowel syndrome.

Critics annoyed the hell out of me. Actually they still do – in a pleasingly, bewildering kind of way.

It’s not that I don’t respect their opinion, it’s that I don’t always share it (which is kind of the point, right).

No doubt they’re scratching their skulls about my perspectives too.

Restaurant critics were probably the original brunt of ‘opinions are like assholes’ rib-tickler. Anyway, back before I became an asshole myself I used to get annoyed at reviewers who’d make a fuss about the head chef not being in the kitchen.

Anthony Huckstep is the national restaurant critic for delicious. and a food writer for The Australian, GQ Australia and QANTAS.

Restaurant critics were probably the original brunt of ‘opinions are like assholes’ rib-tickler. Anyway, back before I became an asshole myself I used to get annoyed at reviewers who’d make a fuss about the head chef not being in the kitchen. Insinuating that an establishment couldn’t function properly without Grand Poobah on the pans.

Knowing the team sport aspect of hospitality, where every

cog in the wheel plays a role in completing a perfect circle of consumer satisfaction, I found it perplexing that such a blanket theorem was rolled out so often. Chefs got a public whipping and some even lost hats on the basis.

Of course I wasn’t considering the entire picture, or the point, properly.

Over the last year I’ve eaten at numerous venues where the ‘talent’ or poster child wasn’t in the house on the evening, and I’ve drawn a different conclusion on the stance of my contemporaries that set the standards before me.

Whether it’s a name chef spreading themselves over multiple venues, consultants coming in to add oomph, or simply signing off on dishes but rarely behind the line, or the leaders taking a night in lieu – it’s not the fact that they’re not there that causes the issue.

Well, not directly. It’s the lack of attention to detail to cookery or lax in service standards that result. Obvious yes, but delegation relies on all parties – particularly those passing on the load, not just the will of those stepping up to the plate.

The best leaders have even better staff, with the best in-house training, backing them.

At one establishment where the well-known was on vacay, I enquired about the cut and breed used for steak frites. The waiter replied with ‘beef’. When pushed for more information beyond the obvious he said, “I don’t understand sir, it’s beef.”

After asking to check with the chef he returned and postured, “The chef said its not wagyu.”

Indeed.

Anyway, I still think its not necessary for any operator to still man the pans or manage the floor, what matters, is whether the restaurant delivers on its promise without their presence. The truth is consumers, in most instances, couldn’t care less who the chef is.

What they care about is a great night out with people they like.

The best venues don’t rely on such a top-heavy influence every service, they’ve trained their staff to make every night as seamless as the last, irrelevant of who is on the pans or on the floor.

It means as a diner we’re not left thinking , ‘It’s often better when you’re here’, and instead, ‘I hadn’t noticed you weren’t’.

21

22

PROFILE

GIVING VIETNAMESE FOOD A GOOD WRAP IT’S ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S FAVOURITE STORIES – THE REFUGEE CHILD WHO NOW RUNS HER OWN BUSINESS. BUT FOR CHEF JERRY MAI OF MELBOURNE’S PHO NOM AND ANNAM, SAYS JILL DUPLEIX, IT’S MORE ABOUT RAISING THE GAME FOR VIETNAMESE/CAMBODIAN FOOD IN AUSTRALIA, ONE CHARCOAL-GRILLED HIRAMASA KINGFISH AND SOM LA GOAT CURRY AT A TIME.

“E

very Asian parent wants their child to be a doctor or a lawyer,” says Jerry Mai, her mohawk still bravely upstanding after three hours hovering over the charcoal grill. “But when I said I wanted to cook, my parents were okay with it.

After several debates and a few lectures, that is.”

She reckons it was their fault, anyway, for being such good cooks. After three years in a Thai refugee camp, her Cambodianborn father and Vietnamese mother arrived in Brisbane in 1984, and opened an Asian restaurant. Mai was just six years old,

TO P

PROFILE CHEF

“Every Asian parent wants their child to be a doctor or a lawyer.

But when I said I wanted to cook, my parents were okay with it.

After several debates and a few lectures, that is.”

Annam 56 Little Bourke St Melbourne VIC 3000 annam.com.au

but wanted to help by doing the dishes.

“I had to stand on a crate to get to the sink,” she laughs. “I remember the noise and the smells of the kitchen. That’s where it started for me.”

Red Rice in Fitzroy was her first attempt to take Vietnamese food out of its cheap-and-cheerful ghetto in 2000; but it wasn’t until she travelled the world and worked with the likes of Rainer Becker at Zuma and David Thompson at Nahm in London, that she really ‘got it’.

“Here’s this white guy (David Thompson) saying, ‘Who am I to change a thousand years of tradition?’” she says. “It made me

reconsider how I was westernising my food, and go back to what I knew.”

With its neon signage, sparkling fairy lights, walls of mahjong tiles and smoky, sizzling, charcoal-based open kitchen, Annam is an homage to the hot, sweet, sour, salty Vietnamese-Cambodian food she grew up with. “It was a massive risk, because we put all our money into it,” she says. “And cooking with charcoal is a whole new learning curve.” Opened in October 2017 with business partner Rani Doyle, it has a strong focus on great produce such as Warialda beef, and cheeky riffs on tradition, such as the in-demand, waffle-coated fried ice-cream.

While it has all been a hard slog, Mai counts herself lucky she can now teach, as well as learn. “It’s our obligation, to teach our apprentices what we know,” she says.

Her advice for young players comes from her own ‘all-or-nothing’ attitude. “Don’t spend all your apprenticeship in one place, move around and learn new things. Take time and travel. It moulds and shapes you as a chef. Work out what you want and go after it really hard.”

Her next challenge, with partner Eliza pregnant with their first child, is becoming an ‘Asian parent’ herself. So, what will she want her own child to grow up to be - doctor, lawyer or cook? “Cook, I hope,” she says, laughing.

“It’s so much more fun than being a lawyer.”

PROFILE

23

Jerry Mai, co-owner and chef of Annam PHOTOGRAPHY: JAMES MORGAN

24

UNCORKED

TRUTH IN WINE HEAD WINEMAKER OF THE HUNTER VALLEY’S PEPPER TREE WINES, GWYN OLSEN, SHARES HER PASSION FOR CREATING WINES WITH A STRONG SENSE OF PLACE. What drew you to a career in wine?

A love of science and action, really. I enjoyed studying science however was never really cut out for a career as a scientist. And looking into my options the wine industry – with its combination of physical action, travel options and applied science – really attracted me. After finishing my Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and Post Grad Dip in oenology, I started cleaning tanks as a cellar hand in my first winery job.

How would you describe your approach to winemaking?

Focused. I try to focus on the quality of fruit from the vineyard and make delicious wines which speak of time and place.

Who has had a significant influence on you as a winemaker, and why?

Corey Ryan (now Sons of Eden) through both hiring me as the assistant winemaker at Villa Maria Estate and acting as a mentor through my progression to senior winemaker and head winemaker. He taught me very early on to trust my palate and to always be searching for a new or better way of doing things.

What ideas or techniques have you introduced at Pepper Tree Wines?

We have recently started focusing on the vineyard and selecting the individual rows or blocks to help produce the best wines. In 2016, we hand-thinned and then hand-picked our top Wrattonbully shiraz block which has resulted in the best shiraz to date being produced off that vineyard.

We also introduced a single vineyard riesling from Orange, NSW. We continue to play with skin contact in whites and alternate varieties, and once we are happy with the styles there will be some more exciting things to come.

Having won Rising Star of the Year 2015 (Hunter Valley Legends Awards) and Young Winemaker Medal 2014 (Gourmet Traveller WINE), what do awards mean to you?

They are incredibly important to me. I received the Young Winemaker award just as I was starting out on my first, solo-in-charge, winemaking job. It gave me great confidence in my own ability and to trust my gut.

What are your favourite wine and food pairings?

Chardonnay and cheese toasties, cabernet and dry aged wagyu steak, Champagne and hot chips, and rosé and rice paper rolls.

What big trends do you predict for the Australian wine industry in 2018?

If I knew that, I would be a millionaire! Grenache and cabernet.

In your opinion, how has the palate of the average Australian drinker changed or evolved over your career?

It has evolved immensely and continues to evolve. I think the Australian drinker has moved away from sweeter, fruity styles of wines to those that have more structure, more texture and are more savoury.

UNCORKED

25

PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRIS ELFES

I try to focus on the quality of fruit from the vineyard and make delicious wines which speak of time and place.

Gwyn Olsen, head winemaker, Pepper Tree Wines.

chef

ARE YOU AN UP-AND-COMING CHEF OR RESTAURATEUR? You’re invited to join us for our very first Next Generation foodservice Forum – a panel-driven symposium that will provide information and inspiration vital to your career and burgeoning businesses.

restaurateur

4TH JUNE 2018 AT THE OVOLO HOTEL, WOOLLOOMOOLOO TICKETS $30 Limited tickets available. To secure your spot, visit

foodservicenews.com.au/nextgen

PHOTOGRAPHY: MERIVALE

28

DINING

DINING

29

CHEZ FRED’S AT ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S HOTTEST RESTAURANTS, REFRESHINGLY HONEST VALUES AND REAL COOKING TAKE THE STAGE. YASMIN NEWMAN MEETS DANIELLE ALVAREZ, THE GUIDING FORCE BEHIND FRED’S.

T

Danielle Alvarez in the Fred’s kitchen.

here’s a wonderful, infectious idealism to Danielle Alvarez and it can be felt everywhere at Fred’s. The head chef of Merivale’s star new restaurant was secured by Justin Hemmes three years prior to opening and, like many of the millionaire restaurateur’s decisions, he’s been right on the money.

Florida-born Alvarez trained at Thomas Keller’s lauded restaurant, The French Laundry, before scoring a near-impossible position at Chez Panisse, Alice Waters' icon in Berkeley. On a chance holiday to Australia, a mutual friend introduced the chef to Hemmes, who had Panissian visions for a newly acquired space in Paddington.

She cooked him a meal and the rest, as they say, is history. The warm-hearted, refreshingly candid chef oozes an understated charm that seems to have this instant effect on people.

“As a kid, I never even imagined I’d be a chef, let alone have this beautiful restaurant in Australia,” she says wistfully. “I knew I wanted to do something creative, so I went to culinary school, but it was never a conscious dream.” Alvarez grew up in a big Cuban family surrounded by cooks, but the calling came across the country in California, where produce is at the heart of food. “That idea of taking things out of the garden and cooking with them that day, that’s a very Californian thing as everything grows there. It all felt very communal, free, creative and fun. And I just fell in love.”

Then, she started at Chez Panisse and everything fell in place.

“If you’re cooking in California, Chez is kind of the ultimate, especially if you’re interested in that style of cooking.” The restaurant is renowned for its daily-changing menu and unique kitchen format with no recipes and each chef more or less creating whatever they want with each course. “It takes a lot of trust, skill and courage to cook that way,” says Alvarez, who felt surrounded by kindred spirits.

According to the chef, only a handful of restaurants around the world approach cooking quite like Chez. But she concedes that has come with time. “I’d love to model what I do after it, but they have almost 50 years under their belt. I’m sure a couple of years in, Chez Panisse was not operating like that.”

In the meantime, there are other Panisse traits she’s been able to adopt. Fred’s exudes a warmth, rusticity and conviviality, textured with timber, copper and abundant flowers, and anchored in the centre by a generous open kitchen. “Alice [Waters] was a believer that if you create beautiful spaces for people to work, they’ll be more

30

DINING

Above: Diners can see directly into Fred’s open kitchen.

Below: A corner of the large, custommade hearth.

inspired and work better. I hope that’s something people think I do at Fred’s,” she says. As the story goes, Alvarez sketched a drawing of a French chateau-style farmhouse for Hemmes and his sister Bettina, who leads Merivale’s design, and it became the blueprint for the inviting interior that welcomes guests today.

Respect has been another hallmark. “If you have the right people that believe in what you’re doing, you don’t need that military-style, yelling kitchen stereotype,” she suggests sagely. “If you treat people with respect, they’ll respect you and the ingredients.”

But Fred’s is not all Chez. During the two-and-a-half-year development period, Alvarez took on a few head chef posts within Merivale, where she likewise observed how her co-workers operated. If talking to her proves anything, the gentle but assured approach is Alvarez.

Interestingly, as a leader, Fred’s is the chef’s first time truly in the driver’s seat. She’s also a rare sight in a heavily male-dominated industry: a female. Was she daunted? “Of course! But I was also really ready for it.”

She recounts her first day and all worries falling away. “It was a great lesson for me to know that I do have what it takes even if I’m doubting myself along the way.” Alvarez believes this tendency is entrenched. “We [women] tend to undercut ourselves before we even get started,” she explains.

“I think a lot of it is just believing you can do it.” In her case, it’s also been female role models to look up to. Alvarez speaks with fierce pride about two female head chefs she’s worked for. “There was no difference in my eyes to the males I’ve worked under. It really inspired and drove me.”

Company culture and workplace practices have been equally telling.

In regards Merivale, she’s full of praise. “Working in a company that doesn’t look at gender and is very much about the skills and ideas you bring, I felt a lot of confidence from that.” And it’s spreading. Alvarez says many of the women in her team came to Fred’s to work for a female.

“I think that’s awesome. If I can be a tiny bit inspiring to them as so many women have been in my life, that means we’ll have a lot more women continuing to work in the industry instead of dropping out.”

DINING

Highlights from the ever-changing Fred’s menu.

31

32

DINING

Alvarez has designed her menu around ethicallysourced produce.

“As a kid, I never even imagined I’d be a chef, let alone have this beautiful restaurant in Australia. I knew I wanted to do something creative, so I went to culinary school, but it was never a conscious dream. That idea of taking things out of the garden and cooking with them that day, that’s a very Californian thing as everything grows there. It all felt very communal, free, creative and fun.”

One can’t help but marvel at all the challenges Alvarez has taken in her stride, from being a female to a foreigner. “Moving to Australia wasn’t a major adjustment,” she explains. “There’s a relaxed atmosphere that’s not uncommon in California.” For her, the surprise has been less cultural than industrial. “In the US, it is so competitive and hard to get a job,” she explains. “I think we’re failing to inspire people to get into the business here and it’s forcing us as an industry to evaluate how we're doing things and attract a new workforce.”

And like that, she’s also become an Australian advocate for change.

When it comes to food, Alvarez let’s it do the talking. “We’re constantly trying to get in the nicest stuff and not do too much to it.” This, by all accounts, is one of the hardest things to do.

Alvarez spent the better part of Fred’s long lead fostering relationships with the producers of all this nice stuff. “To show a level of commitment, and get those people to commit to you, was really cool for me. I’d only ever stepped into restaurants where those relationships were already established,” she recounts.

Each day, Alvarez writes the menu off the vegetables that come in, then picks proteins to fit, describing the ethos as old-world, from scratch and with an Italian, French, Spanish and Asian leaning.

The Asian connection is something she’s really taken from Australia, as is the seafood. “It’s been the big thing for me. People take their seafood seriously here and demand greatness from it,” says Alvarez, who describes learning how to properly cook the wide variety of finand shellfish as incredibly exciting. “I’m still trying to work out native ingredients a bit more; that’s something that hasn’t come naturally to me, but I want to incorporate more of.”

She highlights a summer vegetable panzanella with tonnato mayonnaise on the menu that day, which is predominantly vegetarian, comprised of produce from different farms and a showcase of the season. “It’s a symbol of what I want Fred’s to be.

Simple, delicious and tailored to what’s good at the moment.”

Since it opened a year-and-a-half ago, Fred’s has garnered critical acclaim, including Gourmet Traveller’s Restaurant of the Year 2018.

The chef is at the heart of Fred’s – if not Fred’s herself – but the goal is grander, more noble. “If anything, I want my legacy to be a place where people have a respect for each other and create really beautiful food.” She references Sean’s Panorama several times as we talk.

“I’d love Fred’s to be iconic in the way it is, still busy to this day and just adored, whether I’m here or not.”

34

TRADE TALK

CURD YOUR ENTHUSIASM AS AUSSIE DINERS BECOME MORE ADVENTUROUS IN THEIR TASTES, VENUES AROUND THE COUNTRY ARE BROADENING THEIR CHEESE OFFERING. ANITA CONNORS FINDS OUT THE GOUDA, THE BAD AND THE UGLY.

TRADE TA L K

The cheese plate at Sydney’s Nomad.

“I

’d say the cheese is even better here than it is in Italy,” says Paolo Masciopinto. “And I think Australians are open to learning about produce and the importance of knowing where your food comes from. I feel lucky to live in multicultural Melbourne, open to so many interpretations of cuisines, and also how they incorporate cheese.”

Originally from Pimonte, the head chef of South Yarra’s Bar Carolina has enjoyed discovering the broad nature of Australians’ tastes in food and how eager diners are to try new things.

Open to trying new things, he is constantly introducing guests to cheese they may not have experienced before.

Masciopinto’s approach is one increasingly adopted by restaurants, bars and cafes around Australia. Certainly, more than ever, diners are hungry to try different types of cheese with a diverse, and often local, provenance.

Sydney restaurant, Nomad, is one such venue. Co-founder and co-owner Rebecca Yzabek is proud of the choices they provide diners.

“From savoury to sweet, cheese can be the star of the show or enhance other

flavours and textures within a dish,” she says.

More than that, having the right options of cheese is crucial.

And theirs is an ever-changing menu. For that, Yzabek reveals, “We aim to support local farmers, growers and producers. We champion the little guys in a big, old warehouse in Surry Hills.”

In addition, Nomad makes a number of their own cheese in-house, currently a haloumi and ricotta.

CHEESY INTRODUCTIONS At French gastro pub, L’Hotel Gitan, cheese is also high priority. The head chef of the Prahran establishment, Rotem Papo, ensures it is always on the menu. “Apart from the obvious reason, that it’s just delicious,” he laughs. “What I love most is that cheese is versatile and everchanging, it is always different.”

For him, cheese is essentially a way of life and integral to his philosophy to food. “Coming from Israel, cheese is very much part of our diet,” he says. “We typically have cheese at breakfast where there is a selection of soft and semi-hard cheese that are accompanied by different salads and eggs. I definitely broadened my grasp

PHOTOGRAPHY: PETRINA TINSLAY

TRADE TALK 35

TRADE TALK

PHOTOGRAPHY: PETRINA TINSLAY

36

about cheese when I became a chef, working with different types of it, and even more when I arrived to Melbourne and discovered a vast variety of it.”

And given the variety available in Australia, a variety should be enjoyed.

“You can’t just throw together a cheese plate with a standard blue, brie, cheddar and goats’ anymore. Australians are a lot more educated these days which is great. We should try harder to source interesting and local cheeses.”

Yzabek agrees. “You can’t just throw together a cheese plate with a standard blue, brie, cheddar and goats’ anymore. Australians are a lot more educated these days which is great. We should try harder to source interesting and local cheeses.”

Left to right: The croque monsieur at L’Hotel Gitan; Nomad’s house-made ricotta with smoked Nardín anchovies and sourdough baguette; and beetroot ravioli with goats’ cheese at Bar Carolina.

GRATE IT, GRILL IT, MELT IT With provenance and versatility on the menu, chefs are seeking appetising and unusual ways to cook with and pair cheese.

At Nomad the focus is on simplicity and keeping things close to the source. Reflecting this is their house-made ricotta with smoked anchovies, guindilla peppers and sourdough baguette.

Yzabek says, “It’s only those four

components on the plate – and each one has its place.

Each item is the best of the best and it all comes together perfectly in my opinion. It was inspired by a dish of cheese and anchovies that head chef, Jacqui Challinor, and I had in Spain a few years ago. We love the contrast and balance of flavours.”

At L’Hotel Gitan, Papo is excited about their three cheese souffle. “This dish is perfect for the cheese lovers,” he says,.

“It contains ricotta, mozzarella and gruyere, then served with a Parmesan tuille. We also have our cheese board which is changed regularly. I also like to play around with our specials, adding Parmesan for umami flavour, or beautiful raclette to melt over smoked ham, mushroom ragu and pomme fondant.”

At Bar Carolina, Masciopinto and his team emphasise crafting Italian food with Australian ingredients. He says, “I don’t think it makes me more Italian if I use Italian ingredients, I like to always incorporate local produce to bring to life Italian cuisine.”

Accordingly, his menu features a cheese board with three, changing cheeses from their supplier Gippsland Cheese, a beetroot tortellini filled with creamy goat’s

cheese, and a dessert made from ricotta and cooked wheat.

However he is most excited about his fondue ravioli for winter. The dish features ravioli parcels filled with melted fondue cheese that pop in your mouth.

“To create this indulgent dish,” he reveals, “I melt a generous serving of Fontina cheese, which is the Italian equivalent of French raclette. It’s combined with a little bit of milk, flour to stabilise and egg yolks for colour. I then pour it onto a tray to slightly harden before piping it into the ravioli parcels. When you cook the pasta in boiling water, the cheese re-melts, providing a heavenly mouthful of cheesy goodness.”

TO BRIE, OR NOT TO BRIE So what do the chefs want to see more of on menus around Australia?

For Yzabek the answer is local cheeses. She says, “One such example is our local goats’ cheese Willowbrae who are doing amazing things with their milks and they are just on the Hawkesbury, one hour north of Sydney.”

Masciopinto, however, is going a little bit more old school with his response. He says, “Fondue. In my opinion, there should be fountains of fondue everywhere.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: KRISTOFFER PAULSEN

BITING WORDS

37

Bar Carolina, South Yarra, Melbourne.

BITING WORDS FEBRUARY WAS A BUSY MONTH FOR THE COUNTRY’S TOP RESTAURANT CRITICS.

OVER IN PERTH, THE WEST AUSTRALIAN’S ROB BROADFIELD HAD THE EXPANSIVE HENRY SUMMER ON HIS RADAR. ‘It’s stylish, brilliantly executed, original and pleasing for a wide cross-section of punters.

Sure, the glamorous young things – who would rather buy smashed avo than get a mortgage – are there in their droves. But so, too, are bunches of blokes, middle-aged weekend gawpers, and mums and dads.’

IN MCLAREN VALE, SIMON WILKINSON OF THE ADELAIDE ADVERTISER WAS SUITABLY IMPRESSED BY THE D’ARENBERG CUBE. ‘A visit to the Cube is to plunge, like Alice down the rabbit hole, into Chester Osborn’s head, to see his random thoughts and fantasies, without the usual filters of conformity or commonsense.

How else do you explain the way a childhood obsession with the Rubik’s Cube has been translated into a four-storey edifice that has been compared to Hobart’s Mona.’

NOT FAR AWAY, IN THE CITY OF CHURCHES, THE AUSTRALIAN’S JOHN LETHLEAN TASTE TESTED AN “AUTHENTIC FRENCH BRASSERIE”.

‘Name aside, Hey Jupiter is so French you almost need a passport and a baguette tucked under your arm to get in. And Adelaide has warmed to it like a buttery croissant with confiture de framboises.’

IN SIMILAR SUIT, GOOD FOOD’S CALLAN BOYS HEADED TO A VENUE CHANNELLING A PARTICULAR TIME AND PLACE, HIS FOCUS, THE DUKE OF CLARENCE IN THE SYDNEY CBD. ‘It’s very easy to while away an evening at The Duke, meditating over a pint or getting your Bertie Wooster on with a Pimms or six. I look forward to returning with a crossword and a pencil and an empty dance card. Unlike an actual British pub, there’s also zero chance of spotty chavs belting each other with pool cues most nights.’

TERRY DURACK OF THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD OPTED FOR AN OPULENT LUNCH AT MERIVALE’S NEW BERT’S BAR & BRASSERIE IN NEWPORT. ‘The thing about Bert’s is that you will eat too much, drink too much and spend too much money. You will order big-buck lobster and rib-eye, cover the table with desserts, and roll out way past your bed-time.’

WHILE TIMEOUT’S LARISSA DUBECKI TACKLED MELBOURNE’S NEWEST ITALIAN ESTABLISHMENT, BAR CAROLINA. HERS WAS A POSITIVE VERDICT. ‘Bar Carolina shows every sign of following its older siblings into Melbourne’s Ivy League of Italians with a menu that serves two masters – old faithfuls and techniquedriven modern twists, two sides that mostly manage to happily coexist with just a little whiplash for the unwary.’

DISH of

20

18 the

YEAR

Sponsored by

Enter now!

Celebrating the dishes that grace Australia’s menus, and rewarding the innovators who are taking the country’s food to the next level.

Do you know of a stand-out dish?

It may be your own dish. It may be a colleague’s dish.

Nominate that dish now in foodservice’s Dish of the Year Awards and have it recognised as one of Australia’s best.

Dishes can be entered in one of the following categories: dservice foo

foodservice

B URGE R

Best Burger sponsored by

18

ES

B

2018

20

FISH &

B

ES

T SALA

C H I P S

D

2018

Best Pizza sponsored by

B E S T

BREAKY 2018

T PIZZ

foodservice

B E S T

R O L L

A

BE ST

odservice fo

foodservice

Best Breakfast Roll sponsored by

Best Salad sponsored by

Best Fish & Chips sponsored by

Take your career to the next level.

The winning dish in each category, and its creator, will be profiled in foodservice magazine and on the foodservice website, seen by 14,000 local food service professionals.

Who can enter:

Any commercial chef working in Australia

How to enter:

www.foodservicenews.com.au/doty Choose your category and complete the entry form, providing the dish’s name, the restaurant it features at, and a brief description Entries close: 1 May 2018 Winners will be announced in the July 2018 issue of foodservice magazine.

Terms & Conditions: Only one entry required per dish. All dishes will be considered equally, regardless of number of nominations. A panel of industry experts will review all entries and a short list of finalists will be made. The finalist’s dishes will be judged on site and sampled and assessed on a number of criteria including presentation, flavour, texture, creativity, technique and value for money.

40

PROFILE MANAGEMENT

ARE YOU MAKING A PROFIT? TONY ELDRED CRUNCHES THE NUMBERS TO ENSURE THAT YOUR BUSINESS AND BOTTOM LINE DON’T GET A HORRIBLE SURPRISE.

MANA

GEMENT

TO NY ELDRE D FOOD S E RV IC E

Tony Eldred operates Eldred Hospitality Pty Ltd, ‘The Hospitality Specialists’.

Contact him on (03) 9813 3311 or at eldtrain.com.au.

I

’ve seen some pretty interesting accounting lately.

Clients come to us for all sorts of professional advice and we normally try to establish the financial health of their business as part of the process. I usually start with the question: “Are you making a profit?” Most of the time the answer is positive.

When we look at their books we sometimes get a nasty surprise.

Two recent examples come to mind especially. Both clients approached us to see if we could help sell their businesses, which were small cafes operated by husband and wife teams. They were both showing around 10 per cent net profit on their books, on around $500,000 turnover.

This immediately made me suspicious because in my experience, it is difficult to make a reasonable profit from this type of business in this volume band.

More often they just make wages for their owners.

The books of both showed unusually low wage percentages so I proceeded to ask questions to establish the real situation: “Are you showing your own wages on the books?”

“No,” they answered in both cases. Now, you don’t have to be Einstein to work out what was going on here. They had to live, and in both cases they had a reasonable lifestyle so the money had to be coming from somewhere... if you get my drift.

The problem for us is when you go to sell a business you can only sell what shows ‘officially’ on the books. In these cases I had to tell the potential sellers that to sell their businesses, their books would have to be adjusted to reflect a realistic level of wages.

This would wipe out the book profits they were showing, kill the potential value of the businesses and make both families liable to a rather large income tax bill.

The other issue that was present in both businesses was the lack of accruals in the accounting system to put aside money for renovation and refurbishment. All hospitality businesses need regular makeovers and irregular major renovations. The money to do this has to come from somewhere. If money has been steadily put aside for this purpose, then it is there when it is needed and forms a positive entry in the balance sheet.

If it has not been saved it will have to be borrowed or injected into the business from other sources and becomes a liability. The lack of accrued funds for refurbishment detracts significantly from the value of an otherwise saleable business – especially if it is a bit run down.

The underlying issue here is the relationship between short term profits, or operating profits as they are called, and long term profit, which we call capital gain. Operating profit is the money you make on the turnover through your business.

Put simply, you trade for a week, pay all your bills and what is left is operating profit. Capital gain is the profit you make when you sell a business. It can be a considerable windfall if the right factors are present.

Many hospitality operators do not understand the interrelationship between operating profit and capital gain (read: short term versus long term profit). They take money out of

MANAGEMENT

their businesses that should be left in it (ie. the refurbishment fund), call it ‘profit’ and fool themselves that they are making money. To my mind, what they are really doing is robbing their own future.

Pulling black money out of a business is, in my opinion, doing the same thing. For a start if you don’t keep proper books you have no proper control – and this is likely to cost you as much as you gain. More important than that you are robbing yourself of a potentially large lump of money at the time when you sell your business – so it’s a net loss all round.

You’ll also rob your future if you don’t spend the money to structure your business properly and set-up proper systems of management and control. The most valuable businesses are those that run

themselves and don’t require an owner to be present full-time.

The availability of modern computer accounting software has made the structuring of business accounts an issue of our times. A lot of business operators set up their own accounts with very little input from an accountant who has proper industry expertise, and then maintain their own books.

If the business operator has set up their accounts on the basis of incorrect or incomplete assumptions and has missed accounting for critical issues in the business, invariably something will suffer in the future. The most likely thing to suffer will be the ultimate value of the business at the time it is offered for sale.

A properly structured hospitality business should

OLIVE YOU AD-FOOD SERVICE-AUS-19X13 CM.pdf

1

25/01/2018

41

You’ll rob your future if you don’t spend the money to structure your business properly and set-up proper systems of management and control. The most valuable businesses are those that run themselves and don’t require an owner to be present. deliver both a reasonable operating profit and the promise of a healthy lump sum when it comes time to sell it. At present there are thousands of restaurants and cafes for sale around the country that are not worth much more than their physical assets would fetch in a fire sale auction – mainly for the reasons I have described.

I know it’s difficult to resist the temptation to pocket and enjoy the money when it’s there, staring you in the face, but what you think is profit may be better put aside than spent.

09:34

42

MOUTHFUL

Aussie Social Media Stats

US $3.5 million The cost of the world’s most expensive liquor - Pasión Azteca.

The platinum and white-gold bottle is encrusted with 6,400 diamonds, and contains aged Anejo tequila.

Source: Luxury Insider

1. Facebook – 15,000,000 (monthly active Australian users) 2. YouTube – 15,000,000 (unique Australian visitors per month) 3. Instagram – 9,000,000 (monthly active Australian users) 4. WordPress.com – 5,700,000 Australian users 5. WhatsApp – 5,000,000 (active Australian users) Australian users Source: Vivid Social

MOUTHFUL Australia’s Oldest Chocolate Bar Cherry Ripe - it first came on the market in 1924.

Photography: National Museum Australia

Australia’s most romantic state Queensland - the Sunshine State came out on top of over 70,000 restaurant reviews that were analysed over the past 12 months.

Source: OpenTable

Tweet tracker I was about 3 minutes from getting out of here early. #NotSoFastSucka #WaiterLife Source: @VentingWaiter

TOOL TALK

ERVI ODS CE FO S I N C E 2 0 0 8

TOOL T A L K C

O

O M P A R I S

N

43

TOP UNIT QUALITY KITCHEN APPLIANCES ARE VITAL FOR THE SMOOTH AND EFFICIENT RUNNING OF A COMMERCIAL OPERATION. HERE ARE TWO OF OUR FAVOURITES.

K KOMPATTO OVEN • Dimensions: Minimum 519 x 628 x 770 mm • stoddart.com.au

BLANCO COOK • Dimensions: Minimum 806 x 648 x 300 mm • regethermic.com.au

TIP

OMPATTO OVEN The Kompatto oven has been designed for the compact commercial kitchen. With space getting smaller in order to reduce operational costs, the unit offers users a new standard in sustainability, robustness and quality.

The Kompatto oven features a smaller steam generator than those fitted on traditional combi ovens. The micro generator reduces energy consumption to just 1 kW. You can save over 30 per cent in running costs reducing your bottomline with the symbiotic system. It also allows the user to determine both the quantity and the quality of the steam in the cooking chamber.

Other features include an easy-to-use touch screen interface with 500 recipes, an optional sous-vide probe which can be used in conjunction with Meteo system humidity control for precise sous-vide cooking, and an optional smoker to achieve consistent colour, aroma and taste.

And available in two versions, the Kompatto oven KH features a touch screen with high efficiency steam generator and boiler, while the KT has a touch screen with instant steam generation.

BLANCO COOK Restricted in your desire to provide front or back of house cooking in your venue due to lack of kitchen ventilation? Well Blanco COOK changes all that. A game-changer for cafes, bars, restaurants and function spaces, the Blanco COOK self-ventilated cooking station can be placed anywhere and away you go.

Provided you have 3-phase power, cooking fumes pass-through a 3 stage cleaning and capture process, and fresh air is returned to the environment 95-98 per cent clean.

The Blanco COOK features a choice of up to 13 cooking and holding appliances, including flat grill, ribbed grill, oil pan fryer, pasta cooker, induction wok, induction hob, bain-marie, and hot plate.

The range is also available in stainless steel or a wide range of colours and can even be customised to reflect your own unique venue.

After a long shift, it may be tempting to keep the cleaning for another day, but food residue and debris will harden and build up over time, making it increasingly arduous to remove. Avoid this by cleaning units at the end of every day.

44

PRODUCE

THE MIGHTY BARRAMUNDI THE GODFATHER OF AUSTRALIAN SEAFOOD, JOHN SUSMAN, RECOUNTS HIS FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH THE ‘LARGE-SCALED RIVER FISH’.

I

John Susman is the director of the seafood industry agency Fishtales. For more views, insights and understanding of the seafood industry visit thefishtale.com.au.

t’s the early 1980’s and I’m standing in a bar in what is the most foreign place I’ve ever been.

It’s university holidays and a mate has convinced me to travel north to the exotic tropics. “There’s plenty of work,” he said.

“The fishing is ace, the beer is always icy cold and you can stay at my place,” he offered. It sounded like an opportunity too good to miss.

Two days later and I’m standing on the banks of the Jim Jim Creek in the wilds of Kakadu National Park. I watch a torrent of water cascade over the 200 metre high falls, thinking this is way more impressive than the fountain in front of the pie cart at King William Street in Adelaide. Travelling with a bloke called Snowy, we spend two days slowly making our way to the Van Diemen Gulf. It’s the wet season and the afternoon deluge is like standing before a burst water main. The tinny we’re in can barely float despite our manic bailing and the tarp canopy is merely acting as balloon which fills before dropping what feels like 700 litres of tepid, tropical storm water into the boat. In these conditions I’m beginning to understand that the term troppo, used to describe people from the Territory, is as much a state of mind they are driven to as it is a location.

As the clouds clear and the sun begins to set, Snowy decides it’s time to flick a few lures out the back of the tinny and it’s then that my life changes forever.

Before he’s had a chance to take a sip from his freshly opened can of West End Draught (the ubiquitous ‘Red Can’), I hear what sounds like a gun shot, a good five metres off the stern of the tinny. I turn to see the most majestic fish I have ever seen. Climbing out of the water on its tail with Snowy’s lure in its mouth, is a fish which can only be described as perfect.

A small head with ferocious upper jaw extends behind yellow eyes and gives way to shoulders that a front row forward could only dream of. A large, strong tail that is clearly built for power seems to thrust with every flick. Its large silver scales literally glow fluorescent in the

twilight as it thrashes, crashes and tries to spit the lure. Snowy can barely keep the tinny upright, winding in short spurts and then letting line out as he tries to anchor this monster fish.

Fifteen minutes later and this massive 10 kilogram majestic fish, lies covered in ice both its head and tail hanging out of the esky.

Herewith my first sighting of The Myth, The Legend – the mighty barramundi.

Next morning, camped at the mouth of the Jim Jim, looking out over Barrow Island and off to Tiwi in the distance, we pan fry two generous portions of the now post-rigor mortis fish. My first taste sends me to a place I’d never been before. The deep-rich sweetness, fatty yet firm texture, and long lasting umami-filled aftertaste is truly remarkable. It is then that I realise what this legend is all about. The barramundi is a truly remarkable fish, the likes of which I’d never tasted before.

The barramundi is a species of catadromous fish (meaning it is equally at home in salt, fresh or brackish water) and it is found throughout the Indonesian and Western Pacific tropical region from South East Asia to Papua New Guinea and of course across the Top End from the Noosa River to Shark Bay in Western Australia.

Although sometimes called ‘Asian seabass’, the world has embraced its traditional Aboriginal name, barramundi (appropriately translating as ‘large-scaled river fish’), resulting in many Australian producers keen to demand that the name barramundi can apply only to fish caught or grown in Australia. The barramundi is indeed a fish of which Australia can be truly proud.

Barramundi are now prolifically farmed across northern Australia from the ocean farm at Cone Bay in the amazing Buccaneer Archipelago in the north west of Western Australia, to the Humpty Doo farm on the Adelaide River in the Northern Territory. A dozen farms extend down the east coast of the country from the Daintree and Good Fortune

PRODUCE

45

Barramundi fillets.

My first taste sends me to a place I’d never been before. The deep-rich sweetness, fatty yet firm texture, and long lasting umami-filled aftertaste is truly remarkable.

It is then that I realise what this legend is all about. The barramundi is a truly remarkable fish, the likes of which I’d never tasted before.

Bay farms in the north of Queensland to an indoor farm at Werribee in suburban Melbourne, where the farmers produce the majority of the world’s barramundi fingerlings in large, re-circulating swimming pools.

The farms all produce fish which have unique regional characteristics ranging from rich and meaty to lightly vegetal in flavour.

Textures vary from fatty to lean. Humpty Doo has recently developed a sashimi grade fish, using a combination of feed, husbandry, traditional Japanese ikejime harvesting techniques and a vigilant grading program. Humpty Doo Barramundi is delivering a world’s-first fish which is being gobbled up by Western and Japanese chefs alike. Early indications are that this form of the fish is an absolute winner.

Highly regarded sushi san Toshi Oie of Masuya, Sydney’s high temple of sushi, describes it as “a great Australian sashimi fish”.

The farmed ‘baby’ or plate-sized barramundi has become a fish of choice for cooks looking for a consistently available, mild, soft flesh which can be fried, steamed or baked. It’s also a fantastic vehicle for flavour.

At this time of the year the choice is even greater than merely selecting between farms.

From the beginning of November to the beginning of February, catching of wild barramundi in Queensland is prohibited.

It is now, when the large female barramundi are making their way back to the rivers to mate, that my mind drifts back to that first taste of this truly remarkable fish.

With excellent-quality, wild fish regularly available in market, these fish should be celebrated during their available season.

So the choice is yours, wild or farmed, fresh or salt water, from the open water or a re-circulating system. Large or small, the consistently excellent quality and availability of Australian barramundi means that there is a fish to suit all tastes, budgets and cuisines.

The mighty barramundi, it makes you proud to be an Australian!

46

PRODUCE

KORONEIKI OLIVES

KORONEIKI OLIVES, AKA ‘WILD OLIVES’, ARE GROWING IN POPULARITY AS AUSTRALIANS BECOME MORE ADVENTUROUS IN THEIR TASTES AND MOVE AWAY FROM THE TRIED AND TESTED KALAMATA OLIVES, TELLS KARL S. CHEHADE.

APPEARANCE AND QUALITIES Koroneiki olives are quite unique. The leaves of their tree have two tones, light and dark green, and the olives vary from light green to dark purple. Some koroneiki trees have both green and purple olives.

Since it is such a small olive compared to other olives, it does take many more olives to create the same amount of olive oil, but the oil that it produces is quite superior.

The olives themselves are small and oval with a pointy nose, usually weighing about 0.3 to two grams, and are approximately eight to 12 millimetres in length.

The fruit produces some of the highest polyphenol content possible, which means koroneiki olives boast powerful health benefits.

IN SEASON Koroneiki olives are in season from the start of April and may extend through to as late as October.

GROWING CONDITIONS Koroneiki grow well in southern New South Wales through to South Australia as well as southern Western Australia.

They are best suited to a climate of long, hot and dry summers and mild to cool winters with lots of rain. And like most olive trees they do not like humidity and require ample drainage for soil.

Our orchards are located in the heart of the Fleurieu Peninsula, just south of Adelaide, and we have the advantage of a Mediterranean-style environment allowing us to produce some of the finest quality Australian olives.

Koroneiki olives are quite unique. The leaves of their tree have two tones, light and dark green, and the olives vary from light green to dark purple.

Some koroneiki trees have both green and purple olives.

FRUITING Koroneiki begin fruiting earlier than most other varietals, approximately three years.

Other cultivars will start bearing fruit anywhere from five to 12 years.

Koroneiki trees will start with small crops after three to five years, however will only produce a commercial crop after ten years.

FLAVOUR PROFILE The koroneiki olive has a sweet aroma, with a delayed bitterness that does not overpower. For such a small fruit, it boasts quite a strong flavour.

TABLE OLIVE OR EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL It is most commonly used for extra virgin olive oil, however it is also a lovely, unique tasting fruit.

Karl S. Chehade is the managing director of The Australian Olive Company.

Contact him via (08) 8172 1799 or australianolivecompany.com.au.

PRODUCE

47

48

RECIPE

entrée

FRANCESCO MANNELLI’S HIRAMASA KINGFISH SASHIMI WITH MACADAMIA AND SWEET AND SOUR ONIONS SERVES 2

100 g hiramasa kingfish 20 g toasted macadamia nuts ½ red onion 10 g soaked dry currants 30 g caster sugar 60 g red wine vinegar 20 ml extra virgin olive oil 1 bay leaf Green endives or bitter leaves Pink salt Black pepper

M E T H O D Slice the red onion into thin strips. Combine one part red wine vinegar to two parts water with a pinch of salt and one bay leaf. Bring the mixture to a boil and blanch the sliced onions for 30 seconds. Quickly cool the onions by freezing for one minute. This thermal shock creates the bright pink colour.

To make the sweet and sour sauce, caramelise the caster sugar using a saucepan until it develops into a light blonde colour.

At the same time, bring the red wine vinegar to a boil. Whisk the two together and reduce the mixture by two thirds until thick but thin enough to drizzle at the same time. Place aside to cool.

Slice the hiramasa kingfish into 3-4 mm slices and dress with a pinch of pink salt.

Plate the sashimi in waved portions and sprinkle the soaked dry currants and toasted and halved macadamia nuts. Then plate the pickled onions, drizzle the sweet and sour sauce, olive oil and season with freshly cracked pepper. Garnish the dish with endive leaves to finish the dish.

Francesco Mannelli is the head chef of Mode Kitchen & Bar at Four Seasons Hotel Sydney.

RECIPE

49

50

RECIPE RECIPE

main

ZACHARY TAN’S MALAY CHICKEN SERVES 8

COCONUT-SPICED SAUCE MAKES APPROXIMATELY 500 G 3 sticks lemongrass (tender parts only) 15 g fresh turmeric 40 g garlic cloves, peeled 25 g ginger 25 g galangal 25 g dried chilli, deseeded (adjust quantity for own preference) 10 g long red chilli, deseeded 100 g vegetable oil 60 g white palm sugar 50 g fish sauce 60 g tamarind juice 10 g salt 200-300g coconut cream

M E T H O D Begin by soaking the dried chilli in warm water. Next roughly chop the lemongrass, turmeric, garlic, ginger, galangal and red chilli, and combine together in a large bowl. Once the dried chillies are rehydrated, drain well and add to the other chopped ingredients. Transfer the mixture to a high-speed blender and add 50 g vegetable oil. Blend until a smooth paste is formed, adding a little water if necessary.

In a wok or a heavy-base, wide pan on medium-high heat, cook the paste with the remaining vegetable oil, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Cook until the paste changes colour from orange to a dark, rich amber and the oil splits from the paste. Season the cooked spice mix with remaining ingredients and mix well.

PHOTOGRAPHY: ADRIAN LEE

RECIPE

SAMBAL BELACAN

M A L AY C H I C K E N

2 cm block of shrimp paste

2 free range chickens, size 16, butterflied

5 long red chillies

4 limes, quartered

3 bird’s eye chillies 1 tsp sugar 1 large lime or 3 calamansi limes, juiced

M E T H O D In a pan on low heat, toast the shrimp paste for 5 minutes or until crumbly. Set aside.

Deseed the chillies and chop into rough pieces. Transfer the chilli to a mortar and pestle, add the sugar. Pound until smooth.

Add the shrimp paste and the lime juice.

Combine well.

M E T H O D Lightly score the thigh and breast of the chickens. Marinate overnight with roughly 150 g of coconut spiced sauce.

Cryovac in a large bag and cook at 70°C for 60 minutes, or until the thighs register 70°C on a temperature probe.

Finish cooking chicken on hot coals, using extra marinade to continually baste the chicken.

Serve the chicken with lime wedges, the sambal belacan and some coconut rice.

Zachary Tan is the executive chef of Devon Cafe.

51