My curiosity in hospitality began when my mom took me to a restaurant after I was seven or eight. They made Caesar salad tableside and I had by no means seen something prefer it, I used to be simply amazed. My grandfather additionally owned and ran a restaurant, so I suppose it’s in my blood.
Once I first got here to Australia from Vancouver, Canada, I labored at Glass Brasserie, Tetsuya’s Restaurant, and Bells at Killcare. These sorts of venues didn’t actually exist the place I used to be from and so they opened my eyes to how meals and repair ought to be — enjoyable, eclectic, and thrilling.
At Glass, I discovered you would set an ideal customary whereas pushing large covers. The straightforward but exact strategies stood out to me essentially the most at Tetsuya’s. You’ll be able to’t conceal something there — if it’s a millimetre brief, it is going to present. At Bells with Stefano Manfredi, I once more discovered simplicity is at all times king. These roles influenced my cooking within the sense of — whereas it sounds very cliché — letting the components converse for themselves. I discovered to maintain meals easy, tasty, heartwarming, and sincere, however to additionally push it visually as you should stand out one way or the other.
I suppose destiny led me to Andrew Becher and dealing throughout Franca and Parlar. Once I got here again to Australia after a two-year stint in Germany, I stated to myself, ‘No extra high quality eating and no extra working lengthy hours’. The plan was to both be part of a really well-established restaurant or to attempt to make a reputation for myself.
After responding to a Search advert, I interviewed with Andrew and Basic Supervisor Alex Cameron and I cherished the imaginative and prescient that they had — they needed to be totally different and so did I. That and the problem of ranging from floor zero is what attracted me to becoming a member of their crew.
Franca is a French brasserie with sturdy Mediterranean influences the place you’ll be able to have a three-course meal the place sharing isn’t essential. Parlar is rather more intimate and is extra on the fine-dining aspect of service. It’s closely primarily based on Catalan flavours utilising premium Australian components.
Armorica is our interpretation of a grand brasserie. It’s closely French-influenced with a big menu for sharing. The goal is for it to be an ‘on a regular basis’ restaurant the place you’ll be able to have a pasta, take pleasure in a burger for lunch, have steak frites for dinner, or go to with a giant group and have all of them.
The preferred dish is the steak frites, and we pleasure ourselves on utilizing 5 totally different cuts of beef. You’ll be able to have a really good, entry-level rump cap or deal with your self with a Blackmore Wagyu or a Stone Axe full-blood Wagyu that comes together with your selection of béarnaise, mushroom sauce, or bone marrow butter. The crab muffins are additionally widespread.
Head Chef Julian Smith and I are each from Canada and we love our crab muffins again residence, so it solely is sensible for us to serve it. However for me personally, my true favorite is foie gras. Every time I am going to France, I at all times overindulge on foie gras. It’s simply quintessential. You’ll by no means discover foie gras higher than in France and having it right here is really particular.
I discover I’m influenced by a lot at any given time with my cooking. An thought involves me, and my subsequent thought is which venue it belongs to. I don’t actually power something, every thing should make sense and have objective with the hope that it interprets to our friends. If it doesn’t, it’s again to the drafting board.
I actually benefit from the insanity {that a} kitchen — or three — brings. There’s one thing about feeling such as you’re by no means going to make it for service, however every thing works out simply high quality. Nevertheless, it’s extremely powerful to remain in contact with the day-to-day operations throughout three venues.
Any chef can attest to the truth that quite a bit can change in an hour, which is why having not solely a robust crew however one you’ll be able to belief is necessary. I’m very grateful to my groups throughout every venue who’re at all times keen to help in growing new concepts to assist the restaurant thrive.
All of us imagine we replicate one another to an extent, and we solely have one aim: to do our jobs nicely. 2023 could be very a lot a work-in-progress for me. My aim is to make Parlar and Armorica well-oiled machines identical to their older brother Franca. I wish to additional nurture our groups and deal with training and progress for all members of the kitchen, plus work on revitalising our menus and pushing on for an additional profitable yr.
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