Second helping: Melbourne’s best chefs you’ve never heard of
BEHIND every world-famous restaurateur, there’s a great head chef manning the stoves at home. Meet some of Melbourne’s best chefs that you’ve probably never heard of.
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HE’S the Brit responsible for introducing Australian diners to Vegemite ice cream, the lamington cake and a five-star take on our iconic Cherry Ripe.
But while he’s got his name on the door, Heston Blumenthal is not directly responsible for these palate-bending creations.
It’s his long-time right-hand man, Ashley Palmer-Watts. As chef director of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal — in Melbourne and at the original London restaurant — Palmer-Watts is the person in charge of executing his boss’s wildly creative visions and the chef ultimately charged with maintaining his reputation.
That’s no small task. Add the tyranny of distance — 17,000km and 10 time zones separate the restaurants — and it becomes herculean.
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But having worked alongside Blumenthal for two decades — first at The Fat Duck in 1999, then helping create the first Dinner by Heston restaurant seven years ago — Palmer-Watts takes it in his stride.
“We have been side-by-side since our very first conversation,” Palmer-Watts says. “The dynamic we set up to start Dinner was one of complete trust for me to deliver on our dream.
“I don’t ‘live up to’ the (Heston) name — none of us do — for two main reasons. Firstly, that would be impossible, and secondly, we have worked together for so long now, I respect and understand Heston, but he empowers us to move forward. I have never felt I was ever working for someone else.”
A similar dynamic operates in restaurants across Melbourne — the chef whose name is on the door often entrusting the day-to-day delivery to someone else. But it’s one thing to delegate tasks; handing over your name — and thus reputation — is something else again.
It’s Steve Nairn who leads the kitchen most nights at the modern Australian Estelle by Scott Pickett (ESP) in Northcote. At Ezard, in the CBD, Jarrod Di Blasi steers Teage Ezard’s eponymous fine diner. And Mario Di Natale, not Guy Grossi, keeps the flame-licked bisteccas coming at Grossi Florentino Grill.
The dynamics between each head chef and boss are unique, but trust is the definitive driver of a successful partnership.
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GUY GROSSI & MARIO DI NATALE
PASSING on the baton is easier said than done.
Guy Grossi, whose restaurant portfolio ranges from gracious Grossi Florentino to late-night bar Arlechin, admits “one of the hardest things I ever did was move away from the (kitchen) pass every day ... that was my chopping board ... but as you evolve in the business, you have to take on other challenges”.
“It would be unfair for me to stand there and not let my chefs take their next step in their career,’’ he says.
“You need young blood coming through because they’re the ones who will inspire others.’’
Enter Mario Di Natale. Grossi was confident this 29-year-old chef was the right man to reinvigorate his mid-tier Grossi Florentino Grill last year and that confidence has been rewarded.
“We have the ability here to be nimble, to weave and duck, and Mario gets that,” Grossi says, pointing to Grill dishes that break the traditional Tuscan mould.
“He’s travelled, too, and come back with ideas that make you think, ‘Hey, that’s a whole new way of looking at something’.
“Of course, you hold on to the right of veto, if you feel it’s necessary, but really it’s more of a negotiation, a two-way street.’’
Grossi is energised by young guns such as Di Natale.
“Nothing is static, everything is always evolving,” he says. “You’ve got to keep true to tradition but you don’t want to be the old ’70s hit that everyone’s bored with.’’
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TEAGE EZARD & JARROD DI BLASI
TEAGE Ezard’s name has been on the door since 1999.
To mark his restaurant’s first decade in Flinders Lane, he treated guests to signature dishes from each of those 10 years.
Should he celebrate a second decade next year, Ezard’s “Australian freestyle” cooking will look different. That’s because Jarrod Di Blasi is now his right-hand man at Ezard.
“Teage’s cooking is South-East Asia meets mainstream European,’’ the 30-year-old chef says. “Mine is more Japanese-European, with a bigger emphasis perhaps on seafood.
“But together, we adhere to the philosophy which the restaurant started with.’’
That philosophy remains grounded in a “sweet, sour, salt and spice” balance.
“Jarrod is bringing a great freshness to what we do here ... he brings a finesse to my edge,” Ezard says.
Di Blasi, installed as Ezard’s head chef four years ago, returns the compliment.
“We’re very aligned and the more we talk, which we do almost every day, the better the food,” he says. “It’s real collaboration, never me or him.
“As my mentor, Teage also keeps my young mind grounded. I now have a business mentality ... that’s been the biggest gift.’’
Di Blasi is so established at Ezard, he’s now mentoring his Australian-Malaysian sous chef.
“Yeah,’’ he laughs, “I’m turning into Teage. In a good way.”
SCOTT PICKETT & STEVE NAIRN
“I GUESS I wanted my name on the door at some point in my career,” Scott Pickett, 42, says.
“Even though I say to my wife, it’s not about me, it’s about everyone else and it’s not driven by ego, or name or whatever, she says to me, ‘Really? You named your book after yourself, your restaurant after yourself, and you are your favourite subject, so … She keeps me in check.”
Along with ESP, Pickett is behind renowned Saint Crispin in Collingwood, Pickett’s Deli at the Queen Vic Market, and will launch a new restaurant, Matilda, in South Yarra, this year.
Juggling so many restaurants and the responsibilities that go with them can only be done with delegation. But in an industry renowned for its healthy egos, how do the often-nameless lieutenants feel about leading the kitchen troops under someone else’s flag?
For Steve Nairn, 29, who was previously executive chef at Shannon Bennett’s Vue de Monde, it’s all about taking the opportunity provided to learn and grow.
“You’ve got to be well aware of the restaurant, what it is, where it came from, the direction (the chef) wants to take it,” Nairn says. “Be respectful of it, but still bring your own beliefs, your cuisine, your ideology to it. Your own approach.
“My time will come. For me, it’s not about having Estelle by Steve Nairn. The restaurant is nothing without Scott.”
That respect cuts both ways.
“You want someone to help you take the business to the next level,” Pickett says. “I don’t want to be a dinosaur, so fresh ideas, fresh energy, that’s what keeps the restaurant current.”
MATTEO PIGNATELLI & RHYS BLACKLEY
WHEN he opened his restaurant on Brunswick St, North Fitzroy, 23 years ago, Matteo Pignatelli instituted a policy of changing chefs every couple of years to keep it current.
“People get sick of restaurants,” he says. “I don’t believe in ‘ain’t broke don’t fix’. You need to keep evolving.’’
This policy of constant renewal of the kitchen has also been a handy insurance policy for Pignatelli.
“As an owner, if you promote the chef too much, when the chef leaves, the business suffers. I wanted to set it up differently. I wanted the brand to be bigger than the chef, wanted to build the brand as being about Italian hospitality.”
Pignatelli’s new head chef Rhys Blackley (ex Circa) will launch his first menu next week.
Matteo’s is a rare restaurant that’s more than two decades old and arguably as popular as ever. That it’s also restaurateur-driven makes it even more rare.
“Nowadays it’s all about the chef, not the customer,” Pignatelli says. “And chefs get bored, that’s why they keep opening things.”
Though he remains committed to the industry he has been part of since his first job as a waiter at Masani in Carlton 33 years ago, there’s one thing Pignatelli would change if he could do it all again.
“The biggest mistake I ever made was putting my name on the door,” he says. “It’s rare now for people to put their names on the door, because of on-selling the business.
“When I greet people at the door or on the phone, they are surprised there’s a Matteo
behind it all.”
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