Flavour over technique is the motto for US chef Casey Wall

Locally sourced ingredients are key for a transported American chef.

Grass-Fed Flank, Tomato Butter, Padron Peppers’ by Casey Wall at Bar Liberty, Fitzroy

Grass-fed flank, tomato butter, padron peppers, by Casey Wall at Bar Liberty, Fitzroy
Casey Wall is a fish out of water. For starters, the chef is from North Carolina in the US.

Second, he’s a clean-living fitness fanatic in an industry known for its hedonists. He’s also a budding entrepreneur: head chef and part owner of Melbourne rest­aurants Bar Liberty (Fitzroy) and Rockwell and Sons (Collingwood), and part owner of Above Board, also in Collingwood.

“I moved to Melbourne about seven years ago, not expecting to stay longer than I could with my minimal savings account. Then I met (restaurateur) Andrew McConnell and started working for him at Cutler & Co. It was there I realised Melbourne was a place I wanted to live.

“Coming off the backside of a several years in New York City, it was a refreshing change to cook/learn Australian fine dining.”

THE BACK STORY. “This dish is relatively new to the menu but it is one that really signifies our restaurant and what we try to deliver with food. ‘Less is more’ is a mantra we use a lot in the kitchen. It doesn’t always work out that way, but it makes us think more about flavour than hiding behind a technique.”

This beef dish, says Wall, has all the elements of his favourite dishes and flavour profiles.

“The dish started as a way to use some preserved tomatoes from last year because this year’s harvest from our farmer kicked off super late. We made a cold-pressed juice from the preserved tomatoes, then reduced it to a thick syrup, fortifying the umami notes with a bit of worcestershire sauce and Red Boat (fish sauce).

“This reduction screamed for some acidity, but we were lost on a way to add depth of flavour and acidity. We had some bush tomato vinegar from a while back and it was the perfect answer, umami and acid. We took this and folded it into butter and made an emulsion sauce with our classic beef sauce, and it screamed for steak. The padron peppers are a favourite to eat of all the kitchen crew and our farm just had some come to harvest. The progression was almost too easy.

THE PRODUCE. “We grab the purslane (commonly known as pigface) on our way to work, not in a ‘look at us forage’ kind of way but a ‘damn this is tasty’ way. Never would I have guessed a creek weed would make it to high-end restaurant menus.

“Oliver Shorthouse, a former manager at Cutler, has an amazing small project called Ramarro Farm and we try to buy as much from him as possible, sometimes more than he has to offer. His padrons are the best I’ve had in Australia and the tomatoes, albeit super late this year, are spot-on.

“Another McConnell colleague we use is Troy Wheeler of Meatsmith. We like to work backwards with dishes, instead of asking Troy to just source us this cut or that cut, I like to go in to the workshop and have him show me ingredients that he is excited about. I love the flavour and texture of flank steak, and when he mentioned to me how much he loved this product from O’Connor Beef, I knew it was the one for the dish.”

THE METHOD. Wall uses what he calls “the reverse-sear method” for the beef, a grill with two temperatures.

“We pile one side high with coals and leave the other side relatively cool. We slowly bring the steak up to the desired internal temperature over the cool side, then go for a hard sear for a crust on the hot side.

“As the meat rests, we whisk chunks of the aforementioned tomato butter into warm beef jus and reserve. As the steak completes resting we start to char the padron peppers. One overlooked element that packs a heap of flavour is dehydrated tomato guts that are ground into a powder.”

THE TWIST. “What really sets off this dish for me and makes it interesting is that even though it is a main featuring a 240g steak, it eats very lightly and is incredibly more-ish,” says Wall. “Everyone loves umami (thank you, Doritos) and mixing it with several layers of acidity keeps the dish fresh on the palate and remarkably easy to eat.”

THE PRICE. “The dish is $36 and a lot of that is tied up in the padron peppers. Many places sell the peppers unenthusiastically fried with a bit of sea salt for $12. I feel that does them a great disservice.

“O’Connor grows some of the best beef in Australia; take that and serve with vegetables grown by a mate on his farm just an hour away from the restaurant makes it all come together at that price point. Pretty good, eh?”