Working in London with culinary heavyweights like Bruno Loubet, Gordon Ramsey, and Marco Pierre White executing the foundations of French Cuisine at the highest level, makes for an interesting perspective, as his time in Australia has seen his cuisine seismically evolve and shift to opening Izy Aki in Paddington featuring a Kappo Yakiniku styled approach. It also showcases the best of Australian produce, sakes and native ingredient cocktails.
You have been named by two leading Industry figures recently, as being a key Chef of our culinary evolution. How would you best define Aussie Cuisine?
Firstly, it is an honour to be mentioned as a key chef of our culinary evolution, which I thank them very much. Aussie cuisine for me, is not just about the indigenous ingredients which have become restaurant trendy the last few years, but a coming together of all the great cultures which make up the Australian society. I have been lucky enough to experience first hand over the past 25 years from the backyard “yugo” BBQs drinking home made slivovitz and enjoying pig on a spit to modern day Korean BBQ and drinking Soju! Every culture will bring a tasty flavour to the Aussie cuisine table. The sharing of food, the breaking of bread and the toasting of health is the common denominator which in my eyes is the definition of aussie cuisine.
Which other Chefs do you consider have had the most influence in that evolution?
When I look back to when I first arrived there was people like Lyndey Milan and Jason Roberts on “get fresh” who where teaching people about the art of good cooking and a shared table, then of course there is Damian Pignolet, then Tim Pak Poy moving to Chui Lee Luk at Claudes restaurant redefining the classic French style with a (at the time) unique Aussie twist. Moving to the modern era, to me, Brent Savage along with Nick Hildebrandt are the epitome of modern Aussie cuisine, which shows in spades at every restaurant they open, highlighting the quality of produce that we have here in Australia.
What scope and direction do you think Aussie Cuisine has looking forward?
The scope is endless, as long there are forward thinking chefs, along with forward thinking food media. As for direction, I feel with our ever closer proximity to Asia, these food cultures will be the ones that really start to shine, more than what we are seeing already.
Are there any specific ingredients that give us a unique and substantial point of difference?
Rock lobster, WA marron, Syd rock oyster, WA scampi, QLD reef fish, the quality of our cattle farms are second to none, producing some of the most highly sought after beef in the world, really I could go on and on. Also not forgetting the Aussie truffle farms, which end up on the plates of 3 starred Michelin restaurants all over the world.
How important has local produce been in shaping your culinary narrative?
Immensely, you have to look around at all the local “food bowls” which supply Sydney and every capital city, with fresh, seasonal produce all year long. We work as a team to produce our dishes highlighting this produce.
As a mentor, how do bring awareness of this evolution of our cuisine to younger Chefs?
We have to give the younger chefs coming through more credit than what they currently receive, they are not stupid, they can see the quality what they have around them and feel the luck to be handling such produce. When it comes to the future evolution, then the new guard will look to add a little of their background onto the scene which will only make it richer.
Is there anything you would like to say on the subject that we haven’t covered?
I feel moving forward Aussie cuisine has a bright future, as we embrace the multiculturism of our lands and enjoy one big shared table.
