History: I grew up on the Mornington Peninsula and started my apprenticeship atJulius
Caesar’s Italian restaurant
in1985, then moved on to Clover
Cottage under Brian Ferguson
to do my 2nd year. I
completed my apprenticeship at The
Victorian Arts Centre which
was, at the time, under the total control of Spotless
Catering.
From here I travelled to
Heron Island working for P&O
Resorts for eighteen months and then to Delgany’s in Portsea under the famous
Hermann Schneider, before moving to the city and working as Sous Chef under
John Gallagher at the Stokehouse. My first Head Chef role was openingSanto
Blue on Fitzroy Street before taking the reigns at Harvey’s in South Yarra for
5 years where I was award winning.
From Harvey’s I returned home to the Peninsula,
opening the multi restaurant-outlet at The Mornington Yacht Club, The Rocks. Then back to the city, spending
the next 5 years between Zinc at Federation Square and Hotel
Spencer. During this time, my wife and I had been discussing on-goingly, opening our own restaurant.
It became a reality in
July 2007, when we found the space at 59
Cardigan Place in Albert Park, opening in
September that year. About to hit our 3rd Birthday, it's a good feeling.
Have you always wanted to be a chef?
Yes! My mother is
Filipino and father, German. Mum is amazing in the kitchen. There are always
ten dishes on the go, different flavours, textures and to this day, she loves
to try something new. I also
wanted to study art but the “abstract” of the ‘80’s wasn’t what I was really
interested in anyway. So cooking won.
How would you define your
style?
Modern-Australian, very
Contemporary; Asian flavours dominating the warmer months and becoming more
French-Classical in the depths of winter.
Obsessive compulsive
about?
Presentation, freshness
and balance.
Your greatest culinary
inspirations?
Marcella Hazan, Micheal
Roux Jr. and Stephanie Alexander.
Most “eyebrow-raising”
menu item?
Whole King George
whiting, with sandcrab and ginger, fried in a crispy chickpea batter, with a
fennel, baby caper and pink
grapefruit salad. It always gets
a good response!
Signature Dish: We’d be in trouble if
we took it off the menu –the customers share it, have one each, order it in
main size... It is Grilled Crystal Bay prawn and calamari, seared in an
orange and chilli oil, served on an Asian herb salad with cucumber and avocado,
finished with a palm sugar and lime dressing, peanut and sesame.