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Aaron Schembri

Born:

Daylesford, Victoria.

History:

I grew up in Daylesford with five siblings in an unstructured household. Leaving school at the young age of 15, I rented a house 30 minutes from home to start my apprenticeship, I spent the next 5-6 years learning and living, trying to work my head out, my life and what it is I wanted to do.

All I knew was that I should work and learn; it didn’t matter what I was going to do in the future; the important thing was that I was learning and able to live.

In that time, I had moved to Queensland 4 or 5 times, while there I would use the opportunity to grow my position in the kitchen - if I was a Commis Chef in Victoria, I’d try to get a Demi Chef position in Queensland and work hard on those sorts of skills, I wanted to be able to manage people well and have a good team one day. When I was in Victoria, I tried to find good venues to learn techniques and skills so I could hone my craft.

I met my wife Risa towards the end of that time and I made it to Japan. I was absolutely fascinated by the food and flavour combinations, plus the depth of flavour achieved without being heavy. It was something I had never come across, my background is Maltese and Italian so it’s rather different to Japanese, although I think Italian works with Japanese well.

On each trip to Japan over the next 10 years, I focused on food and learning, I learnt from tofu masters that have been making tofu for generations, sashimi Chefs and even the older generations I learnt how they fermented miso and made Tsukemono. I have travelled to Japan so many times and I told myself I couldn’t travel somewhere else until I have learnt enough…this worries me because I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface.

So today, I have only ever been to Japan. On my last trip, I worked in a restaurant called Hajime. This was and still is my favourite restaurant in the world, so that’s why I had to work there. It was here I built confidence to make my own decisions, not to always follow and I could truly see how artistic creativity and food can belong together in a dining room.

Everywhere I have worked, I have learnt important things that help me today; I draw creativity from everything in my life. Two years ago, we opened Kadota, it certainly wasn’t easy and it wasn’t the restaurant I had spent the past 5-10 years planning with Risa.

We opened with no other funds available, I couldn’t buy the plates I wanted and nothing was how it was meant to be; it was also the very beginning of COVID, it was a do-or-die situation, we had to strip things down to basics and just be ourselves without any ego. That was hard but also a wonderful experience for us.

It defined to us what dining at Kadota was all about - the heart and the connection to our guests. We do our absolute best to give our guests a wonderful and memorable dining experience; the food is an element of that as much as the wall paint and garden. Without our wonderful guests we would not be here. We will continue to improve our experience at Kadota and continue to be better each day.

Have you always wanted to be a Chef?

When I was a lot younger, I fantasised about being a lawyer, it didn’t take me long to realise the reality of that sort of job. I realised firstly that I would need to do great in school (concentration and structure were not a strong suit), secondly the job has very little creative input and that would make my life incredibly boring.

When I was 14-15, I left school, I had always enjoyed cooking since I was 8-years-old, from 12 I would happily make something for my family for dinner as I lived in a single-working parent household.

Cooking was easy for me, I understood the concept and I enjoyed learning, so I easily walked into the trade pretty early. In my mid-year at 15, I had moved out of home to start my apprenticeship after a 3-month stint in a local place. It took me a few years to take the trade seriously, most of those years I was trying to work myself out.

How would you define your style?

I usually leave this up to other people to define ‘my style’ because I just cook and what I cook is how I eat at home, I always put full effort into what I cook even if it’s something very simple.

My style I guess, is well balanced cooking, I try to layer my flavours to create depth, while keeping the dish rather delicate; at the same time, I try to create a dish that is interesting to the eye, the mouth, the taste buds and the menu.

I use a lot of Japanese techniques and classic flavour combinations.

What is your feature flavour these days?

Man, this is a hard one. It depends on the season, I don’t have one, but many; I love anything floral and I love to pair that not only with sweet things but it's very well suited to savoury as well.

I love all seaweeds, the minerality is a wonderful component. Miso, shio koji, sake, citrus – it’s all great. That’s why I love my job.

Obsessive-compulsive about?

Learning and evolving.

Your greatest culinary influence:

Hajime Yoneda, his dedication, artistic flair and precision cooking is second to none.

What do you love about this business?

The creativity and the fact that we never stop learning. When I stop learning, I’ll probably stop.

It’s a wonderful job to dedicate one’s life too. Of course, our guests as well, it is so very special that our restaurant is a place for other people to share their special moments.

An ingredient you can’t live without?

Shoyu.

Most ‘eyebrow-raising’ menu item?

I don’t think anything is very ‘eyebrow-raising’.

Signature dish:

We don’t really have one, but our eggplant and sashimi course reflects our restaurant and vision very well.

What do you think COVID has taught restaurants and Chefs about their diners and the industry in general?

It has been a rough time for everyone. With any tough experience, we can always learn, for us it has allowed us to truly appreciate being able to run our restaurant and to be able to serve our wonderful guests.

We have learnt that using locally sourced produce and products is not only great support for your community but, could also be your only option…so, support local always!

Tell us something no one knows about you?

I owe my appreciation to Japanese food and culture to Risa and her grandfather, Nobuya.

It wasn’t until I met Risa that I started to learn about Japanese food and culture and it wasn’t until I spent so much time with her wonderful late grandfather, that I could truly understand it in the way I do today.

I originally wanted to name my restaurant Nobuya as an ode to him, but it was too similar to another restaurant name, so we went with Kadota.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?

I truly hope we are on a property with some accommodation, our restaurant and being able to offer a full experience. That is our dream. With the economy and everything else, it’s a hard sell. We will see...

Kadota

Lovingly crafted Japanese flavours are on the plate at Kadota restaurant on Camp Street in picturesque Daylesford. This warm and inviting venue is the passion project of owners Aaron Schembri and Risa Kadota, whom the restaurant is named after, who met while working at some of Japan’s finest restaurants. They have brought their passion for captivating food, drinks and hospitality from Risa’s hometown of Okayama to Aaron’s hometown of Daylesford; expect to be blown away by quality, taste and presentation. Try scallop sashimi to start with shiso, fermented wasabi milk, wasabi and pickled turnip, along with dry-aged kingfish; moving on to main plates like hand-picked mud crab, tomato, macadamia, herbs, black barley congee, ginger-enriched konbu broth and turnip.

RECIPES

Aaron Schembri

Kadota

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