It’s not easy being a high-profile chef these days. Television and media commitments. Recipe development. Travel. Then there’s that not insignificant matter of running the actual restaurant. Which is why so many so-called ‘celebrity’ chefs are relying more and more on their head chefs to ensure their restaurants stay true to their original vision. And interestingly, it's Aussie chefs who are increasingly stepping up as 2IC for famous chefs all over the world.
It has to operate as if Brett was here
Since his London restaurant earned its second Michelin star in 2010, life has gotten a little hectic for Newcastle-born chef Brett Graham. While Graham is still heavily involved in the restaurant’s day-to-day, having fellow Aussie Greg Austin in the kitchen frees the Novocastrian to focus his energies on keeping The Ledbury on top of its game.
“He’s so motivated,” says Graham of his head chef. “You never have to [push] him. The most important thing about us working together is that there’s two sets of eyes looking at everything and two opinions that fall along the same lines. It’s important the number one and number two have the same idea of what constitutes good service, food, taste and temperature.”
The Ledbury's awesome twosome Brett Graham and Greg Austin. (The Ledbury) Source: The Ledbury
“My job is to keep the wheels in motion, especially if Brett’s not here,” says Austin, whose cooking career began in Sydney and Brisbane, before he moved to London in 2009. “The Ledbury has to operate exactly the same as if Brett was here. Sometimes I have to work on pastry, sometimes it’s fish. I just have to fill in the gap. In comparison to the other top two- and three-star places that have big brigades, [here] it’s only a small kitchen team.”
Likewise, Perth-born Annita Potter went to London to further her career. She ended up working for a fellow antipodean – Thai food legend David Thompson.
“I want to work for the best, at the best [restaurant], and that was Nahm,” says Potter, who left Australia in 2011. Since earning a berth in the brigade at the Michelin-starred Nahm, she rose through the ranks of Thompson’s group and is now its executive sous chef. Since then, she’s been involved with everything from opening the original Long Chim at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands in 2014 to a challenging three-month stint aboard a river cruise on the Mekong (“It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she sighs. “I don’t even like boats.”) She’s currently back on home soil and part of the opening team for Thompson’s newest venture, .
Annita Potter challenges herself as David Thompson's 2IC. Source: Max Veenhuyzen
Like Graham, Thompson is quick to point out the need for camaraderie in hospitality. “It’s terribly important in the kitchen to trust and like [your co-workers],” he says. “They work harder and better because there’s a sense of everyone striving to help each other achieve the same goal.”
René Redzepi and Coffs Harbour's Beau Clugston are the top team at Noma. (Max Veenhuyzen) Source: Max Veenhuyzen
You’re always on your toes
Beau Clugston is intimately aware of the joys – and pressures – of kitchen teamwork. As part of the research and development team at , the Coffs Harbour-born chef works closely with René Redzepi to develop new dishes for both the Copenhagen mothership and its various spin-offs including Noma’s recent Sydney pop-up.
“Working with René brings the best out of you,” he says. “Just when you think you understand his palate, it just changes. It’s interesting to always be on your toes in that sense.”
For Redzepi, a regular visitor to our shores, the Aussie spirit is about more than just a willingness to put in the hard yards.
“I’m not sure why, but we’ve been very lucky to attract a lot of great Australians to Noma,” says Redzepi after the end of the Noma Australia pop-up. “Australians are incredibly positive. I’m really going to miss standing at the pass and having one table after another just walk by you and say, ‘Thank you for being here’. That sort of generosity isn’t something we get to experience in Europe.”
An innate understanding of Asian flavours is another trait the world associates with our home-grown talent. In Los Angeles, for instance, Sydney transplants Thomas Lim () and Louis Tikaram () are winning fans with their Asian-accented menus. In London, Ramael Scully, a Sydney-trained chef born to a Chinese-Indian mother and a Malay-Irish father, brings his finely-tuned Asian sensibilities to , Yotam Ottolenghi’s London brasserie specialising in bold, cosmopolitan flavours. Despite the differences between Scully’s Asian heritage and Ottolenghi’s Middle Eastern background, the alliance was a win for both parties. “Scully showed us how to do ‘restaurant’,” writes Ottolenghi in the Nopi cookbook.
Cutting corners
Although Australian-trained cooks are well regarded internationally, Brett Graham is worried that slipping apprenticeship standards and tough economic conditions could change that.
“Australia has a reputation for exceptional young cooks because of our apprenticeship system,” says Graham who sponsors an eponymous chef scholarship in Newcastle. “From what I’ve seen from my last few visits to Australia, it looks like they’re trying to cut corners. Young kids don’t have the basics they used to because the funding’s been cut.”
Nonetheless, he believes the cream will always rise and is that grateful driven Australian chefs come knocking on his door.
“Aussies who come here are really focused on having a go and getting stuck in. They've got a good attitude and a strong work ethic. They’re motivated, focused on doing a good job and want to progress.”
Ramael Scully will be in Sydney to present a five-course menu as a guest chef at on October 24 and will also take part in a about the Nopi cookbook on October 17.
