Chefs for hire
We are very lucky in Tasmania to have access to a number of highly skilled and experienced chefs who can be hired for one-off events or over a short period. There are also some great spaces that can be hired such as the dining space in the Lexus showroom on the ground floor of The Rox building in the Hobart CBD. We will return to this space a few paragraphs down when we talk about two young chefs with a love of fish.
The first place that we like to point out is Satellite Island which sits just off Bruny Island in Tasmania’s south. This is both a place to stay (for up to 8 people) and a place where you can hire chefs to do the cooking for you.
The “default” chef here, if she is home, is the very talented Analiese Gregory who is always keen to make the most of Tasmania’s best ingredients, especially organic, local vegetables and quality seafood and organic meat products.
Analiese moved to Tasmania some years ago after a stellar career in restaurants including The Quay in Sydney where she cooked with Peter Gilmour, Michel Bras at his three star restaurant in the Aveyron in Central France, Andoni Aduriz at Spain’s Mugaritz and many more.
We have known Analiese for a long time and been admirers of her cooking skills, so can thoroughly recommend her to visitors.
Once, when she had just opened a restaurant in the ancient Moroccan city of Fes, we flew from France to dine in her restaurant there and still have vivid memories of an amazing shimmering white ice cream dessert made from camels’ milk. We also were taken by Analiese to a tiny 4 seat “hole in the wall” where the only dish was bessara – a soup made from dried fava beans served with a flatbread. This was a stunning dish made from everyday ingredients but one that has remained in our memory of great dishes.
And speaking of great dishes. While she was at Michel Bras’ restaurant we visited her at her apartment in nearby Lagouile where she cooked a meal for us that included the local specialty of Aligot made from local potatoes and local cantal cheese – it was amazing!
We should add that on another occasion we ate at Michel Bras’ restaurant and thoroughly enjoyed his dish called gargouillou which comprises up to sixty different leaves, seeds, flowers, herbs and vegetables served on a plate along with many sauces that looks as stunning as it sounds. The reason we mention this dish is that it would be a perfect dish for Tasmania due to the range of plants that can be grown here – but be aware that the time that it takes to make the dish means that it has to be quite expensive!
To look at Satellite Island go to:
satelliteisland.com.au
and to communicate with Satellite Island:
SatelliteIsland@gmail.com
The next of the chefs who has been doing some beautiful food on her return to Tasmania is Lilly Trewartha. She has spent quite a long time overseas or interstate working with various chefs, including a recent gig working with chef Will Gleave at his Peg restaurant in London. Many readers will remember Will from the time he spent at Garagistes with Luke Burgess.
Lilly is happy to run events for groups in Tasmania and beyond through her biusiness Lilly Trewartha Events. You can contact her at:
Two chefs who are flying below the radar but doing amazing things in the Hobart CBD are Sophie Pope and Lachlan Colwill. They run a regular event on Friday and Saturday nights at 6:30pm for around ten people who gather at a table at the end of the flashy Lexus showroom to amaze visitors with around 3 to 4 hours of mind-boggling food that holds everyone transfixed for the entire time.
We have been lucky enough to attend one of these dinners and cannot recommend it highly enough. The food definitely has a Japanese aesthetic and sake accompanying some of the dishes helps with that vibe.
Sophie and Lachlan are definitely besotted with Japan and go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that what they present on the plate would not be out of place in great restaurants in that country.
Check their Web site here.
We can also thoroughly recommend the chicken broth from Jamie Yeats who is another of the very talented chefs doing thier own thing outside the bricks and mortar mainstream.
Her chicken broth is delivered to your door in Hobart and is of exceptional quality. she has also worked with a number of chefs including Analiese and left behind legacies such as her famous chicken sandwiches.
And while we are talking about experiences that are a bit different, we should mention the garden tours at the Agrarian Kitchen. The young, enthusiastic gardeners who are responsible for the extensive garden at this venue take tours around the garden on the weekends and provide incredible detail concerning what goes into maintaining an organic garden of this complexity and quality.