Conversation with a chef Jo Rittey

#229 Tom Jones-Davies | DOC St Kilda by Jo Rittey

The Kitchen of Somewhere is a deeply personal story of how food shapes our connection to place, the environment and most importantly our understanding of who we are. It weaves a narrative inspired by a plum-velvet, covered notebook found by Anna shortly after her mother's passing by suicide.The notebook was bursting with stories of her mother's travels, and the recipes she collected along the way. Using this notebook as a guide, Anna travelled over 64,000km to retrace her mother's steps and craft a one-of-a-kind cookbook that captures the food and the places her mother once visited in her younger years. I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to talk to Anna ahead of her In Conversation event at Readings in The State Library and ahead of Mothers Day. Storytelling is at the heart of what I do, or at least, sharing other peoples stories and Anna is an exquisite storyteller, tapping into memory, food and place as a way of honouring her mothers life and making connections with others. $5 from the sale of each book goes towards Beyond Blue to support their work with mental health. I loved connecting with Anna over a shared love of nostalgic Aotearoa New Zealand food and hearing about the journey she took to bring The Kitchen of Somewhere to fruition. This conversation does mention suicide. If you need to talk to someone please ring Lifeline: 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 or beyondblue.org.au

#227 Winston Zhang | Akaiito by Jo Rittey

The S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition is an annual event to support a personal vision for the world of food, demonstrating how food can have a positive impact on society at large through ethical and sustainable food practices. When it comes to choosing the judges for this prestigious award, the Academy looks for chefs who hold sustainable and ethical food sourcing as a central to their cuisine. The five judges chosen for the 2024-2025 competition are Brigitte Hafner (Tedesca Osteria, VIC, Rosheen Kaul (Etta, VIC), Josh Niland (Saint Peters, NSW), Brent Savage (Bentley Group, NSW), Jake Kellie (arkhé, SA). When asked whether I’d like to talk to one of them, I of course wanted to talk to all of them. But I have wanted to have a chat to Brigitte for years, actually from her Gertrude Street Enoteca days. I knew that I would love finding out more about Tedesca Osteria, Brigitte’s dream come true, a beautiful restaurant on a biodynamic farm and estate in Red Hill and I was also keen to know what made her become a chef in the first place. This chat was everything I knew it would be as Brigitte so articulately expressed the challenges of growing food, her passion for cooking and for the hospitality industry as well as her excitement at being asked to be a judge and working with young talent. We spoke over the phone and the only thing that would have made this conversation any better would have been to have been at Red Hill in front of the fire with Brigitte, looking out at the farm and the autumn colours she so loves.

Partners in life and love, Patrick Kwong and Cindy Pan opened Ronin almost two years ago in the space that was previously occupied by Massi and for a millisecond, Cucina Povera. The high-ceilinged industrial slab feel of the room serves as the perfect backdrop for Patrick to shine and shine he does. Patrick learned Japanese cuisine and, more specifically sushi from two Japanese masters. His technique and flavours are exceptional. But Patrick’s food is only one part of the experience at Ronin. Patrick, himself describes what he does as five nights of clubbing. That’s two sessions a night, five nights a week of Patrick DJing, preparing and serving food and entertaining guests with stories and descriptions of the food, not to mention the shots of sake in between. No wonder the waitlist for the 20 spots a night is over 4000 deep. This was such a fun chat. Patrick and Cindy clearly love what they do and they exude a passion for food and hospitality. They told me to come in for omakase, and I can’t wait to do so, but perhaps, they gently suggested, come to the earlier session. “It’s less of a club.”

Tommaso Bartoli is a passionate chef who learned to cook in Florence but felt a love for food and cooking much earlier on when he watched his mother and other family members cook. He talked about coming in from soccer training, smelling his mother’s cooking and running up the stairs. After working for a few years in restaurants in Florence, Tommaso was ready to try something else and 12 years ago came to Australia. He worked for nine and a half years at DOC and now is co-owner and chef at Park Street Pasta & Wine. I was really looking forward to going to Park Street because it felt as though every time I opened Instagram, I was seeing another post about how great it is there. It’s really great. After chatting to Tommaso, I was invited for dinner and I loved it. The dining room is cosy and intimate, the service is lovely and the food is next level. Tommaso told me about how much he loves making pasta and the two pastas I tried were incredible. The ravioli filled with smoked ricotta in a semi-dried roasted tomato sauce was delicious, but I am already think about when I can go back for the bucatini which was twirled in the plate in a saffron and lemon cream and dotted with crispy, salty pancetta. Heaven.