Babylonia Fitzroy, on their website and at their entrance on Smith Street, invites you to "enter into enchantment". Owners Prawin John Peter and Geoffrey Sage have created their own little oasis down in Fitzroy, complete with a lush outdoor garden courtyard and waterfall wall feature and a cosy front dining room with green leather banquettes, cream-painted brick walls and antique Turkish lampshades. It's lovely by day and magical by night. They have shisha, belly dancing, cocktails, and of course, beautiful Middle Eastern food cooked by Vishal Rawal. Vishal loves cooking. It was such a pleasure to listen to the way he describes the food he makes, combining spices from his Indian heritage with the Middle Eastern dishes he has discovered and loves. You would absolutely want to work with Vishal because he is a hands-on chef; in amongst the pans at service and washing up at the end. For Vishal, team-work is vital and making diners happy, his goal. I was hanging off his every word and I reckon, now that the Melbourne days are becoming slightly darker and more chilly, this is a place you can warm your soul.
Vishal, let's start off with you. How long have you been a chef?
I've been in Australia for seven years, so soon after that. I arrived here and started working in hospitality. I started working in a pizza shop and in McDonalds and all those things, but I jumped into a restaurant in 2016. I started working as a cook and after a couple of months I got promoted to chef. I was a very quick learner.
What kind of food was that?
It was Middle Eastern, Egyptian and a little bit of Mediterranean as well. I worked there for four years and soon after, the restaurant closed in 2019. They wanted to re-open last year but because of covid, they couldn't and they closed down. John was a customer and he liked my cooking a lot and he offered me a job for a restaurant he was opening and I thought, why not?
What is it that you like about hospitality?
Just food. I'm a real foodie. I don't know why but whenever I cook food, I feel happy. I have worked in numerous other jobs but I never feel that I'm made for that particular job. Whenever I am in the kitchen, I love it. Regardless of the stress. There is a lot of stress, but I have some techniques or something that I can just figure it out and it is getting easier for me now. It doesnt matter how busy we are, we work and get it done. Team work is going on in the kitchen and thats it.
So, did you not do any formal training as a chef? It was all on the spot?
I studied hospitality. I did Certificate 3 and 4 in commercial cooking and an advanced diploma in hospitality. And now I am doing an advanced diploma in business management and I am studying at the same time as I am working. I have all the knowledge of hospitality and I am getting the knowledge about business and leadership because I really need those things.
Especially as a head chef.
Yeah, so I have more than 6 staff in the kitchen and I need to be a leader for them. If you don't have any techniques, you'll get angry a lot in the kitchen when it's busy or someone is not doing their work properly. I don't have to overreact, it doesn't matter. We can start again. When we are working, we are going to make mistakes, we are not machines, we are human beings. Everyone makes mistakes; I make mistakes. I can't be like, I'm a head chef, I don't make mistakes, it happens. It's human nature.
What do you like about Middle Eastern food?
Everything. I grew up eating lamb and chicken and all those things. So I have tried to make lamb dishes adding Middle Eastern stuff. Im from India and so I grew up with Indian food, but when I was in India, I used to love Middle Eastern food and I went to Middle Eastern restaurants. When I came to Australia, you don't have your own cuisine here, it is multi-cuisine, so I thought I would do the same and I could add Middle Eastern and Indian together; adding some Indian spices into Middle Eastern cuisine and we have some marvellous dishes. A lot of Middle eastern chefs use Indian spices; 80% of the spices come from India. The dishes are beautiful and smell great. The thing is, most chefs when they are cooking, they can't eat after because they are full but when I am cooking, it smells so great, that whether I am full or not, I can still eat all the dishes. I'm trying to make food that looks good, smells good, and tastes good. It has to be juicy all the time. It doesn't matter whether it is meat or vegetables you are cooking. When you are eating it, the first and last spoon should be the same. The customers are loving it and that is what I want. As long as those who are eating my food are happy, I'm happy.
That's great. What are some examples of some dishes that you have added Indian spices and what are those spices?
Turmeric, chilli powders, five spice, seven spice. Five spice are our cloves, cardamom, star anise, cinnamon stick sand black pepper. The five spice with other spices wont be good. I know that if you add five spice to other spices, the flavour will be different. All the spices can't go with each dish; lamb needs spice, the fish needs some spice, the chicken needs some spice, right? You need to try them heaps of times to get the good flavour. Fish is a lean meat so it needs a very light spice. If you put a few spices on the fish, it will ruin the taste of the fish and you are eating only spices. Lamb needs more spice on it. But you only marinate lamb for a few hours, not overnight, that will ruin all the juices. The spices have some citric acid and that dries out the meat if you leave the spice on it overnight.
I did not know that because lots of recipes say to marinate lamb overnight.
I tried it and I feel like now that people are doing it the wrong way. I tried it so many times. Whatever food I make for trial, I ask owners and friends and everyone tells me different things, so I have to make a note of it and the next time I make sure that thing is not happening. Back to the overnight thing, only chicken is something you can marinate overnight. Chicken has to be cooked well done and can support marinating overnight but for other meat, you are ruining the meat.
I’m a real foodie. I don’t know why but whenever I cook food, I feel happy. I have worked in numerous other jobs but I never feel that I’m made for that particular job. Whenever I am in the kitchen, I love it. Regardless of the stress. There is a lot of stress, but I have some techniques or something that I can just figure it out and it is getting easier for me now. It doesnt matter how busy we are, we work and get it done. Team work is going on in the kitchen and thats it.
It sounds as though you do a lot of experimenting and trying things out. Where else are you getting your ideas for Middle Eastern dishes?
I google and search for different dishes and I follow a few different chefs who have been cooking this food over the last 10 or 15 years, checking their updates. I have been to Dubai a couple of times, and I try their food. It was good but I expected more and I wasn't happy. Being a chef and being in the industry, I wasn't really happy with the taste so when I came back to Australia and tried the same dishes, but adding my spices, it came out really well and people love it.
When people come to Babylonia, what do you suggest if they want the full experience, what should they order?
Well, I want them to come again and again to try everything, butI can't suggest one thing because they are all made from my heart.
Ok, are there smaller dishes and then bigger ones?
I would say, falafel. The falafel you have at other placesand I have tried falafel all over Melbourne and in Dubai, I find them a bit dry. I don't want dry falafel. So I tried making felafel for one year and our falafel are not dry. When you eat it, you feel like they melt inside your mouth and you will keep eating and you wont be able to stop. So I recommend that you try the felafels. Normally in restaurants, you will only find green felafel. We are making red felafel here as well.
What makes it red?
I can't disclose that. I will say it's upto the beans. We are using fava beans and chickpeas and some lentils. Normally people just use chickpeas and chickpeas are really dry. We add good vegetables, red vegetables, and a few other things which I can't really disclose.
Do you do hummus as well? I know, having spoken to Israeli chefs, that their mothers have THE recipe for hummus.
My mother used to make hummus back home as well. So I am still using that recipe. Our hummus is not that thick. It's not like a sauce. It is in between; really smooth and really rich and when you eat it, you will think it is amazing. I use tahini, sesame, garlic, lemon, olive oil; I use a very good olive oil. I use a mixture of a few beans to make the hummus very rich. Whoever is having it, should feel how smooth it is. It shouldnt be harsh or too light, you have to feel like you are eating food, right?
Absolutely. And what would you say to someone, a young person, who was thinking about becoming a chef? What would your advice be to them?
Not everyone can become an engineer, not everyone can become a chef, not everyone can become a doctor. If someone really wants to become a chef, they have to be very calm and confident in what they are doing. It is very challenging to work in a kitchen; you have a number of orderswhen I started working, I used to wonder howI would do it and you have 100 or 200 people sitting in a place and you are serving them, one single complaint affects a lot in a kitchen and you cant concentrate because that small thing is going around in your mind and that will spoil all the other things you have to do. So, you have to be very calm and don't be nervous. You can think about complaints later but at that time you have a number of orders and you have to make sure you are serving good food.
Anyone can be a chef, those who know how to cook and love cooking, but apart from those things, you need to tackle the problems and the hardship. You need to make sure you are treating your staff well. You can't scream at them because no one can hear it. If you give respect to others, you will get it back. I respect each and everyone. It doesn't matter if they are a dishwasher or a cook; I will treat them the same. I will never tell them to call me a head chef, I will tell them to call me by my name and we always work like a team. If my dish washer has been working for two or three hours, I know they are tired now and I will jump on and wash the dishes. It's not like I cant wash dishes. They feel glad they are working with a good man who is not just standing there while they do all the work. I always jump in and do the same thing they are doing. I like doing that. I don't want to run a team, I want to work in the team and be one of them.
I love that. Thank you, Vishal.
129 Smith Street, Fitzroy