Matthew Bentley

Hi Matt, I’ve often walked past here and seen the big sign and the beautiful arched windows as well when I’ve been on the train and wondered what Hotel Lindrum was like inside.

It’s quite unique in this area. It’s quite an old building, isn’t it? It stands out.

Your colleague was saying it started its life as a Merchant Tea House and then it was a pool hall before it was a hotel.

And it used to have a big newspaper housed in here as well, didn’t it?

I don’t actually know. I’m obviously not from Melbourne, so some of the history escapes me.

Are you from New Zealand?

Yes. Have you been?

I haven’t been to New Zealand yet, no. I really want to go. Are you from Wellington?

No, I’m from Christchurch. There’s good food in Christchurch but Wellington is known as the food hotspot. There’s lots of really interesting and innovative ideas going on there in terms of community food gathering and also respecting Maori traditional food as well. I’ve been really excited reading about what’s been happening over there.

There’s a female chef in New Zealand who has been diving into that; the local Maori culture. What’s her name again? I can’t remember.

I’ll have to look that up. That sounds really interesting. When I was stalking you on Instagram…it looks like you’ve been to lots of different countries travelling but also you’ve worked in a few different places too, haven’t you?

I’m originally from England but I grew up in the Netherlands. So I speak Dutch. I’ve lived half my life in England and the other half in the Netherlands. Then I went to work in Scandinavia as well, in Norway with a chef I met in London. I lived in a really remote place called Svalbard, an island north of Norway. It’s actually close to the North Pole. You won’t believe it when you see it. I spent a year there.

Is it a resort?

It was an old coal mining settlement, that town, and now it’s a tourist hotspot. People go for jet-skiing. It’s extreme tourism. You go there to watch polar bears. 

Are there fjords up there?

Yes, there are fjords. So people go to watch the wildlife, all sorts of stuff.

Were you cooking Norwegian food, or European food there?

Scandinavian food, Nordic food. So we used a lot of ingredients from the local area; a lot of preserving because it’s always cold there and nothing grows there.

Do you have the daylight and darkness thing…I mean we all have daylight and darkness…I mean daylight all the time for half the year and darkness all the time for half a year.

That’s true. In winter it’s completely dark all day. It’s very surreal.

What’s that like on your mood? Or do you just get used to it?

I think you get used to it but at the beginning it’s quite difficult because being dark all day, it’s a little bit depressing. I was busy with work and on my days off we would go out and do things like explore the island, but I think perhaps who was stuck at hoe all day, it might be a different story.

How fascinating. So you were in Sheffield. Is that the part of England you are from?

I was born in Manchester but I lived in Sheffield with my mother and that’s where I did my training in college. That’s where I really started off. 

Did you always know you were going to be a chef?

No. Not at all. I was 16 and I didn’t know what I wanted to do and I finished my secondary school and my mother said to me, you have to do something, you have to go to college and choose something. There was construction, cooking, plumbing and I just chose cooking, that was all.

Had food played a large part in your family life growing up?

Food was always in some way a big part of family get togethers but my mum wasn’t a great cook or anything. She used to use the microwave quite a bit, to be honest. She was a good baker; she made really nice cakes and stuff. I don’t really have these child memories of these really big dinners. It was quite average in a way.

When you started and chose cooking above those other trades, what was it about it that kept you in it? Did you love it straight away?

I think it was a focus, I had a focus on something, an interest I found when I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I didn’t really have any interests and I suddenly had this thing I really liked doing and I fully focussed on it.

So you trained in Sheffield and where did you go from there?

I worked in Sheffield for three years doing my qualifications and then I moved to Amsterdam because that’s where my dad lives. I worked in a one Michelin star restaurant in Amsterdam for Chris Naylor who’s a British chef, a really good chef, When I left Sheffield, I said to myself that I wanted to keep pushing myself and get to a good standard. I’m young I need to learn, so I decided I needed to go there, and I did a year there and I learned a lot. He had a rooftop garden. I was an NH Hotel. NH is a Spanish brand and he had a restaurant in that hotel. He was in the centre of Amsterdam and he had a rooftop garden on the top of the hotel where he was growing his own vegetables and herbs, he even had his own beehive up there as well. Every day we would go up there and pick everything and take it down to the kitchen and prep it which was really cool. Then after that I went to another one Michelin star restaurant in the countryside of the Netherlands. 

What position were you in the kitchen in these places?

The first place I was an apprentice and the second place I became a CdP, a chef de partie. That second lace was something I really really enjoyed, it was a small countryside restaurant, no rooms, a husband and wife team with the husband in the kitchen and the wife front of house doing all the wine. It was a very family feel restaurant, a really good team, as opposed to the place in Amsterdam where it was more everybody for themselves, if that makes sense. This was very different. I ended up working there for 1 ½ years.

So when was that?

Not long ago, I’m still young!

I know, that’s what I mean. It’s not long ago, so did you miss all that shouty chef era?

Yes I think I passed all that. The first kitchen in Amsterdam was shouty but nothing like it used to be.

But everyone was out for themselves. That’s interesting because it was fine dining so there would have been a lot of chefs in the kitchen?

This kitchen in Amsterdam had a lot of chefs and I think the bigger the kitchen, the bigger the team, the less team feel you have because there are more politics.

Was the family feel restaurant fine dining as well?

Yes, but there was a smaller team; six or seven chefs in the kitchen and fewer covers; 30 covers in a night. It was great, we used to do everything together. The chef had this Mercedes Benz sports car and he would go int here with his chef jacket and we would all jump in the back and go and pick cherries together. It was fun.

Lovely. So, the Netherlands…then Norway?

No I went to London. It was a bit like Amsterdam, a big city, long hours, big team. I worked there in a Japanese restaurant for a year. I worked for a Swedish chef and after a year he offered me a job in Norway because he was moving to Norway. I’ve worked with this chef in many jobs. I met him in London and he took me to Norway.

So he was a mentor for you?

He was a mentor for sure.

That’s pretty good, isn’t it. I think that it’s really important to have those connections in the cooking field and having those strong ties because it can be a lonely job in some of the positions and if you find someone who obviously thought the world of you as well and took you around to different places; that’s incredible.

That’s it. As you say, when you find a connection and click with somebody, it’s so nice to work with that person. I ended up working with him in many jobs and it’s very important to keep those connections because you never know when another job is going to pop up.

So London, then Norway….and what brought you here?

I was in Norway and then I went back to London again, then I went to this island in Northern Norway for a year and then after a year on the island, I was keen to get back to a city and back to some sort of normality. I had always wanted to come to Australia so I got a Working Holiday Visa, booked a flight and just came over here and got a job at Sofitel.

Amazing. And you are young…you’re 27? And you’re Head Chef. That seems like a fast trajectory to have gone through great restaurants and now to be running things.

Sometimes I wonder if it’s too fast. But it just depends what you want as a chef, I think.

Well, from following you and seeing that even in isolation, cooking at home and putting up photos, you obviously love cooking because you were creating amazing things at home…

Thank you.

…so you didn’t want a break from cooking and just relax. You obviously really love cooking.

Yes, I think it’s really important for a chef to keep exploring new things, even in the downtime. Is it too early to be head chef at 26? I think it depends on your character and what kind of chef you are. I think if you’re a chef who always wants to improve yourself and explore new things, even in your downtime and days off, going out to eat, reading cook books and magazines and watching cooking shows, I think if you’re that kind of person, it’s ok to take a head chef job at 26 or 27.

I agree. I spoke to someone else who was propelled high early on and he said sometimes it’s not just about cooking, it’s about managing other people and managing food costs and all of those things and the pressure of overseeing a team and overseeing a menu and overseeing everything that can get a bit much. As a sous chef, you have a lot of those responsibilities, but suddenly as the head chef, everyone is looking to you and you have to learn what your leadership style is as well.

That’s true. It’s almost that food comes second, it’s actually managing that comes first.

What is your leadership style, would you say? Are you a show-er or a tell-er?

Good question. I’m definitely a show-er. I’ve got a small team here, it’s me and four others. I like to lead by example, so I’ll be in the kitchen doing all the stuff and showing them how it’s done.

It’s Sofitel, so do you get to make your own menu?

Yes, I make the menu and we change it every three months, seasonally. I’d love to have the freedom of changing it whenever I want, but being a hotel, you’ve got menus in the lifts and menus in the rooms and reception needs to know about it, so changing a menu isn’t that simple.

Who are the diners? Are they just hotel guests or do you get locals?

We get a bit of both. It is hard to break out of that image of hotel restaurants. We are trying very hard to get more diners from outside.

Is it Modern Australian? How would you describe the style of food?

I like to call it Modern British. I take British classics and put a modern twist on it.

What’s an example of that?

Rhubarb and custard crumble. I take those two ingredients and do a whole new dessert out of it and out a modern twist on it.

I noticed you have a lot of desserts on your Instagram. Is working in pastry something you’ve done in the past?

I was a pastry chef in London. It is something I really enjoy doing.

This is the wrong question, really. I was going to say is it more creative…and I guess you can make it more spectacular, but then savoury dishes in the hands of the right chef are also very creative.

I think a lot of chefs say you can be more creative in pastry but I don’t know that that’s necessarily true.

You have to be very precise in pastry, don’t you?

That’s it. You have to measure everything.

Yes, you can’t just throw in a bit of this and a bit of that.

No, it’s more technical in a way.

Is that what you like about it?

Yeah. I like that it’s quite technical and maybe because I’ve got a sweet tooth.

How do you manage for yourself and also as the head of a team…does it get busy in here, it pressured in the kitchen or do you put pressure on yourself that every dish has to go out looking a certain way? How do you manage that in the heat of service?

I like to think we are quite organised here. For me, it’s important that we get the mise en place sorted and we do as much as we can before service then during service, it’s not very stressful here to be honest because everything is in place. Every chef knows what they’re doing. We’re not such a bit restaurant. We do thirty covers max. To be honest I don’t really feel that stressed here. This is probably one of the best jobs I’ve had so far.

Wow. How long have you been here?

Almost two years now. Australia is a great place to live in, it’s fantastic, especially Melbourne. There are so many amazing places you can eat in the city and places around the city; it’s incredible…the amount of different cultures, the different food you can have, it’s fantastic. You can drive one hour and you’re in a beautiful spot in Victoria and there’s just so much to do and see. And it’s really comfortable living here, I find. Compared to when I was living in London and talking about rental prices and so on, you can’t compare it to here.

That’s good. Did you have to get used to different ingredients? I suppose wherever you go, you’ve got to get to know different suppliers and so on.

I had to get used to the different seasons. The seasons are completely different here to Europe. That was a big thing to work out what was in season and that’s really important when I make the menu. A lot of products, I haven’t used before, especially fish. I was used to using certain types of fish back in Europe, like halibut, cod, turbot. You don’t have those fish here. The dishes that I make were based around those dishes so I have to find substitutes for those in Australia.

That’s true. I think there’s not really four seasons here, I think the Aboriginal idea of six seasons is more accurate. I guess it’s when they walk on country and are in touch with the land so they know when things are changing. I think we miss out on that connection in the city. But you would have more of an idea of that through the suppliers because things must come up within those seasons, like mushrooms. 

I don’t have the luxury of using that because I have to have the three month menu and I have to make sure that the produce is going to be available for the three months. Unless we do special dinners, which we sometimes do or I can put a special on. But it’s a bit difficult. It’s not like Michael at Pretty Little where they can print the menu every day, which is such a great thing to be able to do as a chef and have that freedom.

You’ve eaten at Pretty Little?

I have and I worked there as well. I used to work with Michael at Sofitel.

That’s so interesting. It’s beautiful over there and they are such nice people.

They are. I love the communal table they have.

The whole dinner party vibe is a lovely way to eat. So, what would you say to young people wanting to get into the industry? What would be your advice or experience you’ve had?

I would say, get into it if you really really want it. If you enjoy cooking and it’s something you really want to do, then go for it. But if you don’t or you’re not sure, I would say, try it out, but think hard about it because it’s not that easy. There are easier jobs you can do for better pay if that’s what you want.

And when you say not easy, are the hard bits the long hours?

The long hours, physically standing all day and what I’ve always found with this job, it’s hard to find a stable job. You can work at a restaurant for two years and then the restaurant goes out of business or you don’t like it anymore so you move to a new restaurant and you start almost from scratch again. Unless you work for a big hotel company. I find it hard to find a stable job within this industry.

I guess, though, part of it for someone like you might be that you want to be challenged and grow so maybe you have to move to find that or do you think it’s possible to be able to grow in one place over a longer period of time than two years?

It is possible but it’s a bit harder.

You’re not in an open kitchen so you can’t see when people are eating your food. Do you need feedback?

I think feedback is really important. I always ask the waitress when she comes into the kitchen how they found the meal. It’s important to get that feedback. Sometimes I come out as well. We have a few regulars so I talk to them.

Have you been reviewed? Have you read reviews of your cooking?

No we haven’t and I want to get a reviewer in. I’ve been telling marketing that we need to get some reviewers and bloggers in. We’ve put all our systems into place and made the place better for the good so it’s time to get a reviewer in. I think someone reviewed the place in Good Food 12 years ago or something and that was the last review we had.

It’s tricky, isn’t it. A lot of reviewers do the new places, so even though you are doing new things and the places has been revamped, it might not be on the radar. Now I should let you get back to doing the mise en place, Matt. Thank you so much for talking to me today.

Hotel Lindrum, 26 Flinders Street.