Anthony Thalassinos

Conversation with a chef: Nice to see you again. You must be feeling the cold after Bali.

Anthony Thalassinos: Bali is incredibly hot and incredibly happening. There's a lot going on there, which is fantastic.

I can't believe how many Australian chefs are over there as well.

Yes. Everywhere is popping off, particularly this brand new hospital group called Project North. It's kind of full circle because I grew up with one of the directors as kids. When he contacted me saying, Hey, I've got this idea for you, would you like to sit down and talk? I was still with George at Hellenic Republic. I thought we were having a coffee as mates. And then he said, I've got this group that I want to do. We already have three cafes in Bali. So now full circle: Bali, Melbourne, possibly Sydney. Its good.

So you're executive chef?

I'm executive chef, yeah. My first executive role.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

And being headhunted too. I looked back at our conversation, which is actually a really a long conversation. We covered a lot, but I remember that George had said in something I'd read that you were someone to be watched because you're very ambitious and really good at what you do. And so here you are stepping up.

Thank you. I was on the phone to him yesterday. He's going on a holiday next week, which is good. He's another person we would love to work with down the line. George is not only is a role model, he's a good friend and someone to look up to, but he's someone that's always keen. If you say to him, hey, I would love to have you down here in Bali. Hell say, done. What do you need? He's great like that. It's exciting times ahead. Also to have his support. I think everyone gets a bit worried; oh I'm moving off and I'm moving away from someone. But he was super supportive.

Well, I think he would understand. That's the thing when you have young, ambitious chefs. You did a great job there and it was part of your journey. And then you moving up and on allowed someone else to come in and have that experience as well. I think that's really important.

Tell me about the group. Had you spent much time in Bali before?

Never. I've travelled the world. It was the first time I had actually gone to Bali. I was surprised in an amazing way. Because when you hear Bali, initially you think cheap holiday, drinking, partying, but when you go to Canggu particularly, or where we are in Pererenan, which is very close to Canggu, it's a totally different lifestyle. You're seeing some really high quality restaurants from Shelter to Var Vera, M.Mason everyone knows. Skool kitchen. Unbelievable dining to the point where you think, is this the Bali you hear of back home? The last time I had a cafe job was when I was 16. So this is the first time I've done cafes in a while. But the group is very, very flexible in terms of they want to conquer not just brunch, they want to do dinner, they want to do dessert bars. They just opened a place called Para Treats, which is a dessert bar in Coolaroo. We're going to take that to Bali. So we are branching out and I think Bali will be our home base, but we don't want to neglect Melbourne, because we're all from Melbourne.

So you're going back and forth?

I'm going up and down. I think collectively I've done two months there. It feels like I've been in the job for four months. It feels forever. I've aged terribly in the four months that I have been jet setting.

So when you go to a different country and cook and if you're in charge as well, where do you start with getting to know the place and how things work and what the audience is, what food's available?

It is a difficult process and it's very time consuming. But the beauty of Bali particularly, I feel is, as you said, there's a lot of Australian chefs there. They do rally around each other. They don't see it as competition. I actually see they want to see you go well. When I got to Bali, I went and ate at the restaurants I mentioned and everyone welcomed me with open arms. Everyone was so open, and told me to look at this supplier, if you need this, get this. If you were struggling to find something, they would help. There was a lot of care. They want you to succeed. A guy whose name is name is Simon said, people that leave their families for a better life to try and improve their situation at home will always be welcome here. We will always try to help them. Because it's a bit of them as well. They were the one that went overseas and found it hard. And they don't want to see someone new try and find it a challenge or find it as difficult. They want to help them get to where they're supposed to be, which is brilliant.

Just thinking back then to what you were saying about you hadn't worked in cafes since you were 16. Do you have to change your mindset about the kinds of food that you're offering now?

Slightly, not too much. I'm pretty blessed with ambitious directors and owners here that say, what's your vision? What are your strengths? You need to conform a little bit. But then once you win people over with your food, then go for your life. Let's see what you do. And I think the beauty of that was is particularly in Bali that we're starting to do dinner. I think they saw what I was about in terms of dining. My strong suit is dinner. And they saw what I can produce in dinner. They knew that was the avenue they needed to go. So it was more, show us what you got with what we want to do and if it's good enough then we will conform to what you want to do and then we will meet in the middle. It is a challenge. It'll continue to be a challenge, but in a good way.

Where are the various venues?

In Melbourne. We have Thornbury and Elwood and Para Treats in Coolaroo. In Bali we have Pererenan, we have Seminyak which is being built and our next space will be in Uluwatu. Seminyak will be ready by September and Uluwatu in the not so distant future, we're looking towards that. We've got spaces, but for now we've got one operating and the second one will be operating in September and the third one, hopefully before the end of 2024.

Are you less on the pans?

Yes, less on the tools. That is hard in itself, for someone that has only known being on the tools. So that's a challenge. But I've had a few mentors. They've, not pre-empted this, but they've warned me about it and how to deal with situations like this. It's a bit of an adjustment, but we're making through.

How do you deal with it?

Getting good people around me. I'm thankful that I've just got Caitlyn as a group head chef that has worked previously at Hellenic as well. I got great advice from Matt Wilkinson, Wilko, who I used to be with at Montalto. He said, you might need to come after service, you might need to come before service just to test your culinary skills to make you feel like you've still got it. No one cares on the outside. It's more of a personal thing and he's right. No one really cares. As long as you deliver delicious food in any outlet, people are going to come, but for yourself because you want to feel like you can still get it done. He just said, make sure you keep your receipts when you're ordering and you're testing out stuff, so you're not out of pocket for a laugh. But, but he was right. He's correct. There are different settings and there are different things you can do, but sometimes I really want to push myself, just so I know that I can still get it done. Which I totally understand.

I guess if I can liken it to teaching French for example and speaking French and I'm not a French person and I have to keep that up. I often say to the students as well, you have to really practice skills like going to the gym and working on your muscles and you have to practice French or cooking as well.

Muscle memory.

For your own confidence as much as anything.

It's like a football team. It's like you've turned from a player into a coach. Do you miss the days you were the one that was actually kicking the footy and now you have to tell people how to do it? I likened it to that. It's just part of growing up and sometimes you need to remind yourself as well that you can still get it done.

What about local food over there? Have you tried some different things?

I've gone to a few Warungs and they are delicious. They're amazing. We're lucky to have one that is next door to the tickled in Pererenan, which the chefs there have taken me to, which was amazing. You don't want to solely do your culture overseas. You want to learn from the locals. I think it's important. I try and ingrain some of their culture with my culture, not fusion, but to see what they can do. Greeks love their garlic and chili, Indonesians love confiting their garlic, they do some amazing stuff with garlic. They do a beautiful sambal. Why can't we mix that with the flavours that I'm doing? So locally, I think what they're doing is fantastic. We were doing a burnt honey loukoumade, which is a donut, and a local honey supply trader who does his own honey within Bali sent me his honey, Sweet Hexagon, and it was unbelievable. He sent me eight different types of honeys. There is someone distilling his own Ouzo in Bali. They call it Arak Ouzo. So it's funny when you think, oh, we have to import everything but you can find a lot locally.

Are you doing slightly Greek?

I'm doing slightly, Greek, Mediterranean. Obviously being with George previously, but also my background in Italian cooking, being at Park Street and really early in my life at Grossi, I'm trying to morph it all. In the group, we all originated from the northwest suburbs when we grew up. They want that cultural familiarity with the Mediterranean Middle Eastern kind of flavours. One of the owners is Turkish and the other is Palestinian. I'm Greek. So we try and meet in the middle with flavours that we are familiar with.

It must be quite busy over there. Are there lots of tourists?

There's a lot of tourists where we are. It is not a remote area, but it is a young area. There's a lot of new villas being built. There are a few bars being opened up around there. So it is early days over there. Our Seminyak spot is in a beautiful spot. Really in the hub of all the touristy spots. Pererenan is a bit like we want to get you away from the hustle and bustle of Bali. And it is an oasis. We have a gorgeous pool. When I was there I didnt know how I was going to cook in the kitchen when I was looking at the view. Because it's an amazing view.

Is it in a hotel?

No. They just have the pool themselves. Its like a resort. We have a poolside menu, all day menu that we convert later on to dinner. It blew my mind when I was there.

I feel like you're really living life like it's golden.

At the moment I'm doing okay. Touch wood. I'm doing okay. I've come back to Melbourne so we can reintroduce a winter menu in time and do a few collaborations. We've got a few things in the works, which is cool. But then when you put it on paper, this is happening next week, the week after I'm here. Then by August I'm back in Bali. Then by September I have to be back here. There's a lot going, but in the best way.

I guess that's part of stepping up to that next tier of Executive chef is balancing all of those things and the pulls on your energy and so on. And I guess you have to be able to shut off as well.

Yes. The directors are good. When we have a day off, even when I did a few extra days in Bali, they said once you fly back, take a few days off, rest up because you've done quite a bit. Everyone's honest with each other and trying to do what's best for the brand. We're a young brand, we're a new brand. We are trying to figure out everything: they're trying to figure me out, I'm trying to figure them out to get a happy medium. But it's super exciting. Even though it is a really weird time in Melbourne in hospitality, a scary gloomy time, we want to show that it's not all doom and gloom. And that's why when you reach out to people that you know and say, let's do a collaboration, it actually can work out and there's a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

Awesome. Thank you.

My pleasure. My absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for coming by.

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