When I was doing some reading about Elliott before going to chat to him, I discovered that, not only is he from Christchurch, but he went to school in the same part of town as me, albeit years after me…! I mention age, only because Elliott might be young in years, but he has had quite the trajectory, starting off his career cooking in one of New Zealand’s best restaurants, Pescatore, in the George Hotel overlooking Hagley Park in Christchurch. He moved to Sydney after the earthquakes and worked at Flying Fish Restaurant, and then Sepia, before moving to Melbourne to the head chef role at Doot Doot Doot at Jackalope on the Mornington Peninsula. From a park view, to a view over the water and then of vineyards, at his latest venture, Rascal, the Sydney Road view might not be quite the same, but Elliott and his team look set to change the Brunswick dining landscape all the same.
Elliott, you’re one of the owners of Rascal, aren’t you? With some other people, I would imagine?
Yes, that’s right. There are four others; Harrison, John, Simon and James. And as a four, they own another wine bar in Ascot Vale called The Vale and John and Simon are also partners in Glamorama which is a club in Fitzroy. They’ve done a couple of other things here and there and also Harrison’s dad is Andrew Peace, one of the biggest winemakers in Australia. We all get on really well and everyone had their own roles within the business, which is really great.
Is this your first time as an owner?
Yes. This is the first place I’ve owned. I just finished up at Jackalope in April. I was part of the opening team there, and I was there for two and a half years. It was a big change from Sydney. I was at Sepia and got the opportunity to go to Jackalope and open that and it was fantastic. Now I’ve been with these guys for about four or five months now and we’ve been open for four weeks.
Did you train in Christchurch at Polytech?
Yes. I was at The George for about four years. I was washing dishes, then I did my apprenticeship there and left in a chef de partie role at Pescatore, which is their fine dining restaurant.
When you were growing up and biking to school at Shirley Boys’, did you always know you wanted to be a chef? When did that enter your mind?
Yes and no. I think the passion started more when I was washing dishes. At the time, The George was, and it still is, one of the best places in New Zealand to eat. Everyone there was really obsessed with their cooking and they wanted me to get involved. I had an interest in it, but I didn’t know that I wanted to do it as a career. Once I got stuck in there, they really kept pushing me to keep going forward with it. I did my apprenticeship and as soon as I started that, I knew it was me and I was locked in.
What do you think it was about it that you really liked?
I suppose like a lot of chefs these days, I don’t really go into things one foot in, I put everything, all my energy into one thing, so this was great for me. I could put all my energy into something positive and it worked out for the best for me.
It can be hard for young people, though because when you’re working, all your friends are out and you miss special occasions because of the anti-social hours, but I guess in kitchens, you have your own fun.
Yes, you’ve got a good bunch of people you spend more time than anyone else in your life and you make really close friendships. I’ve made great friends over the years.
Creatively as well, I really love that side of cooking and not having any rules about what you can and can’t do. That’s what we’re doing here, having fun and doing food we want to eat; there’s no restriction on our menu.
Just to pick up on that, Jackalope is fancy and a winery and so on…although this is a wine bar and it does also look fancy, but also approachable…so, are you doing full meals or more snacks?
We have a lot on the menu. It’s not massive but we have something for everyone, I think. We have some snacks and some beautiful entrees. We’ve got some house-made charcuterie, some main courses and we also have a big push on our desserts. We have a Rascal menu at $65 so you can have a bit of everything. The mentality is that you can come in here for a snack and a wine or a beer or cocktail; you could come in and have a few things off the menu or you could come in and have a full meal. It has been a great experience so far with the customers we’ve had in’ there has been a range of everything.
Give me some examples of things on the menu.
As far as snacks, we have crab toast; we have some really epic brioche and cook some swimmer crab and fold in some emulsified seaweed butter with some spring onions and green pea furikake, so really simple and approachable but with a bit of technique behind it.
What is the green pea thing?
Furikake is a loose word for a Japanese seasoning, so we make it with fresh dried green peas and some sesame and yuzu and toasted nori. As far as other things, we have kangaroo tartare on there. We have a lot of dishes that are approachable for everybody ad we have a few that push people more in terms of taste.
The main thing for me is…everything on the menu has to be delicious. Most of the time it’s delicious because it’s in season and it’s approachable. We want everyone to come in here and it not cost and arm and a leg, and we want them to come in and feel happy. As I say, everyone is saying the same thing, but it’s true, we wanted a casual approach to the way we eat and I think that’s what this space does.
Just to go back to you cooking at The Pescatore in Christchurch, at what point did you think you needed to go to a bigger pond?
Well there were a few things. Obviously the earthquake was a massive one. I always knew I wanted to travel anyway. I was competing at the time and won apprentice of the year in New Zealand and the trip was to the UK. I travelled to the Gold Coast just to se my friends for a couple of months before I went to the UK, then I had some Visa troubles, so I went back to Christchurch and ended up in Sydney. It was a bit of a bounce around. I worked at Flying Fish for about three and a half years and that was great.
You've been in some really great places. How long have you been a chef?
Just over ten years.
It’s a pretty good trajectory to have been head chef at Jackalope…
Yes it was Doot Doot Doot. There are two offerings out there; Rare Hare and Doot Doot Doot, which was fine dining. We had a five-course menu and we changed it every month. It was a big change coming from Sydney, a tight city, and all the suppliers you know them personally, they come and drop things off. I know everyone says this but it was really cool to have that connection with everyone. I remember my first menu there, I was using as much local produce as possible. It’s something we are trying to do here too; getting in touch with the people I met on the peninsula.
It’s such great produce out there.
It really is. It was a big perk of living on the peninsula.
Oh so you were living out there as well…well, you’d have to I guess or you’d spend all your time on the road. It’s stunning out there. My partner’s parents live in Balnarring and we have a garden out there but we don’t grow enough to supply anyone…almost ourselves.
Jackalope has a vegetable garden as well; 16 raised beds. That was really fun and we had a gardener, Ally who was really amazing, but it was more for flowers and little intricate pieces.
But I think when you have access to a garden and this is what I hear some chefs say, even though you’re aware of seasons and your suppliers provide what’s in season, I think when you’re actually on the land and you see what’s popping up, you have a different relationship with those ingredients as well.
Absolutely. It changes direction of what you think you’re going to cook that day or that week. Something can come in and change your perspective on what you’re going to put up. It’s a great way to cook. Everyone is aware, or should be aware, that we should eat seasonally and get excited when certain things are in at certain times of the year. It’s more mainstream now with what is available. It’s an easier way to cook.
I think it’s better for our bodies too; our bodies need what’s available at that time. I spent a year in France, and it was a while ago now, but even now people come back and say that they really do eat seasonally there. We talk a lot about it here but Australia has access to everything all the time and I think we’ve lost that jo of eating strawberries when they’re at their best because we can have all the time. And asparagus. But when you have actual spring asparagus, it’s the most amazing thing.
It’s the best feeling.
Or mushrooms that have been locally foraged. They are so delicious.
I couldn’t agree more.
And then it’s easy to go to the supermarket…but that’s why it’s great to have chefs like you who believe in it and get joy out of it and we can be led by you.
It’s good to limit yourself on what you can use all year round. I think it makes you think more creatively rather than reaching for what you can get all year round.
I know chefs are always inspired by the produce itself but other than that, and obviously your experience, where do you get your inspiration?
It’s a bit of everything. The main thing for me is…everything on the menu has to be delicious. Most of the time it’s delicious because it’s in season and it’s approachable. We want everyone to come in here and it not cost and arm and a leg, and we want them to come in and feel happy. As I say, everyone is saying the same thing, but it’s true, we wanted a casual approach to the way we eat and I think that’s what this space does.
You’ve been a head chef now for a while, what would you say your leadership style is? How do you work with your team? Are you a show-er or a teller or do you get in there with them?
I’m in there every day. I’m not big on sitting in the office, that’s for sure. I’m pretty friendly and get on with my staff really well. Service is service, as I was always told. But kitchens are changing for the better at the moment and I think that’s great and that’s why I wanted to be open Wednesday to Sunday and closed Monday and Tuesday. Then everyone has a work life balance and then we just open for lunch and dinner on one day, Saturday. Everyone works the same hours, we’re all here together, it’s one team. To me it made sense. But back to the question about my leadership style, I’m very team orientated. I love working in a team.
I think the work-life balance idea is very important. Increasingly we’re talking about the mental health of chefs. I spoke to Amber Kaba who is in Sydney from The White Jacket Effect last weekend who has set up a foundation because of her own experience of losing her mentor chef to suicide and she has set up a program to help the hospitality industry. I think that’s really important.
I do too. I think it was something chefs didn’t talk about and we should have been talking about it a long time ago. It’s super important. A lot of chefs don’t stay in the game that long these days. They get to a certain age and their body can’t handle it anymore. You get to a stage where you push everything in your life aside; your health, your friends and work becomes everything. It’s still the same for a lot of people but I think you have to find that balance and make sure you have days off and see people outside of work. It’s forgotten about so much. We’ve been trained that way for years and years but things are changing for the better.
So what would you say to a younger person who wanted to get into the industry?
I think if you’re passionate about it and it’s something you really care about, the it’s the right industry for you. I don’t think you should put yourself in that position if you’re not fully invested. You get a lot of people who have seen a little bit here and there and think it’s for them. And sometimes as much as we talk about it as a happy place, sometimes it’s not such a happy place. It’s tough some days in the kitchen, but if you have the right drive and mentality to do it and you like being creative and you want to do it for all the right reasons, I think that’s really important.
341 Sydney Road, Brunswick