I went in to Stokehouse at golden hour as the glow of the late afternoon sun bathed the dining room. Winter is the best time for sunsets, they told me, and as I left after chatting to Jason, the sky was awash with deep coral. It's a stunning dining room. Who wouldn't want to sip wine and eat glorious food looking out over Port Philip Bay? It's even more stunning once you know how intentional the rebuild was post-2014 fire. Owner Frank Van Haandel wants to contribute to a world his grandchildren will enjoy and to that end, worked with designers, architects and chefs to create a sustainable building and sustainable practices. Leading the kitchen and the sustainability goal is Jason Staudt who began his career at the age of 15, attending cooking school at S.A.I.T, before completing his training at The River Cafe in Calgary. He then moved to the Alaskan and Northern British Colombian regions to work on a private yacht, catching the seafood he would go on to cook and serve. After several years working at some of the world's best restaurants, in Canada, some stages in London and New York, Jason moved to Newcastle in Australia and then Matt Morans Aria at Barangaroo House, Sydney. Over the eight years he was there, Jason climbed the ranks to Head Chef and also worked on the road with Matt before transferring to Moran's neighbouring Barangaroo House restaurant Bea. In 2019 Jason moved to Melbourne to lead the Stokehouse Kitchen. One of the main reasons the move to Stokehouse felt right for Jason was Van Haandel's views on a deep commitment to sustainability and we talked at length about this. I learned a lot from talking to Jason and I can't way to get back to Stokehouse at sunset to soak up more of the joy.
Hi Jason. I was just sitting here thinking, do you ever get sick of this view?
No. Unless it's pouring rain and it's smashing the windows and we have all these leaks in the dining room.
Oh, okay. Less romantic.
Definitely. It's a beautiful space though, isn't it?
It really is. The sea is right there. You can't even really see the beach. I love it.
I love how the dining room is humbled down as well, with the unfinished wood and then you look out there and it's just, whoa.
Absolutely. I think in so many cities there's lots of waterfront eateries, but Melbourne doesn't really have that many, so I guess that adds that extra special thing as well.
Quintessentially Melbourne, I guess, in a way.
How was Aotearoa, New Zealand?
It was good. Are you from New Zealand?
Yes. I'm from Christchurch though. Not the same as Auckland! You must have a firm friendship with Josh Emmett now doing these reciprocal visits.
Yes. He came in for lunch last year, maybe in July, he loved what we were doing here and it's really similar to their values. We met and chatted and came up with the 'Across the ditch' concept, which is a lot of fun. We did a lunch here, because he loved obviously this view.
Where's Onslow? Is that in the city?
Its in Auckland at the top of the hill, if you know, near the Pullman and some newer developed areas. It's a gorgeous area. Gorgeous building.
But no view?
There's one side that has a nice view. But it's a beautiful dining room. It's a dining room where you're very much encapsulated into the moment.
Where do you start when you're doing a collaboration. Do you start talking before you go? Or do you wait to get there and see what's there? What's in the market?
We just had chats, back and forth; lot of Zoom meetings in those days. We are very produce driven here, and it's a lot what they do as well, and procurement of premium produce anddifferent produce and, and smaller producers. That was a pretty big part of both venues. Obviously we're not super high end here, but we are still pretty high end, you know what I mean? They have a similar approach; they don't want anyone to be scared to come. Theres something for everyone, birthday celebrations or Friday lunch, whatever, whatever suits your vibe. So then we just said, why don't we just do course by course? When they came here, they did a snack, we did a snack, they did a snack, we did a snack. They brought some New Zealand stuff over, which was pretty cool, paua and so on. It was really interesting to use. It was really tasty. And then some of their techniques as well. A few of their techniques were really nice. And then we did similar thing when we went over there. We showed off the king of the sea, coral trout, which is Australia's best fish in some circles. We brought over our Gundagai lamb, which we championed. We did a few of the little bits and pieces snacks. We talked about the sustainability thing.
I'm interested to hear a bit more about sustainability things. I think that's really taken off in New Zealand as well. There's a really big food movement there now that's into sustainability and obviously seasonality, which goes hand in hand. I know you are doing lots of things for sustainability at Stokehouse. Where to start? Tell me about your ethos and what you're doing.
I guess it started when Frank approached me five years ago, I was at Aria and at BEA, he approached me and he said, we're doing this restaurant. We want to get five green stars, one of the first in Australia of this size and this magnitude because it's normally just office buildings that are five green star rated, but to design and run a hospitality business under that, they basically wrote the book. I wanted to be a part of that. Um, and then, and then just slowly as you know, I came on and I just made a lot of rules here. I instantly banned cling wrap, we reduce Chux. We don't put anything under our cutting boards except for little rubber rings, instead of using a towel that just goes into the laundry or Chux that just go into the bin. Then you just slowly add on to that. Recently we've added a Bardee to our portfolio of sustainability, which is a system where they have 1 billion black soldier flies, they pick up our food waste or whatever we have left of food waste, that's including what's cleared from tables and everything goes into the Bardee. The black soldier flies lay their larvae and they attack it, and they eat it. And the larvae is then fed to fish farms. Then compost.
So it's a big container?
It's a huge container. Phoebe's an absolute legend, who came up with it. It's a world first as well. You can go to Bunnings and you can buy the Superfly. It's called Superfly and is super plant food. I use it on my plants at home. She gave me a little thing. Unbelievable. My plants just exploded, because there's so much protein in the black soldier fly casing.
Wow. It's mind blowing, isn't it?Is there a fish project as well?
Yes. Chris Gillies at Seafood Positive has been in the industry forever. He is a microbiologist. I can't do the same justice that he talks about it, but he is an absolute beautiful human and, you know, he's doing the right thing. He has started this program, OneFishTwoFish. For every kilo of fish that we buy or shellfish, money goes back to them and then they're helping building reefs or habitat or grass fields into the ocean because no one's really doing that.
Port Phillip Bay used to be a plethora of seafood. There was everything here; shellfish lined the water everywhere. There was endless food here and then we just dredged it. As humans, we just dredged it and ruined it. It takes forever for that to build back or it'll never rebuild back unless we help it. So he's helping it. To be one of the first to jump on board of that, is incredible. There are not many businesses that are able to do that, especially in hospitality.
But I feel if we're doing the right thing, we hope more people follow.
That's right. I suppose there's a financial element, isn't there, which can make it hard for businesses.
Definitely.
And also a huge organizational element. Already the planning for a restaurant is huge, but this is a whole other level to then think of all those other things.
Totally. Frank was genius. The foresight that he had where he wanted to build a restaurant for his grandchildren. That's hectic foresight in a time when no one was really thinking about sustainability, or it was just starting to come on the map a little bit here and there. Now it'sfront and centre. And the problem is, in my opinion, there's so much greenwashing and so we feel that's why we try not to scream it too much the rooftops. It's not too much in your face, it's just a part of what we do day to day. The team is behind it. We have a great team that just gets behind it. We have the best kitchen hand team in all of Australia, I bet. Because they have to do so much extra work. Shuck Dont Chuck is another one where they pick all of our oyster shells up, they get inoculated in a bath, and then they get dropped back into Port Phillip Bay. And that creates a reef from the shells. And that helps more plants and fish life, marine life comes back.
Absolutely. Wow. And on a food level, how easy is it to use everything?
It's a lot of extra work. Theres a lot of extra labour, which in hospitality isn't an easy thing. Nobody works – well, there's still people that do but restaurants are moving away from 80-hour weeks. There's a bit more of a balance now, which is great. And that's also sustainable in a lot of ways in its own right. And we are very much a part of that. So its about smart labour in a way. Picking your battles.
What have you got on your menu at the moment that would be an example of using everything?
Our current flathead dish has what we call fish collar nduja. Its the collar of the fish that usually gets binned and, and around the head and the, and the tail and, and all the stuff on the bones. It gets scraped and we turn that into a nduja, which then gets turned into a sauce, a really rich, spice driven sauce. That's served with Flathead and it's absolutely delicious. But you wouldn't really know that it's such a focus on sustainability because it should just be part of your everyday life. We take tuna heads and tuna frames from the market that normally just go in the bin. We scrape them, we serve in our little tuna belly bite with watermelon, absolutely delicious.
And how do you find out about all that? Is it research?
It's pressure. Constant gentle pressure.
Okay. Necessity is a great teacher.
I'm very lucky to have the suppliers we have, and we deal with a lot of very small producers and that's super important to us and important to what we do here.
Absolutely.
I’d say you have to want to do it for you, and you have to really want to do it. And in the first 10 years, just listen and learn and take in as much as you can. Don’t try to move up too quickly because you’ll regret it. You’ll feel you missed something. I was lucky enough to have great mentors along the way that said similar things to me, but just focus on your craft, focus on your hands. Listen to your hands, you know, listen to your taste buds. Just taste everything as much as you can. And then go from there, but don’t rush. Take your time. Really take your time. Because opportunities come and when they do come, they come quickly. Take your time and focus on the small things. Focus on everything around you and your team. ~ Jason Staudt, Stokehouse
And where did it all start for you? Are you someone who always knew that he wanted to be a chef?
Yes and no. I wanted to be a pro snowboarder. It kind of goes hand in hand working nights. And then I broke my back and all the injuries that come with snowboarding. I was already working in kitchens, and I just loved it. I loved the team atmosphere. I loved that whole element. I loved the rush, I loved the adrenaline. And then it just continued. I started working in better and better kitchens. I spent some time in Alaska on private boats, catching the seafood I served and diving for abalone and diving for urchin, it's just special.
And that all started in Canada? And then Alaska and then was it London or New York?
I did a stint at Eleven Madison Park. It was really hard in those days for a Canadian to get a visa, it was costly, and I didn't really have the money as a 23-year-old. And so I just did a bit of time in that kitchen and just felt the environment and saw how they work and what they do and the level of position and the passion and all that. Then I travelled to South America for a little while and then I ended up in Australia and worked at a place in Newcastle, which was a two-hat restaurant called Bacchus. It was a very, very good restaurant. And then from there I went to Aria, I was headhunted to Aria and to work with Ben Turner and Matt Moran and I was there for seven years and moved up to head chef there. Then I went over to Bea to work with Cory Campbell and Tom Haynes. We got the hat there. And then Frank approached me and here I am.
And is getting hats important to you? Do you need accolades?
No. I just want to do the right thing.
How do you know when you're doing the right thing?
The team. The team tells everything. The team is everything. If the team wants to get behind something, you know you're on the right path. It's all about inspiring the next generation. I think there's a bit of a wish wash with how things are reviewed and so I don't really get too focused on it because you don't want to get caught up in it in a way.
I was going to ask you about that because I'm increasingly finding reviews hard to read. I feel as though that top-down reviewing is outdated. I don't know in what other industry, and I might be wrong, perhaps this does happen, it probably happens in sports, but that constructive criticism is published for everyone to read. Obviously, diners are coming to eat and they pay money, so there has to be a certain standard. I just don't know any more about this reviewing where they say somewhere is awful and not to go.
I couldn't agree more. Word of mouth is everything. Those are the places I go to, those are the places I want to go to. I keep in my little community, and the rest is, I hate to say it but it's just noise. It is what it is. I just trust who I trust and keep my community small and that's what it's all about.
It sounds as though, I mean, we've already touched on sustainability in people, and obviously wellbeing sounds aa though it is important here and as though you have a really great team and that you're really supportive of that team. But, apart from the hours, how do you deal with wellbeing amongst your staff and yourself?
I guess for us, the hardest change when we really pushed a shorter work week was people not working on their days off. That was a hard one. For a lot of chefs it is hard because in my position, I'm always checking my email, so I really focus on trying to not have my phone if I'm with my family or if I'm with my son. I try my best to put my phone away and just focus on the moment. We talk about it a lot in our briefings and about taking care of each other. That was a big shift. And its a shift that is still slowly happening. I get caught up in it as well,a phone call on my day off or something's happened here and anything can happen. That was hard and it's still hard. I still struggle with that and I think, you know, leading from me to try not to do that. And so then it shows the sous chefs not to do that. And the head chefs,Mark, not to do that. The pastry chef, Ash. We try our best. We respect people's time. That's the biggest thing, respecting people's time. For me, it's getting outside. I have to be outside as much as absolutely possible. Whether that's golfing or in the water or whatever, that's super important.
Do you get back to Canada very often?
I haven't been back since Covid, no. I had a son and my family's been over, and my partner's family's been over and she's in the UK right now, which is hard to be away from them, but that's just kind of the modern family we are in. I'll get back there.
How similar is the food scene to Australia?
It's pretty different, I'd say. In a lot of ways. It's less media. There's still obviously MasterChef and Top Chef and all these shows, but Id say it's less of a scene unless you're in Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal. The rest is very different. I was from a landlocked city, so seafood is a very different thing there. Whereas in Vancouver, the seafood is unbelievable and produce is everything.
With all your experiences in mind and with I guess the way that the industry's changing, what would your advice be to someone who is thinking about becoming a chef?
I'd say you have to want to do it for you, and you have to really want to do it. And in the first 10 years, just listen and learn and take in as much as you can. Don't try to move up too quickly because you'll regret it. You'll feel you missed something. I was lucky enough to have great mentors along the way that said similar things to me, but just focus on your craft, focus on your hands. Listen to your hands, you know, listen to your taste buds. Just taste everything as much as you can. And then go from there, but don't rush. Take your time. Really take your time. Because opportunities come and when they do come, they come quickly. Take your time and focus on the small things. Focus on everything around you and your team. You'll be so surprised who you'll see later in life from people that you were working on a line with over summer. And it'll be, wow, how are you, man? It's wild how this industry works. It's so small.
Just to pick up on something you said about taste buds and tasting everything, are you still able to be surprised by flavours or do you feel you've had them all?
I definitely can be surprised. I'm sure people have talked about it, but Ross is a friend of mine, hes at Serai and tasting a lot of Filipino foods, it's something new. In Canada there's lots of Filipinos, and I was part of a Filipino family for a little while, but having those flavours in that kind of environment, it's cool. There's so much out there. Cultures just kind of come and go and flavours come and go. Food trends are funny. Like fashion.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Mine is relationship based. If someone's doing the right thing, then I will take it to the next level and try what they're doing and then go from there. But like anyone, it just comes with anything. My partner and I go to galleries and we see things and so it could be about the colours and it makes sense, it could be something. Or a takeaway shop. Our famous potato cake up here started in the fish and chip shop downstairs and then we did a really bougie one. We started serving it with caviar and urchin and all these things. It can be anything. The humble potato can go so far, or anything can be bouged up in a way.
Nice. And what would be your go-to comfort food when you're not working?
That's a tough one. I'm a big fan of Haianese chicken. I make it at home. That would probably be up there. Its just clean and feels healthy and the stock is really good and all of that. Plus we eat lots of veg at home, we don't really eat too much meat.
Lovely. Thank you.
Stokehouse, 20 Jacka Boulevard, St Kilda