Laurie Faget

Hello Jo, I thought we would sit down on that sofa over there.

Perfect. It's beautiful here. You have done such a lovely job with the decor.

Merci. Did you know the place before? It was Beluga. Everything that you see in green was white and everything that is white was blue. We changed everything. We really wanted to make a statement. We changed ownership and changed everything.

When did you take over?

We opened 1st July. Right in the middle of lockdown. When we did all the paperwork, Covid was out of mind pretty much. It was around April and so then it really was a tough time because in June; we got the keys on the 1st June, and we gave ourselves three weeks to renovate and on 1st of June, I think they announced another lockdown and so for all of June, we thought, thats fine, we will focus on this and we opened on 1st of July and they announced a lockdown again.

What a nightmare. Were you able to operate as a takeaway?

Exactly. We did takeaway and it was good because we had the community around and people couldn't travel far so they had to come to us. The we had to make the menu takeaway so unfortunately I didnt start with any plates, it was just sandwiches and soups and salads, which was a bit of a shame.

Well done on making that work. Which part of France are you from?

I'm from the department of Gers and Kevin was born in Chateauroux and grew up a little in the south-east of France in Toulon and I stayed my whole life until I was 18 in the south west with my parents. Then I travelled with Kevin, we were very young we were 20 and we travelled to the UK and lived there for a little bit in Birmingham then we went to the US and then the Netherlands and then we came here seven years ago.

Were you always a chef?

Not at all. I changed my career with Tapenade. Last year after the first lockdown I was homesick and I thought I wanted to spend time with my family so we would go back to France. We have been gone for 12 years, let's go back maybe just for a year to see how it is. We have permanent residency here so we thought it would be easy to come back. But then one night I came past this site and realised that it was still for lease. Kevin said it was crazy that it was still for lease after 10 months of being closed. The next day we had an appointment with the agency and it was decided. We started the project with a chef and then Kevin and I realised that we werent on the same page with that person and Kevin, one night I was cooking at home and we always do this game of how much would you sell this for if it was in a restaurant and Kevin asked how much I would sell what I had cooked for. I said $18 or something like that. Then he said, why don't you do it, Laurie? You could do it. I was afraid it would be boring for people, it's stuff I cook at home all the time. But he said, no; people don't know this. You need to share it. Every time I go to someone's place for Christmas or something like that I would take my olive and ham cake or my salmon bruschetta. So we did some try-outs at home to see how it works and that's how we started.

I have been managing restaurants for the past ten years. I was restaurant manager at L'Hotel Gitan, Kevin and I worked there for seven years and then we had the idea to do this. It was a real challenge, let me tell you that. I had a lot of respect for chefs already. My relationship with the kitchen, being front of house, has always been that we need to help each other. For generations before there has always been a war between the kitchen and front of house and I really tried to support that relationship. It has been a challenge switching roles.

There is so much to ask you about this. How any does Tapenade seat?

We have 40 inside with a big communal table where we can sit eight people and it is nice and comfy with chairs that have a back rest, which is really important. Coming from front of house I have a lot of things to say about the room and I always think about what is efficient and looks good. Outside we have 20 and we have a beautiful terrasse with lavender all around it. During the summer it was beautiful with purple everywhere; you really felt like you were in Provence.

I love it. So, how do you go from cooking at home to cooking larger quantities and getting things ready all at the same time?

Absolutely. There was a lot of learning in terms of quantity, but not so much because I come from a massive family, from a gypsy family in the south of France and when we cook a regular dinner for a few members of the family, there would easily be 30 to 40 people. So it wasn't the quantities I was scared of, it was more about managing the stock. Obviously when you cook for the family, you buy in the morning and you cook it; here it was a lot different. But because I started with sandwiches, it was easy for me to work on a daily basis with the products and I didnt have fish or beef at that stage, which is different now. I have also been working with a chef. I was on my own for a few months but then I was helped by the ex-head chef of Frdric, Nicholas (Deligiannis), and Kyle (Davis-Hill) the sous chef from Frdric. They have helped me enormously and I cannot thank them enough. They have taught me so many tips and tricks around the kitchen. Things like cutting vegetables, every easy, right? But then you see the technique they use and it is a whole other story.

It absolutely is. I'm not very practical or I think I have my ways of doing things but then you see how unafraid of food chefs are and how they have all those tips.

And little things like using the mandolin. I grabbed a radish and put all my fingers around the radish, then they showed me what to do and I would have lost a finger otherwise. I have never been afraid of the hot stuff. I'm not afraid of hurting myself and perhaps I should be a little more. But I thank my mum for this. Ever since I was a little girl, I grew up on a farm and I grew up feeding ducks and we made foie gras. We had a duck and poultry farm.

So you have been in touch with the product from way back?

Absolutely. When my mum had my second little baby brother, she unfortunately had to go on bedrest when she was four months pregnant and at the time I was nine years old. I remember vividly her being on the sofa and screaming at me what I had to do with a rabbit. It was dead already, obviously, I wasn't killing it, but I had to cover it with mustard and stuff and stuff it with herbs and things and put it in the oven. That's how I learned. I am always grateful to my mum; she taught me well.

I love that. You have come full circle. You have really embraced all aspects of hospitality.

Kevin is always telling me that he is grateful to have me because I can jump from the kitchen to the till to service. I'm not going to lie, I miss terribly the contact with the customer, But I have an open kitchen and I can see them and see their facial expression and if they like my dish. But I do miss the relationship you have and getting to have a small conversation at the table, so sometimes I take my free time and take my little plate and go out and introduce myself and try to do that as much as I can.

I can see your lovely blackboard menu up there and you are open for dinner as well?

That's right. We do Friday and Saturday dinners and we are going to start very soon, all you can eat mussels and fries every second Thursday night.

Delicious! Les moules frites! Perfect. Ill have to come down for that. What are some other things? You obviously have tapenade.

Yes. That is the famous dish of the house. This is not only green or black tapenade but sun-dried tomato tapenade and I believe I have over 14 ingredients in it; herbs, spices, and obviously lots and lots of garlic. The smoked trout rillette, which is very similar to what I was taking to my friends when I was not yet a chef. I was always taking salmon bruschetta but I gave it a twist and made it into a rillette and it comes with a beautiful bright green jelly with apple, dill, cucumber. I am very happy with this dish. Flying off the shelf is the baked brie and as bigger courses we do a chicken breast sous vide which is juicy, you wouldn't imagine, and it is served with a ratatouille to bring in the south-east. For the dessert we have a beautiful burnt Basque cheesecake which is served with a berry coulis. That was very trendy and I jumped on it as well, it is jiggly, it's good. I couldn't miss out on presenting my grandmother's Madeleines as well; lemon Madeleines, very simple. When you come in in the morning, I make sure I put the tray out of the oven just in front of you so you smell it.

When I was studying French in my Honours year, I studied Proust and read all about the Madeleine and the souvenirs d'enfance. And actually I just went to a film in the French Film Festival, La Brigade and the chef in that talks about Madeleines there as well and really for me this idea of eating something or you smell something and you are transported back to a memory.

That's what I love to do. For example, the quiche that I make, someone was having it the other day and they said when they bit into it that it took them back to their grandmother's table. I said it was the best compliment they could give me because that is exactly what I wanted to do. It is rustic and it is all me. I am not doing anything I am not comfortable with so if the kitchen is here for five years, some of the same things will still be on the menu. I am starting to change a few things because of the season, for example we have beautiful figs in a salad at the moment. But what I am doing is authentic. I would say there are no rules in the kitchen as long as the customer is happy and I love doing it, I'll do it.

I know there is really good produce here in Victoria and chefs have access to better produce than we do in supermarkets but a couple of weeks ago I went out to Romsey and I met chefs who have become suppliers and they gave us a box of heirloom vegetables; aubergine, tomatoes, melons and the flavour was incredible. When I lived in Chateaurenard, there was a Marche d'interet national (wholesale growers market) and the fruit and vegetables were amazing there. It's different here.

Absolutely. And to be honest, I am a bit lost here with the seasons and what is in season because being from Europe, it is all different. I do miss the French products and the way they keep. I remember in France, my mother had a massive garden, hectares of garden and one hectare was just for fruit trees and massive amounts of tomatoes and I remember that we could keep those vegies forever and I feel as though here can only keep my stock for two or three days and ten I have to get new vegies because they are starting to turn.

And all the seasons are shifting too. When we were out there, the tomatoes were only just in full flight and it was March.

And as well, price wise, the price here is incredibly high here compared to France. If I go to the market I can find cheaper stuff but when I see tomatoes at $22.90 a kilo, this is huge. But I guess I wasn't a chef back in France, so I didn't have as much interest in the price of vegetables.

There are definitely lots of things I miss too. 2012 was the last time I was there and certainly there must be things you miss as well. But you have created a little bit of home here.

Yes and we have our little French boutique over there as well with imported French products; foie gras, a saucisson made by a French guy in Perth and French people come in and see French pasta, creme de marron (chestnut cream), Haribo, some salt and some fish soup with fish soup with rouille.

When you are getting your ideas for the menu, does it all come from your memories and knowledge of the food from your region?

I still have my mum and grandma around, so I can make a quick phone call. For example I am thinking of making a cheese souffle very soon and I just rang my grandma and asked her about the souffle she used to make when I was little. So then I get the basic recipe and I have to make it commercial, so sometimes I have to switch one or two ingredients. Sometimes it is a challenge. But I love it.

Tapenade

1a 3 Commercial Road, Melbourne