It's a warm Friday afternoon before a long weekend. Th newly opened in Carlton is pumping when I walk in. Mostafa Morshed has come back to Melbourne from Sydney just to work at this iconic venue which has been taken over by the 100 Burgers group. As is always the way with the chefs I talk to, Mostafa blows me away with his perspective on cooking and how he gets through the hard parts. For Mostafa, it's because he always talks through the day with his wife who is also a chef. Having conversations with chefs like te one on this site is an absolute gift.
Mostafa, let’s start with how long you have been a chef.
I’ve been cooking for nearly 18 years.
Where did you start?
I started in Sydney at Billingsgate Fish Bistro. Then I just kept cooking in Sydney for a few years. I spent a year in Perth at Kailis Bros then came to Melbourne in 2013 and started as a Head Chef at South Wharf and I was there for three and a half years, went back to Sydney. I came back to Melbourne to work for the 100 Burgers group here at The Prince Alfred.
Are Melbourne and Sydney different cities to cook in?
Yes. In the old days in Sydney, it was well organised with a lot of qualified chefs and there was good food, but not to expensive. But the last time I went back it was very expensive and all the money goes to the rent and ingredients. The hospitality culture has changed. There is a huge shortage of qualified chefs. It is very stressful for head chefs obviously.
Well yes, you want to build and keep a team and be consistent.
Exactly. I love good food and cooking but it’s hard when it’s very expensive. It’s hard to keep it under control and keep the menu interesting but reasonably priced. That was one of the reasons I decided to come back to Melbourne but also this is a good venue, a good company and it’s something different again, so I thought, yes, let’s give it a go.
What kind of food are you doing here?
I’m doing upper level bistro, so it’s not pub food. You can see in the menu. I have a lot of variety; twice cooked pork belly, Za’atar crusted tuna. I know it’s a pub but we are trying for something different. When I was in Sydney last year, it’s a new trend, pretty much all the new pub venues are more than pub level bistro. We’re not selling Parmigiana or whatever.
Is that what in London they would call a gastro pub?
A gastro pub, exactly.
Horrible name…gastro…
Ha ha yes, but why not in Melbourne. We can do it. Duck breast wrapped with prosciutto. Lamb rump with roast fennel on pumpkin purée.
Is that the style of food you like cooking?
My background is in French cuisine.
My wife is a qualified chef as well…We always talk about food. Maybe that’s the good part and that’s what keeps me going.
You must have been young when you started?
I was. I was 17 years old when I started cooking. People can’t believe how young I was. I show them a photo of me back then and they say how can that be you?
But you knew that was what you wanted to do right from the start? [here Mostafa shows me a photo of him when he started cooking] Oh look at you, you are so young!
So long ago.
But look how interested you are. You are really watching that other chef.
Yes I was doing snails or something.
It’s good you have the photos from those days.
Just memories now. It’s a good reminder.
So it was something you knew you wanted to do?
Yes. I always had a passion for cooking. I used to sit down next to my mother and grandmother to see what they were doing. When I moved to Australia, to Sydney, I started doing IT; software development. I am a software developer by profession. But while I was a student I was working in a kitchen as a cook; shucking oysters and other stuff. Then I went to TAFE and got qualified and I have kept cooking. It’s hard. At that time I was doing 70 hours a week.
What keeps you going?
It’s fun. There is always something exciting happening; a challenge, and it’s like, let’s make it happen.
My wife is a qualified chef as well. She was at Rockpool in Sydney. Whatever happens, at the end of the night we have to sit down and share what happened all day. We always talk about food. Maybe that’s the good part and that's what keeps me going.
I love that. The Prince Alfred has been opened two weeks?
Yes, two weeks. It’s going really well. My main kitchen will open next weekend and I am working out of a temporary kitchen, but even so we are killing it. last Friday we did around 400 covers and today at lunchtime we did 400 people.
Obviously there was a need for you to be here.
People are loving it. I’m getting good feedback. We are getting people from Melbourne Uni; students and professors and good people coming along.
I like that in Melbourne people are foodies and they know what they are having. It’s good. As a chef, I want positive feedback, but I want the negative too so I can develop things more and focus on something different and make it right.
191 Grattan Street, Carlton