Yesterday I rode 89 floors in an elevator to Eureka 89, the restaurant one floor above the Melbourne Skydeck to talk to the glorious Renee Martillano, Executive chef. The Skydeck is the Southern Hemisphere's highest observation deck and the tower itself is 297.3 metres tall with 91 floors. So the 89thfloor is a long way up. It is beautiful up there and I loved sitting up there with Renee, hearing her story with such an incredible backdrop. I think it says a lot about a chef and about a venue when there is longevity involved and Renee has been riding the lift to the 89thfloor since 2011. She loves it. And that's obvious from the way she talks about the food, but more importantly the way she talks about her team. Yesterday was her day off but she went into the kitchen to see how they were all going, and she talked about staff meals and how she loves how that brings everyone together. I can't wait to go back and have one of Renee's five or six course degustation dinners, looking out across the Yarra to the Dandenongs. Listen to the podcast here
Hi, Renee, thank you for talking to me today. I can't even believe how amazing it is up here.
Thank you for coming and giving me this opportunity, I really appreciate that.
You have been a chef for 20 years, but from what I have read, it sounds as though you didn't start out thinking that you would be a chef.
I came here as a student, but before I came here as a student, I came here on holiday a few times. Being from Philippines it is a humid country. When I came here, it was winter and it was in Perth, not Melbourne. I really loved and I love Australia. Then I came here to study.
What were you studying originally?
I wanted to be a nurse. But it was quite expensive for me. So I decided to go into cheffing because I thought it's also a career where you can travel around the world and it is easy to get a job and I thought a degree here or qualification in Australia is internationally recognized.
It's easier to get a job in big hotels in the Philippines. That was my plan before. While I was studying at TAFE in Perth, my lecturer said to me – because I think he saw that I was good at it – he asked if I would like a job while I was studying, and I said, okay, sure. He introduced me to one of the best chefs in Perth, Adrian Tobin. He was one of the best chefs and also one of the judges for the Australian Culinary Federation. He used to do a lot of competitions and so he introduced me to him. I started working for him for three days, but I got paid for two. One of the days I said I just wanted to go in and learn the trade. I did that while I was studying. Then one day he asked if I would like to be an apprentice? At the time I was on a student visa and you cant do an apprenticeship on a student visa. But I applied for a PR and then back then it was easier to get one. You didnt need so many things. I got my PR and then started the apprenticeship. It should have been a four-year apprenticeship but after two years, I was assessed, and they said I was very good and I only needed to do three years. I did commercial three, commercial four for the advanced diploma and then I worked my way up from there.
What do you think it was that made you such a good chef from right from the start?
I discovered it's actually my passion. Adrian was a competition chef, and he sent all his apprentices to competitions and they became Chef of the year and I wanted to be like them. When he left Perth Racing, he opened the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. He told me to stay where I was and he would call me when it was all settled. He called me andthen he trained me to the competition as well, which I did and took part in the Salon du Culinaire in 2009. I won a gold medal and I knew I loved it and it was my passion.
Why do you think that is? Is it the hospitality aspect of providing food for people? Or is it the creative side? Or is it, is it the excitement of service? What is it that you love?
I think I like the creativity side of it. Im always thinking and I'm always learning. That's why I like this job; there is always a challenge.
You really have to work your way up as a chef, don't you? What was your position at the Convention Centre?
I had just finished my apprenticeship and I started as a commis chef, by the time I left there I was chef de cuisine and I was running the hot kitchen of the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Was that a big team?
Yes. I can't exactly remember now, but I think I had 10 full-time chefs.
That's a different thing as well, isn't it? You can love the creativity of food and then when you step into those roles where you've got a team, you have that to think about as well. What's your style of leadership? Do you show or tell or get alongside them?
I'm quite hands on. That's what I do here as well. I like to work with them. I like to show them what I do and how I do it and hopefully they understand. I always tell them why I'm doing it. I don't just say, oh this is how you do it. I don't do that. They are happier when they know why the chef wants it done like that.
That makes sense because cooking is such a practical thing, and it makes sense to be part of the team. Hopefully nowadays the chefs who speak down to their team and dont do the work themselves dont exist. It sounds like you are in amongst the team, which I think is important.
My mentor when I started was very disciplined, very strict. I guess I could call it almost like Gordon Ramsay, but that's what it was like back then. But for me, I wasn't like that but there must be a reason why he's like that.
Maybe it was the way that he was taught as well. I dont think there is anything wrong with discipline, I guess there's a different approach now to teaching people or showing them how important it is to be precise without yelling.
I think it did make me who I am. I am more confident and stronger. Nowadays a lot of people are more sensitive. The culture has changed.
I'm a teacher as well as a writer and I work with young women in a girls school and I think encouragement further than putting down or whatever. It's a different world. I think that's really important. I think when you are dealing with food, I just have this idea that the mood of the kitchen and how people are with each other gets transmitted to the food. So I feel like it would be good if thereis a good culture in the kitchen because that must help the food.
I think the secret to good customer service, is to have a happy team and then they are happy back in their home life and you get the best out of them. I reckon that's the secret.
You were saying that you really enjoy coming to work you would hope that your team do as well so that you are creative and having fun together.
My team is quite multicultural as well.
I like a good Chinese stir fry noodle. I like that because it’s a staple in your cupboard. It’s easy to knock up. That’s it. And in here, I guess because we don’t do Asian food, Im wanting something different. Every Sunday we do a staff meal here. And normally because my kitchen is quite multicultural and so sometimes they do Vietnamese, they do Thai or they do Western. And if they run out of ideas, thats fine and I will knock out something and they ask about what I have made. I want them to be creative as well, even just for a staff meal. I tell them to go into the fridge and see what you can use to turn into something. As long as you don’t touch the wagyu beef. ~ Renee Martillano
How big is your team here?
I have six full-time at the moment; Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, French.
Any Aussies?
It feels as though most of them are PR and citizens.I had a few before, before Covid, but some of them already moved or decided to travel overseas.
How many covers do you do here?
Seated, we do up to 220 seated. But for a cocktail event, we can do 300, 400.
Oh, canape and things? That's a lot though.
Tonight we have almost 400 in for cocktails. Yesterday we had a hundred.
How long does it take the chefs to prepare for something like that?
We started to prep yesterday. Some will be working on tonight and some prepping ahead for tomorrow because tomorrow weve got two lunches and a dinner.
I had a friend who came up here for his birthday and had the degustation. He really loved it and he took photos of all of the dishes. It looked amazing. Theres a choices there the number of courses?
5 or 6 courses.
Do you enjoy cooking that style of food, degustation?
Yes because it is quite a multifaceted venue. If we do cocktails, conferences, events, I think that degustation dining is a good break from all those and everyone gets excited because it's something different. It's a little bit more refined than just cocktails or just conferences. Thats why I like this place.
Is it similar to the Perth Convention Centre? Did you do that style of food as well?
Not quite. That's why when I moved to Melbourne. The Epicure Spotless Group owned the Convention Centre and they run the MCG. So when I moved here, I didn't need to look for a job. They created a sous chef job for me at the MCG. I worked there for a good three months, but at the same time I thought, well, it's the same thing as what was doing in Perth. This is Melbourne, the food capital in Australia. I thought I would explore. The executive chef who was here before is from in England and he knew a lecturer in Perth who knew me and the guy from chef asked the chef if he needed staff and said that I was in Melbourne. So he head hunted me and told me he was looking for a chef and would I like to come and have a look? And then I came and said wow, the kitchen is too small, everyone go home Ill do this by myself because it was so small compared to the Convention Centre and the MCG. It was funny.
Wow. How long ago was that?
2011.
Ah, so you've been here for a long time. You must love it.
Yes. Then that executive chef left and moved to Perth. Now he's the executive chap at Mandoon Estate, a winery in Swan Valley. Then I got to work with Justin Wise; he was working here as a consultant when Michael Hartnell, the old executive chef left, and a few times with Raymond Capaldi who was here for a while. I did a few months working with both of them. It was a little bit tough, but I liked them. They were the kind of chefs I'm used to working with, similar to my mentor when I was building my career.
Ok. And how often do you change the menu up here?
I used to do seasonally, but it feels like by the time the staff know everything, it's time to change again. Especially because a lot of the staff here are students, by that time you trained them, they leave and you have to train again. It's so hard. It feels like we just keep training people. Now we have decided to just change the menu twice a year. We have a new one coming this month for autumn winter. The one that's running now is spring summer.
What are you excited about on the autumn winter menu?
Every time I change my menu, I call all my suppliers. I ask them what's new, what's out there or what is good to use from this month to this month? I'm quite excited because everything changed. Today, I called my best supplier and asked when they can get this? Because my menu is changing in two weeks time. Once I know what the new produce is, I start creating in my head.
And do you also look at cookbooks or do you look at Instagram or YouTube? Where do you get your inspiration?
I go out a lot. And my wall is full of cookbooks. I like to read to get inspired. I think now I don't go to school, that's how I learn. New flavours, ideas, techniques.
Would you say the menu is modern Australian or, or do you bring in touches of French or Asian technique or flavour?
It's French technique with a little bit of a Japanese touch. I like to use Japanese ingredients because I think they go really well with French flavours and techniques. Japanese is not as strong as Chinese.
Japanese has very clean flavours.
That's what I like.
That's interesting. Given that you work with so many students already, you must be used to young people coming into the industry and having ideas about they want. What's the advice that you give to young people who want to be chefs?
I always tell them, and it is the first thing I say to them in their interview, I ask them if this is what they really want to do in their career. And I tell them to try and find a good mentor because that's what I did. I always tell them, working here, I can teach you as much as I can. And, working at Eureka 89 is a multi-faceted venue, it is not like other restaurants and they will learn so many different areas. We do so many different things. So I hope when they go out there, they have had the background so they can say, oh, it's fine, I worked at Eureka. I've done that before. I always tell them that. Most of them actually stay here for a long time or sometimes they leave and then they will come back. Most of my chefs are friends on Italian working holiday visa. They go and then they come back, and they always come back here or they recommended somebody. And that's really good.
At what point did you decide against your idea of going back to the Philippines and working in a big hotel? Or do you think you still might do that one day? Or is Melbourne home?
Melbourne is home now. I decided to be a citizen here.
That's right. And have you been to some other countries, to try the food that you enjoy? Like French food and Japanese food?
I haven't been to Europe. I've been around Asia.I lost my partner last year. He liked to take me to other states, especially Sydney, just to go to and try other restaurants. Ive been to Tasmania. Even here in Melbourne. My favourite here is Amaru restaurant. I like it. It's the service, and especially because I've been there a few times, they kind of knowwhat I like and they add a special touch. I like that.
I think that's important. It should be an all-round experience. I bet people have an amazing experience up here. There's so much with looking out the window. And then the amazing food. Is it the kind of place where people get engaged or have big life events?
We get a lot of that almost every day actually. Especially Valentines Day.
I think too, you're surrounded by all that great food, what would be your comfort food? What do you turn to when you have had a hard day or you're just at home?
Asian food. I like a good Chinese stir fry noodle. I like that because it's a staple in your cupboard. It's easy to knock up. That's it. And in here, I guess because we don't do Asian food, Im wanting something different. Every Sunday we do a staff meal here. And normally because my kitchen is quite multicultural and so sometimes they do Vietnamese, they do Thai or they do Western. And if they run out of ideas, thats fine and I will knock out something and they ask about what I have made. I want them to be creative as well, even just for a staff meal. I tell them to go into the fridge and see what you can use to turn into something. As long as you don't touch the wagyu beef.
Eureka 89, 7 Riverside Quay, Southbank