Chef de Cuisine Alan Compton puts his finishing touches on a dish
“Forty seconds! It better be ready” says Alan Compton the Head Chef at Bather’s Pavilion. There are 15 plates of food in front of him at the two tier pass and all of them are in various states of dress (or should that be undress?). “Thirty Seconds, are you ready?” and the younger chefs yell back simultaneously “Yes Chef!” and then “Twenty seconds, why aren’t you ready?“. A chef stumbles and swears and dashes around the corner to grab something. “Ten Seconds hurry up!” says Alan and faces are taut with studied concentration as the final flourishes are put onto a dish. Welcome to the wonderful world of a high end restaurant kitchen. And a little warning this story is long but interesting so settle down with a cup of tea or coffee.
Plating at the pass
This event was my number 1 pick of the whole Sydney International Food Festival programme. Having never really been in a kitchen for an extended period of time (ok I had visited the Gordon Ramsay RHR and Petrus kitchens and that was exciting but that was for about 15 minutes) but to get up close and personal was something that I’d always wanted to do. I should admit that I’ve never wanted to open a restaurant myself which is why I haven’t really gravitated towards trying out for Masterchef, preferring to write a cookbook instead or a regular book. Somehow the hours, hard work and sheer difficulty of the business particualrly in restaurant saturated Sydney put me off. I’d also heard that many chefs were also angry, unfriendly, egomanical divas so I was a little trepidatious before entering the hallowed kitchens of Bather’s Pavilion (or just “Bather’s” to locals). I realise that I”ve eaten at all of Dansereau’s restaurants from Kables back in the previous century B.B. (Before Blog) to the Bather’s Pavilion Cafe also B.B., Bather’s Pavilion Restaurant and The Bather’s Pavilion Kiosk.
Serge shows us the view from the top balcony
I was sent the information sheet. I was to wear black pants, a white t shirt, minimal jewelry and rubber soled shoes. Ransacking my wardrobe I realised that a) I don’t have any plain white tshirts and b) the only rubber soled shoes I have are black patent leather ballet flats and c) I’d have to leave my cocktail rings behind.
Balmoral Beach
At 5.30pm this Thursday night Mr NQN and I arrive along with the other 14 people that have signed up for this once in a lifetime opprtunity. This is the first year they are doing it and we are handed a blue and white striped apron. Serge emerges in his chef’s whites and greets us and takes us upstairs to show us the building. We’re shown the view from the upstairs balcony which is a stunning view of the blue hued waved Balmoral Beach and then sit down in one of the function rooms.
He tells us about the history of the building and his history coming to Australia and the challenges he had to face with developing new produce and how at the time it was he and Neil Perry and Stefano Manfredi who were helping each other out and sharing their new discoveries of things such as Wild Mushrooms. At the time there were only a few types of lettuce: Iceberg, Chicory and Mignonette. He talks about his partnership with Vogue editor Victoria Alexander who fought for years with the council to get the site (which was originally a changing place for people who went to the beach) to be made into a hotel and with Dansereau they finally settled on making it a restaurant.
The Blue Room (private dining room)
He also shows us his next book which is yet to be sent to the printers and is in a yellow ring folder to be called the “French Kitchen” which is a more home style based book as is the trend now. His first book “Friends and Food” won the Julia Child prize for best cookbook and interestingly, all of the photography in it was done by Danserau himself after taking a short course on camera basics. He also conducts yearly tours of France on top of running the cafe, restaurant and kiosk. How he manages with two young kids is something of a miracle.
The Pastry Kitchen
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