Oncore’s Clare Smyth to introduce new menu experience
Chef Clare Smyth recently sat down with news.com.au to speak about her career and a new three-course menu at award winning restaurant Oncore.
Smyth holds three Michelin stars and three hats across her London and Sydney restaurants, but diners at Oncore will enjoy an affordable new tasting menu that is fit for a prince.
The popular chef has introduced a bar menu including a four-course tasting menu at $150 per person that allows diners to experience the restaurant’s offering, “without needing to commit to the full tasting menu in the main dining room”.
The menu is also a way to navigate the current cost of living crisis.
“The cost of living has risen considerably and people are more considerate about what they spend,” Smyth told news.com.au.
“They’ll just save that for a great experience and I think it’s up to us in hospitality to make sure we deliver those experiences so when people spend their hard-earned money, they think it’s worth it.”
On the menu will be a centrepiece of Smyth’s London restaurant – Potato and Roe.
“It’s the one that always really stands out and surprises people,” she said.
“I also grew up with it – (for this dish) we cooked it with seaweed, we’ve got fish roes on the top.
It’s a very humble dish and takes a couple of days to prepare.
“Although you think it’s quite simple, it’s not, but it’s about the nostalgia and the connection that people have with it.”
Diners can also enjoy a la carte dishes including the $8 Core fried chicken, a southern-style fried chicken which is brined overnight in buttermilk and mustard powder. The dish was on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding menu in 2018.
On catering for a royal wedding Smyth told news.com.au “I’ve done so many things in my career that I’ve been so fortunate to do”.
“They both love food and Meghan particularly really loves food and restaurants and she had been to Core and the call came in and they asked if I wanted to do it,” she said.
“They wanted the food from Core but we very much worked together to put the menu together and they’re so passionate about produce.
“The King is incredibly passionate about produce and how it’s farmed, as are we, so it was a really good synergy.”
Smyth has had a storied career so far.
Another milestone she holds dear to her heart is earning three Michelin stars for her restaurant Core by Clare Smyth in Notting Hill, London.
“It was the most amazing thing that happened and we were in lockdown,” she laughed.
“But it was very, very special and I guess that makes it really quite unique and special at the same time.”
Smyth has also been named the World’s Best Female Chef 2018 by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants and received two stars in the 2019 Michelin Guide for Great Britain & Ireland.
She opened Oncore at Crown Sydney in 2021, which, with its harbour views from the 26th floor, has already earned three hats.
She tells news.com.au that some of her biggest lessons have come from Gordon Ramsay.
She says his best advice was “To focus on myself and not other people. That’s very valuable advice for anyone.
“And you don’t always have to get along with the people you work with,” she laughed.
“Gordon has given me, still gives me, a lot of good advice. He’s a great mentor.”
Jonathan Jackson, 13th August 2024
