This Hobart joint is smoking
Restaurant workers are an uncommonly dedicated lot, faced with unrelenting hours and meagre financial returns (apart from celebrity chef types who swap kitchen duties for television appearances, book tours and lucrative product endorsements). But The Australian's Food Detective wonders if she might have found the two hardest working young restaurateurs in Australia.
Zac Shearer and Sian King opened Crumb Street Kitchen in Hobart on a wing and a prayer; Shearer was recovering from chemotherapy and major surgery for cancer, and the couple had little financial backing to start their first business. But a lightbulb moment and a have-a-go attitude has made their southern American barbecue joint one of the most talked about dining spots in the city, with queues forming for their cheap-as-chips smoked brisket, pulled pork and beef rib, and sides including coleslaw, beans and potato salad.
"Zac spent three months recovering on the sofa watching Anthony Bourdain's street food shows and American hot smoking competitions and decided he wanted to do something like that too," King tells Detective. The pair, who had worked in restaurants and cafes across Australia, toyed with selling their barbecued meats from a food van but logistical issues forced them to "bring the van inside".
The couple took over an old pizza restaurant, installed wood-fired smoker and have been sleeping on the restaurant's kitchen floor since opening at Christmas, so Shearer can tend the 18-hour brisket and other slow-cooked meats served in pizza boxes left over from the previous restaurant.
Crumb Street Kitchen's fitout is similarly make-do - a DIY effort of astroturf floors, chairs made from old cable spools, and a waiting bay bench supported by old sink basins salvaged from a tip shop. The cutlery is plastic, drinks are served in paper cups and the restaurant uses Facebook to let customers know when they've run out of food, which happens regularly, despite a weekly turnover of 1200kg of meat from Richard Gunner's Feast Fine Foods in South Australia.
Shearer says he recently bought an electric smoker (which, unlike the wood-fuelled version doesn't need to be tended 24/7) so he could go home and get some sleep, but Detective doesn't think the pair will be getting any kip for a while yet. They plan a backyard beer garden at Crumb Street Kitchen, and are already working on their next restaurant. "We've just got the lease on a shop in Liverpool Street and we're going to open a burger place," says plucky Shearer. Detective reckons the hardworking young couple deserve every success.
Sian King and Zac Shearer from Crumb Street Kitchen.
SHEARER and King may have given up on the meals-on-wheels idea, but Matt Hidding ran with it, and has built up a big fan base for Taco Taco, Hobart's first food truck. Hidding and business partner Chris Quinn trundle about the city dishing up freshly made tacos (Detective can vouch for the shredded chipotle pork taco with a healthy dollop of fantastic apple slaw), spiced corn chowder, and hot chocolate with chilli marshmallow from an old milk van converted into a food truck by Hiddings and his dad. It's a departure from the Launceston boy's time cheffing in high-end restaurants in Europe, but clearly one that's working. He and Quinn are already planning Hobart's second food truck - an American-style hotdog van.
NEW Zealand's Huka Lodge is known for its attention to detail. The luxury property caters to guests' every whim (when Detective stayed there some years ago, they even had a house cat to warm one's lap on cooler nights). The Taupo-based property has just upped the ante with a gourmet escape in September, when a party of eight staying at the four-suite Owner's Cottage will get a personal chef for the weekend. Bevan Smith, from the South Island's award-winning Riverstone Kitchen will whip up a five-course dinner with matched wines on one night, while Huka executive chef Michel Louws will cook on the second. The Private Chef Weekend (June 6/7/8) is at no additional cost beyond the normal tariff of NZ$1096 ($909) a person a night. First in best fed.
DETECTIVE is intrigued by a new kitchen gadget called YolkOut, a suction device that separates an egg yolk from its white with a squeeze. She finds separating eggs the traditional way one of the few kitchen tasks she enjoys, so will be consigning this particular item to the drawer containing the prawn deveiner, the asparagus peeler, the mushroom brush set and the twirling spaghetti fork.
Source: The Australian, 8 June 2013
