Best Sydney restaurants for fresh produce: From Farm to Fork builds on paddock to plate movement

There was a time not so long ago when a chef’s job mostly involved making food look and taste good.

But in a world where TV cooking shows and multimedia has made customers more knowledgeable and demanding than ever before, knowing where the produce they serve comes from and ensuring it is as fresh, local and seasonal as possible has become increasingly important.

Phrases like “paddock to plate” and “farm to table” have become part of the vernacular, and menus commonly list the region where the food comes from, alongside the price of the dish.

“There’s definitely been a shift,” Three Blue Ducks chef Darren Robertson says.

“People are a lot more educated. The standard has been raised in terms of the general public’s knowledge about food. That’s really, really cool.

“Restaurants put a lot more information on their menus now. It isn’t the cheapest option, so it helps to justify.

“But people aren’t afraid to spend a little bit more money on good quality produce as opposed to fast food rubbish.

“A lot of next-generation chefs are more interested in produce, how it’s grown and where it’s from. They are as interested in learning about the land as they are in techniques in the kitchen.”

Robertson, whose Three Blue Ducks restaurants at Bronte and The Farm near Byron Bay focus on fresh, organic and locally sourced ingredients, says the trend has been driven by health concerns as well as TV shows such as MasterChef giving chefs a platform to talk about their passion for produce.

People such as US chef and The Third Plate author Dan Barber and our own Matt Moran, who presents the award-winning Foxtel TV series Paddock To Plate, are also drawing attention to the concept. At his ARIA and Chiswick restaurants Moran uses lamb from his own farm, just outside of Bathurst, which his father runs.

“All these guys are kind of what we’re surrounded by and it’s just filtering down,” Robertson says. “That’s the conversation we’re having now as opposed to just making things look pretty and taste delicious.”

A new campaign called From Farm To Fork, set to launch next week, will include a series of dinners at restaurants showcasing sustainable, fresh produce, with proceeds going to farmers through Landcare Australia.

Chef Simon Lawson, from Agape Organic Restaurant and Bar at Botany, who is helping launch the campaign, says young people were driving the change.

“Kids started asking questions and parents didn’t know the answer, so they had to find the answer,” he says. “I think it’s been building and building since MasterChef started.

“At our restaurant we buy in the whole animal direct from the farm and break them down ourselves. I think it’s really important that we’re supporting our local industry and our farmers but also their families and our heritage, because many of them have been on the land for generations.”

An increasing number of chefs are also choosing to get their hands dirty and grow produce themselves.

After nearly 13 years working at Longrain in Surry Hills, Martin Boetz quit two years ago to focus on his farm at Sackville, on the Hawkesbury River.

As executive chef of the acclaimed eatery, Boetz often sourced produce directly from growers at markets. After buying the 11ha farm four years ago, he started his own garden growing herbs and vegetables including kale, broccoli, beetroot and garlic and started selling the excess produce to chefs around town. Then it dawned on him that he could turn it into a business.

The Cooks Co-op now supplies 25 Sydney restaurants, including Colin Fassnidge’s Four in Hand at Paddington, Pilu at Freshwater, Movida in Surry Hills, Coogee Pavilion and Pei Modern in the Four Seasons Hotel, with the produce often served within 24 hours of being picked.

“I think people want to know where their food is coming from and support local farmers,” Boetz says.

“They want to know if it’s been imported, if it’s genetically modified, does the farm use pesticides that could be harmful to their bodies, does the farm give back to the soil or does it just rape it?

“People also like to know stories, and I think farmers tell a great story.”

Thai chef Sujet Saenkham, who co-owns Thai restaurants Spice I Am and Surry Hills Eating House, also bought a 15ha property in Kangaroo Valley three years ago where he now spends every weekend growing coriander, mint, lemongrass, basil, eggplant, chilli and enough Kaffir limes to make curry paste to supply his eateries for the whole year.

While in winter he may buy exotic vegetables from producers interstate, in summer everything is sourced locally.

Saenkham says he was partly inspired by his grandparents who grew their own vegetables, used sea salt and made their own fish sauce, and never got sick.

“I made sure all the fresh produce I would need was available before I opened my first restaurant in 2004,” he says. “I was born as a farmer and I came to Australia to run away from the farm; you see what we were forced to do when we were young becomes a joy when you get older.”

Source : The Daily Telegraph Angela Saurine 1st September 2015 

Originally published as Chefs cultivate a fresh take on produce