Shoot at Assiette with Warren Turnbull

Mark and I filmed Warren Turnbull at Assiette yesterday for Sydney food TV, I should say Mark filmed it and I asked a few questions. Warren is a terrific guy and his team, really genuinely love him. He has some really passionate kitchen staff who are very keen to learn from this down to earth genius in the kitchen. I feel his ability to inspire his team is a large part of what makes his restaurant so successful. The hardest part about running a successful restaurant is definitely consistency and it is very important to get it right as much as possible. The secret to Warren's success is his ability to inspire his staff and to relate to them as a friend and a mentor, and in turn that rewards him with motivated staff that are all on the same page. The team he has built is as much a testimony to his good nature as it is to his hard work.
Today we shot the diners and some kitchen scenes at Salon Blanc down at Woolloomooloo wharf, it was a great day and we got some great shots after much hard work. The people there were a great help and very friendly. We do the interview next Wednesday.

Adam meets Warren Turnbull of Assiette

I went to see chef Warren Turnbull of Assiette fine dining restaurant today, what a fabulous guy, down to earth and very self depricating, a real pleasure to chat with. And it didn't hurt that he was full of praise for sydneyfood.tv. I had given him the heads up before I went to see him and he and his staff all had a look at the web channel, everyone apparently thought it was good.
He has a good young team, that work very hard to produce great food and a pleasant evening for their patrons, I could tell that he is not the only passionate person working there. They have only been open 15 months but already getting rave reviews.
Well they signed on to do an article so I will tell you all more about it when we do the shoot.

Adam talks to Beppi Polese

I went to see Beppi today. I really want to do an article on him for Sydney Food TV, he is a Sydney food legend, Murdoch books are publishing a story of his life. Beppi opened Beppi's restaurant in 1956 four years after coming to Australia to make his fortune, it was at his restaurant that many Sydneysiders first experienced such things as mussels, octopus and artichoke.
Meeting Beppi was a real privilage, and his wife is lovely too, they loved the articles of Bilsons and Catalina I showed them. They were both really friendly and welcoming. They want to show the channel to their son Marc, before commiting to do the article, I don't think they completely understand the Internet.
I will keep you up to date on what they decide.

Adam Interviews Tony Bilson of Bilson's restaurant for Sydney Food TV

I interviewed Tony Bilson of Bilson's restaurant for Sydney Food TV a new broadband TV channel my company Video Vista Launched on the 31st of Aug 2006. Tony has been around a long time and is often referred to as the godfather of the Sydney Food scene. Tony became a chef after graduating from university, against the wishes of his parents, he became interested in French cooking intellectually at a young age after reading a couple of influential books "Fine Bouche" by Pierre Andrieu and "The Food of France" by Waverley Root, and instead of embarking on the often trod route of business, he decided to do what he loved most and became a chef.
I asked Tony if he had an idea of what was behind the meteoric rise in the standard of restaurants in Sydney, although Tony was unconvinced that Sydney as a culinary city has really moved up in the world, he did say that he thought two things have influenced Sydney's restaurant culture and it isn't as glamorous as you would think. Tony believes that the wine industry and Australians taste for wine has greatly influenced dining in Sydney, if you go back to the 70's when most people drank beer with their meals, and few people appreciated good wine, most of us were a fairly unsophisticated bunch. However Tony goes one step further back and attributes our now more sophisticated taste with a long period of economic prosperity, he went on to point out periods in history when this phenomena has occurred, and I guess he is right when you think about it.
Tony also talked about the Japanese influence on modern cooking, and in particular the way we now present our food, the visuals of contemporary food derive directly from Japanese food preparation and display. This suggestion was something new to me and a lot of chefs I have talked to, however when you think about the way food is presented at fancy restaurants today you can see a correlation to the way Japanese chef’s plate sushi and sashimi.
Talking to Tony was a unique experience, I felt privileged to get an hour of his time.
You can check out the article we did on Tony at http://sydneyfood.tv .
I talk with chefs and restaurateurs on a daily basis and I am planning on keeping you all up to date with any interesting people I come accross.