Calling all apprentice chefs: it's time to put your skills to the test at the 15th annual Hunter Culinary Association Cookery Competition.
Why?
Every successful chef has to start somewhere, and it just so happens that some of our region's best used competitions just like this as a stepping stone to career success.
Experience in competitions gave these chefs the confidence to apply for - and win - the $10,000 Hunter Culinary Association (HCA) Brett Graham Scholarship (in partnership with TAFE NSW) and work in a Michelin-starred restaurant in London, The Ledbury.
Chefs like Troy Rhoades-Brown, Josh Gregory, Garreth Robbs, Chris Thornton, and George and Matthew Mirosevich.
"The Cookery Competition provides a less stressful, more nurturing environment for apprentices to hone their skills in what is still a competitive arena, but one where they can learn under the direction of experienced chefs," HCA chair Gus Maher said.
"It can provide a good competitive base for apprentices who then want to go on and compete in the Brett Graham Scholarship and other competitions."
Troy Rhoades-Brown won the Brett Graham Scholarship in 2005 (the first of many awards) and opened his first restaurant, the (now) two-hatted Muse, in 2009. He was even a guest judge on MasterChef Australia in 2016.
Troy made an interesting observation: five of the Brett Graham Scholarship] winners were working at Muse at the time they won. The 2022 winner, Ashleigh Handsaker, joined Muse as a pastry chef six months ago and is this week representing NSW at the Nestle Gold Chefs Hat competition in Melbourne.
Troy and other previous scholarship winners have happily mentored up-and-coming chefs at Brett Graham Scholarship competitions, and judged the finalists, on numerous occasions.
It got me thinking ... what are the previous Brett Graham Scholarship winners doing now? With some help from Gus and the good ol' hospitality hotline, I've come up with the following. I'll be continuing to track down the remaining former winners for a feature story, too, so if you're on this list, please reach out and let me know what you're up to.
Eliza Taylor (2003); Amanda Woodward (2004); Troy Rhoades-Brown (2005) Roberts Restaurant, Muse Restaurant, Muse Kitchen; Chris Thornton (2006) The Ledbury, Restaurant Mason; Joshua Thompson (2007); Alex Cox (2008); Garreth Robbs (2009) 2010 NSW Apprentice of the Year, Bistro Molines; Benjamin Leslie (2010) Muse Restaurant; Kurt Sonneman (2011) Bacchus, Restaurant Deux, Harwood Arms, Private Chef Catering; Joshua Gregory (2012) Adina, Muse Restaurant, Muse Kitchen, Thermidor Oyster Bar & Brasserie; George Mirosevich (2013) Le Petit Deux, Bistro Guillaume, Muse Restaurant, Restaurant Mason, Signal Box Newcastle, Bare Chefs; Alex Topp (2014) Bistro Molines, La Trompette, The Potting Shed, The Ledbury; Jodie Flanagan (2015) Caves Beachside Hotel, Milanos on the Lake, Esca Bimbadgen, Canberra Southern Cross Club; Nele Sadler (2016) subo; Tobias Raley (2017) Fish Dining, Bombini, Berowra Waters Inn, The Fat Duck, Quay, Saffire Freycient (Tas); Jacob Hobbs (2018) Muse Restaurant, sixpenny, Saint Peter; David Gleadhill (2019) Muse Restaurant, subo, HUMBUG; Matthew Mirosevich (2020) Quay, Bacco Osteria, Bare Chefs; Jayden Dann (2021) EXP. restaurant; Ashleigh Handsaker (2022) Fratelli Roma, Muse Restaurant; Nicholas Smith (2023) Saddles Mt White.
Some important dates and deadlines (Details at hunterculinary.com.au):
The Hunter Culinary Cookery Competition for first, second and third year apprentice chefs is on Tuesday, September 17, at TAFE's Hamilton campus. Entries close at 5pm on Monday, September 9.
The deadline for applications for the 2024 Brett Graham Scholarship is tomorrow (September 5), with the preliminary final on October 22 and the final on October 29.
As for the 2024 front of house scholarships, entries for the Scarborough Wine Co. Front of House Scholarship and the HCA Front of House Rising Star Scholarship close on September 30.
PARTY TIME AT THERMIDOR
If you're wondering what to do on what looks like being a warm and sunny Saturday this weekend, get yourself to Thermidor Oyster Bar & Brasserie on Newcastle's Honeysuckle strip.
Josh and Jess Gregory are celebrating Thermidor's first birthday with a foodie festival called Coashella, kicking off at 11am.
There will be Live DJs all day; woodfired pizza by the slice (Cloudy Bay clam, white cheddar and lemon; and smoked mussel with nduja and pecorino); welcome drinks from Modus Brewing; a Hunter Valley wine tasting with Jess (Brokenwood Wines, Vinden Estate, Mount Pleasant Wines, Mercer Wines); and a chance to win $500.
"We'll have tonnes of local oysters and all our chefs will be out on the shuck. We'll also have a lobster poutine station, which is our take on the Canadian classic: super crisp fries covered in cheesy lobster sauce and you can load up at the toppings bar," Josh said.
"We just want it to really feel like a big party. We're so happy to have made our first year and had such an amazing response from the community. We want to celebrate that."
Tickets are on sale now at thermidor.com.au.
SHORT & SWEET
Papa Franco's acquisition by Fat Nonna's means existing Papa Franco restaurants at Hamilton, Nelson Bay, Kotara and Wallsend will be converted to Fat Nonna's in the coming weeks.
Chef Harry Callinan has launched a podcast called Rostered On.
Hamilton Hawker Markets return to James Street Plaza on September 14.
Mr Jitters Specialty Coffee is setting up shop at the newly opened Windale Hub.
Mischief Kitchen at Belmont South is looking for a new owner.
September 29 is a busy day. Earp Distilling Co and Nagisa are joining forces for The Ultimate Spring Celebration, Thomas Wines is partnering with EXP. restaurant for a special six-course dinner, and there's the Caves Coastal Beer, Food and Wine Festival 2024 at Caves Beach.
STREETSIDE DINING AT MAD POET
Mad Poet owner Dylan Oakes has been busy. He's putting the finishing touches on the third annual West Best Bloc Fest on October 6 (final release tickets are on sale now) and has just attended the final Uptown Accelerator workshop as part of the statewide 24-Hour Economy Strategy.
Funding has already been approved to improve street safety in Newcastle West and its general appearance.
He's also opening a studio space upstairs at Mad Poet soon, too, and has applied for permission to introduce alfresco dining outside Mad Poet on Newcastle's Hunter Street in time for summer.
He will be planning more live and acoustic music events at Mad Poet once West Fest is done and dusted for another year, and in June worked with fellow Newcastle West business Sea Salt & Sage Catering to introduce a small eats menu at Mad Poet which includes lasagna; a cheese pesto toastie with tomato soup; warm olives; sticky date pudding; beef and pork meatballs; and now a meatball baguette. It's available from 5am to midnight, Thursday to Saturday.
"Yep, life is full-on right now ... I'm barely keeping up, ticking off boxes day in and day out," he said, laughing.
"It's been eight months since we opened and we've now got a renewed focus on being a wine bar with a good little selection of whisky and Boozy Spoon cocktails.
"We're looking at partnerships and pop-ups with chefs, local winemakers and Vera Wine as we're finding a lot of people are coming to us and learning about different grapes and varieties and regions, which has been great. It's a case of watch this space!"
A FOODIE GETAWAY
Fancy a quick road trip to Tamworth? I stopped by the other week and could barely recognise the main street, it had changed so much. There are plenty of quality places to eat and drink there these days, plus the three-day Tamworth Barbeque Festival from September 27 to 29 at the Riverside Sporting Fields. It will feature barbecue demonstrations, an Australian Barbecue Alliance competition, National Thunder Motorcycle Rally, and live music from the likes of The Wolfe Brothers, Peking Duk's Reuben Styles and Hurricane Fall. Details at tamworthbbqfestival.com.au.
