Restaurateurs Stephane Bremont and Alistair Roberts are leading the way in advancing Australian fare Susan Kirk reports
The restaurant, Tukka, situated in the cosmopolitan West End of Brisbane is dedicated to the unique and original in modern Australian dining, focussing on quality ingredients and tempting customers with strawberry eucalypt cured Queensland crocodile, mango salad and rosella dressing. And no, not the feathered Rosella, it’s a berry.
Or try kangaroo carpaccio, tahitian lime and lychee dressing, with parmesan crisp and pickled cucumber and start with a platter featuring a selection of game meats, native berries, nuts, fruits and spices, home-made damper and native dips.
Alistair Roberts opened the restaurant, called Cumquats in July 2002, at the age of 24, with the aim of creating Australia’s leading native restaurant. In early 2005 he re-branded, using the name Tukka Restaurant.
Attracted to the industry because of his love of food, the opportunities for creativity and, the sheer challenge. The idea of the restaurant was formed when Alistair returned from overseas and found it difficult to define a strong identity for Australian cuisine.
The goal was to create a restaurant that didn’t just appeal to tourists, but could push the boundaries and make a contribution to the evolution of the Australian food culture.
In 2004, Alistair was elected onto the boards of Brisbane Marketing and Restaurant and Catering Queensland. He was the youngest person ever to be appointed to either of these boards.
“Creating Tukka Restaurant and helping to define Australian cuisine represented a huge challenge and a rare opportunity.
“Australian produce is exceptional and the range and quality of our native foods is truly astounding.
“This was a concept that excited me from the start and I’m delighted our customers have embraced it,” said Alistair.
In 2004 only two years after the doors were opened the restaurant won several awards including Restaurant and Catering Queenslands Queensland Specialty Restaurant of the Year. Three years later they have won the award again and were a finalist in the Queensland category for the ‘Best Restaurant owned by a Chef.’
Innovative marketing, a strong niche and a dedicated and professional team have helped the restaurant to become extremely successful in a short period of time. In 2006, after four and a half years as the Managing Director, Alistair handed over the reins to Stephane.
Stephane with his classical French training has created some wonderful dishes from simple fare.
“These ingredients are strengthening Australia’s culinary identity and adding to the development of a unique Australian cuisine,” said Stephane.
Over 45 wines are available at the restaurant including a wide variety of local granite belt wines from vineyards well known for their fashionable and aromatic new wines.
Stephane acknowledges he breaks the rules when serving wine, “It’s really more about matching the flavours of the wine with the flavour of the produce.”
Almost every ingredient used in the restaurant is Australian grown and more than half of the produce is sourced from Queensland. Wild harvesters and growers from every corner of Australia supply an extensive range of native ingredients.
Emu, wallaby, kangaroo, possum and crocodile are all featured on the menu and Stephane admits that sometimes there is a shortage of produce. He prefers to use wallaby to kangaroo because the meat is a better quality.
Owner of Lenah Game and Gourmet, Steve Kotzikas agrees saying that braised wallaby shanks are far superior to lamb. The business has been supplying game meats to hotels and restaurants for the past five years.
Wallaby is sourced from Tasmania where it is harvested from the wild.
“Wallaby has a delicate flavour and can be cooked longer than kangaroo which has to be served blue,” says Steve.
He is also busy educating his customer and offers samples of his products as well as providing ideas on how to cook the meats. He says that he also supplies the native berries and nuts that are complementary to game meats.
Lenah Game supply crocodile meat to restaurants and butchers and Teppanaki bars are a steady customer.
Crocodile meat is cured to break the sinewy fibre in the meat with sugar salt and spices and typically tenderloin or striploin will be used. Although sauteed tail of croc is particularly flavoursome.
Apart from the great taste there are other reasons for focussing on Australian game meats. They are lean meats with low cholesterol and most of the berries are rich in vitamins and minerals. Because most of the animals are harvested from the wild they could be considered organic.
In 2000 a report for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, Marketing the Australian Native Food concluded that the industry needed an image change to better suit the sophisticated culinary scene in Australia.
The report states there are a range of options available to drive the change and build opportunities for native food growers and the food industry which is estimated to be worth between $AUD10 and $AUD16 million.
In 2006 the Australian Native Food Industry Limited (ANFIL) was incorporated. The organisation came about from a national conference held in September 2004 on the Gatton Campus of the University of Queensland. This Conference established a working group mandated to design and establish a national body to represent all interests in the rapidly growing Australian native food industry.
This initiative was supported and assisted financially by the Rural industry Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Coles Indigenous Food Fund and a number of significant participants in the industry.
There are many challenges for the organisation including a consistent policy for naming native food products and the presentation of commercially traded species to the Novel Food Reference Group for advice on their status and listing of native foods in the Codex Alimentarius.
Stephane agrees saying that communicating the product to the marketplace has been a challenge.
“There is still a negative mind about this type of food and so our menus help to educate and provide suggestions.”
Business success has come using a few different marketing approaches. The business developed a brochure showcasing their products, which was delivered to Tourism Queensland. The aim was to encourage exposure to the tourism market, which includes backpackers looking for a truly Australian experience.
The two business partners are inherently creative and their website www.tukkarestaurant.com.au is a testament to a technology focussed approach. The website serves as an introduction to the food and features recipes to educate customers on cooking methods.
The site draws over four thousand visitors a month.
“We made it user friendly and introduced the first Australian food forum,” said Stephane.
The forum at www.tukkarestaurant.com.au/forum aims to advance the native food industry and has a marketplace where growers can promote their produce to potential customers.
The website was also the conduit for their first introduction to the export market via contact with a French company who are keen to introduce some of the products to their customers.
Red PR, a public relations firm is used to generate publicity and this has been quite successful and the restaurant has been featured in local news and other publications.
“The trick to getting media exposure is co-operation.
“When a journalist called for information it wouldn’t matter what I was doing I would give him what he wanted,” says Stephane.
An online pantry will add value for the business and drive more visitors to the website. The pantry will go live in the next couple of months. The product range will include about 40 different items, from olive oil, spices and chocolates, with some products being supplied by Outback Pride, an Aboriginal community in South Australia.
Samples of products can be purchased from the restaurant and also distributed via mail.
With so much interest and focus on sustainable farming practices the commercialisation of Australian game meats is starting to grow legs and according to the producers this is an opportunity to experience something totally different when dining out.
Move over European meat our native game meats are a trend that could definitely become the norm in the not too distant future.
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Alistair has certainly done a great job at his restaurant. Interesting that he promotes the meats when the fruits, seeds, herbs, spices and many other products that he gets from Vic Cherikoff Food Services are where the real appeal resides for foodies. Wattleseed, lemon aspen juice, riberry confit, lemon myrtle sprinkle and alpine pepper are gracing tables all over the world to great applause. Sophisticated restaurants often combine these exotic and delicious flavours with seafood more than game, even though game is easily procurable.
Perhaps it's time for more vegetarian chefs to begin to make a name for themselves.
You could be right. I've tried all the game meats and nothing really takes my fancy. What's wrong with some of these flavours with a good ole piece of steak? Or lamb. Actually your lemon myrtle over lamb racks is delicious.