Farm-to-table chef Dan Hunter, of Brae restaurant in Australia, on the pleasures of growing your own food
‘We grow food we want to cook with’ – chef and owner of Brae, in Victoria, 44th on list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, explains the philosophy behind his award-winning farmhouse restaurant
So, is Brae your dream restaurant? “This is certainly the way I want to work. My dream, of course, is not to work, but I intend to surround myself with the environment to work in a way I see fit for my staff and me, and the restaurant. It’s an interesting experience for those who come to Brae. It’s not just a traditional restaurant – I have 30 acres [12 hectares] of land where we grow vegetables and fruits and raise chickens. It’s pleasurable to work that way and requires daily interaction.”
How do you decide what to grow on your farm? “We grow food we want to cook with. Each year we have less variety and more quantity and quality. Last year to May, roughly 90 per cent of our fruits and vegetables came from our farm.”
What’s it like being at Brae? “Many people take walks on the property before or after their meal. We’re grilling, working in the garden, that’s what makes it a nice place to go to. Guests have the feeling of being on a farm, and it’s welcoming and leisurely. We have six rooms on the property and the guests are the only ones there when we leave for the day – I live two minutes away; the guests feel trusted [with the property]. People feel connected to my place, they feel grounded.”
Why is seasonality so important to you? “When you eat warm strawberries in the sunshine, it translates in the body. I try to play with those things. I don’t put many things in the refrigerator like you have to in Hong Kong. Food hardens up in the fridge and loses textural interest. At 6pm we pick the strawberries and serve them at 7pm. Sometimes we are audacious and serve just strawberries [without anything else]. This is the result of care in the garden three years earlier. We also have fresh pistachios and figs.
