Steer Boot Camp - Day 3 "So That's How You Do It"

This post is about my thrid day at "Boot Camp" at Steer Bar and Grill in South Yarra. You can read more about how I got the opportunity to work in a commercial kitchen for a week and also about my previous days in the links below.

How I got to work at Steer
Steer Boot Camp - Day 1 "It's All New To Me"
Steer Boot Camp - Day 2 "Food, Lots of Food"

After my atrocious efforts the previous day, where I "sampled" and dirtied one too many plates, I was demoted back to back section to do basic prep work. Executive Chef Shaun told me that I would be given another opportunity to work the pass if I could prove my skills in the kitchen, hence it was a big day of learning ahead of me. More on that later. Firstly, there's always time for a photo op right? As I'm such a massive fan of Paul Wilson, when he popped by the restaurant, I had to ask for a photo and also asked many questions about the direction of the restaurant. Paul told me that Steer will be re-launched as a New York Steak house, focusing on good meat and simple dishes. There will be other dishes for those who don't necessarily like or want a steak. Desserts will be classic American desserts. All will be known soon in a few weeks. I look forward to going back to try the new menu. In the photo below is Executive Chef Shaun Nielsen, me obviously, and Consultant Chef Paul Wilson.


First lesson of the day was to learn to bone out some rib eye steaks. Shaun grabbed a beautifully aged Gippsland Rib Eye. Look at the colour. It was a rich red colour with lots of marbling and a firm texture. He described that the rib eye could be sectioned into five steaks of at least 650 grams. The last segment could be turned into a scotch fillet steak as that part extends into the scotch fillet area. I was always confused whether a rib eye was the same as a scotch fillet, and now I know they are connected. Shaun skilfully carved out five rib eye steaks using his flexible carving knife. He then trimmed off some of the fat, saying that he preferred to keep some fat as that renders beautifully and gives the steak flavour. I can't agree more with that. I love the fatty parts of steaks and always pick a fattier cut rather than fillets. He then cleaned the bones for presentation. Shaun showed his skills in estimating when he told me that a certain steak was heavier than another one. I disagreed and when we weighed it, he was spot on, even to the fact that one weighed about 10 grams more than the other. I was totally impressed.


The next skill I learnt was to open an oyster. I've always gotten the fishmonger to open the oysters for me, but from now on, I'm going to open my own so I can retain that glorious oyster liquid. Opening an oyster is not easy when you don't know how. I struggled for the first dozen. And even when I thought I had mastered it, the oysters changed types on me and it was hard again. But now, having opened quite a few, I can do it without stabbing myself or sweating a river. The trick is to angle the knife slightly at shallow angle and then ply away. Just as you feel the back end of the oyster crack open a bit, you start twisting the knife and push forward with the twisting action. And out pops the shell. You detach the oyster from the muscle and voila, one shucked oyster with all its juices intact.


Then it was on to learning how to make a choux pastry and making churros. The key to a choux pastry is to dry out the mixture properly. I didn't know that choux pastry can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days. To make a churros, you need to pipe it into hot oil that you first test with a sample one. Remember to drop it from a low height, or you may end up with oil splatter like I did. Ooops.


Then it was on to learn to make some salads and a Bernaise sauce. I'm embarrassed to admit that I can't make a basic mayonnaise or Hollandaise sauce. But now I do. And a Bernaise sauce is just a Hollandaise with tarragon added. So here are the key differences. A mayonnaise is made by mixing oil into egg yolks. No heat is needed. A Hollandaise is made by mixing clarified butter into a sabayon (egg yolks mixed over a double boiler until thick). A Bernaise sauce has the addition of a tarragon reduction (made from vinegar, tarragon, and other herbs that you want) and fresh tarragon. I beat and beat and beat until I'm now pretty good at making a Bernaise. Of course I complained and said that we should use an electric mixer rather than hand, but apparently all the chefs do it by hand in the kitchen. Must be some crazy punishment thing for apprentices haha. Having learnt to make my Bernaise from Commis chef Jeffery, he also taught me to mix a few basic salads and plate them up. You can see Jefferey below with the egg shells over his eyes. I also met Pastry Chef Sarah, smiling happily below.



Finally, Bruno, the enigmatic Brazilian Chef de Partie (above right) was there to lighten my day but also to teach me the ways of Brazilian food. He explained about various dishes and even made me the most delicious feijoada. Out of all the delicious and more sophisticated dishes in the restaurant, my favourite savoury thing that I tasted was this peasant dish, feijoada. It was a stew of black beans, meat, sausages mixed with cassava flour (farofa), served over rice and with orange segments. I was skeptical as to now good it would taste as it didn't look very inviting, but the flavours were perfect. Each element added another dimension, even the orange segments that cut through the dish and lightened it significantly. That was my after work meal for a few nights, made with "love and care" by Bruno. He was all about cooking food with love, and I have to admit that his outlook really appealed to me. It was very genuine and I could see a glimpse of why anyone would want to be a chef. More on that topic in the next post.


So that was day 3, where I learnt a lot of basic skills in the kitchen, useful skills that I can still now use. That was also the start of my potato washing/peeling/cutting days. I cursed everyone that ordered chips, as the humble fry is so much work. It's not all glamourous cooking as you see on TV, there's a lot of basic work that goes on for 90% of the time.

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Steer Boot Camp - Day 2 "Food, Lots of Food"

This post is about my second day at "Boot Camp" at Steer Bar and Grill in South Yarra. You can read more about how I got the opportunity to work in a commercial kitchen for a week and also about my first day in the links below.

How I got to work at Steer
Steer Boot Camp Day 1 "It's All New To Me"

After the shock of day 1 and seeing how much work all the chefs do, day 2 wasn't going to get much easier. Having followed pastry chef Jane around for the first day and "helping" out, I decided that I wanted to see how the pass worked and assigned myself there. Yep, it helps when you're an invited food blogger and get to work in whichever section you want without having to work your way up to that. I watched every movement that Executive Chef Shaun Nielsen and Sous Chef Richie made.

First though, I was presented with my chefs white and look how smart I look in them. My whites stayed pretty white the whole time, as I don't like to get dirty, and maybe also due to not having to do too much work that day.


Before getting to go on the pass, there was some prep work to be done. In this case, it was to organise picnic baskets of food for guests the next day. We packed various items into these cute baskets, such as fritatas, pickled calamari, marinated olives, cured meats, cheese, marinated fruits and bread.


Having done that, it was onto the pass to watch the chefs cook the steaks, fish and finish off all the plates. Firstly, let's look at the steaks. They're probably the easiest thing to cook in the world but the hardest to master. To get the right cooking amount just takes lots of practise according to Executive Chef Shaun. He was cooking them on the grill and pressing them a lot to feel the texture. There was no secret he told me, but in general, you should cook it fast initially to seal the meat and then cook it slow. Depending on the cut, he may also put it into the oven to finish off if it's a big fat steak, like a big rump cut. At Steer, the steak is served with a palm heart salad, chips, jus and a caramelised lime. The lime looks badly burnt and blackened but the sweetened juice from it does work with the steak.


Salads were all done simply and on the spot to retain freshness and not be left with a soggy mess. I loved how vibrant and beautifully plated the salads were, not just tossed onto a plate but carefully positioned.


The fish of the day, a Wild Barramundi, done simply on the pan with a crispy skin, was cooked by Junior Chef Jaymz. He was very excited to be given the opportunity to cook the dish by himself. The fish was cooked over high heat initially to sear the skin, and then cooked on a lower heat for not very long. A metal skewer was poked into the centre and the temperature tested on the skin to know if the inside had reached at least 60 degrees. The fish was served on a bed of vegetables. The Spatchcock was expertly dissected by Chef Richie, taking the meat off the bone and then plating it up. The Fried Calamari was again presented beautifully with citrus segments and baked jalepenos giving the dish an exciting zing.



Finally, we come to my favourite section, desserts. I showed you all the Sticky Date Souffle yesterday, which is amazing. But I think all the desserts at Steer are quite amazing. The Brigadero below consists of chocolate filled churros, brigaderos with two coatings and a coconut mousse. The brigadero balls are like the childhood favourite of condensed milk and milo, with slightly different ingredients. The are rolled in chocolate dirt and coconut dirt. The coconut cream is so intensely strong in coconut flavour and I was squirting it straight into my mouth. The Mango Cheesecake is nice and creamy, but the highlight of that dessert is the Dulce de Leche ice cream, which I have declared as being the best ice cream in Melbourne. The flavours are intense and 2-3 scoops is enough. Lastly, a Cheese Platter contains three types of cheese, house made crackers, guava paste and some berries.



So what did I learn from being on the pass? I think it can be summarised into a few points.

*The chef at the pass really controls the timing between dockets coming in from the floor staff, and when food goes out. They have to know how long the meat component will take to cook and then make sure the back section of the kitchen match the timing with the salads, sauces and any side dishes. This ensures that all elements come together at the same time, is all still warm, and all the guests dish come out at once.

*The chef at the pass also plates together some of the dishes, so it is vital to have all the ingredients prepped and clearly stored in the fridges under the bench. Dishes need to be plated cleanly (constant wiping is key), visually pleasing and then dressed properly. Final tasting and seasoning is a must. I might have got in on the tasting part, just for quality control and journalistic purposes.

*The pass is also where the interaction with the front of house occurs, and even if dishes are ready to go, it's no good if the waiter staff present the guests with the wrong dishes or take too long so it gets cold on the pass. The chef needs to talk with the wait staff and let them know what's happening, as well as getting feedback from the wait staff as to customer requirements or dissatisfaction about anything.

*Lastly, the pass is where the rock stars are, back section is for the little people, hence I was "promoted" to the pass. Hahaha I'm just joking. It was extremely interesting to see the dishes come together and all the timing and communication required.

That wraps up another long day at Steer Bar and Grill. It was good to see all the prep work become dishes and go out to customers. The chef at the pass, the senior chef in the kitchen, really does run the show and makes sure that it all pulls together at the required time. I was surprised at the almost military style hierarchy that existed, with more junior chefs answering to the senior chefs request with a "yes, chef" and not arguing back when told off for a mistake. I think that is needed in a kitchen or there would be utter chaos as so many things are going on already.

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Steer Boot Camp - Day 1 "It's All New To Me"

So I've started my Steer Boot Camp experience, and it's been all of ONE day, but boy am I tired and fully in admiration of all the chefs who work in the industry.

Day 1 started off no earlier than when I would normally go to work, at 9:30am, but it sure as hell finished a lot later, at 11:30pm. In the morning, I was greeted by Executive Chef Shaun Nielsen, who will be developing the new Steer menu in conjunction with consultant Paul Wilson. Shaun helped make me a tea before the day started. We chatted about his experience in the industry, what his thoughts on various produce were, and what he was going to do at Steer. I can't give too much away but there will be a big re-launch soon.


Day 1 for me was to work in the kitchen. I'd come a little unprepared, in my beautiful SABA woolen pants, Llyods German shoes and Trent Nathan white shirt. Fail. By the end of the day, I desperately wished I was wearing track pants, runners and a t-shirt. There's a reason why the saying goes "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen". A commercial kitchen is hot, hot, hot. The radiant heat from all the stoves and oven really make you sweat, and it was quite a cool day too. You are also on your feet almost all of the entire day, with staff lunch/dinner being when you sit down.


All the chefs were hard at work all day. I was amazed that it never stopped. There was constant prep work when you weren't cooking. I've learnt that the key to any successful kitchen is proper preparation. Everything was prepared to a certain level and weighed and portioned out so that it was ready to go. There would definitely not be enough time to do it on the fly. I got to "help" Jane, the pastry chef by making the cheese balls, eating some dulce de leche ice cream, cutting some potatoes, eating a sticky date souffle, putting some produce away, eating some brigadero and so on. You get the point. It was astounding to see the constant movement, which literally made me dizzy. I think the fact that after breakfast, you don't eat till 4:30pm was making my office time controlled body weak. These guys are tough. Below you can see Excutive Chef Shaun filleting some kingfish. Sous Chef Richard was baking some beans, Junior Chef James was making stock and Pastry Chef Jane was making bread. Junior Sous Chef Lexi was prepping a lot of the meats, but is camera shy.



Once prep is done, it's onto the main cooking. And there's definitely a lot of talk in the kitchen. Communication, as in any business, is key. But here, communication has to be clear and fast. Again, I was surprised at how switched on everyone was to instructions. I could not keep up at all, and I have quite a good memory. I guess you get used to hearing certain orders and picking those out from the chef's calls.

So the long long day kept continuing at this fast pace, with the chefs all occasionally breaking out into song or dance. I can see how you can become a bit crazy with the constant pressure. I won't say that it was all nice without some level of anger and the occasional stern words, but all resumed and by the end of the night, a good job was done by all. Just when I thought it was all done and we were cleaning up, some late orders from room service came, which meant things were unpacked and cooking resumed. Cleaning was also restarted. Even when you think it's done, it isn't. Cleaning of the kitchen is key and it was all hands on deck to clean every inch of it. Then it was all done, people said goodbye and it was home. By the time I got home, it was nearly 12am. I took a shower, still smelled of oil and went to sleep. Luckily for me, I only have to go in at 3pm the next day, but the other chefs are already there from 9:30am. It's a tough life. I'm surprised any crazy people do it. For me, a long week in the office is 50 hours max. For a chef, a short week is 80 hours.

Steaks on the super hot grill.


Cheesy bread I helped make and some jalepenos ready to be used as a garnish.


Steak Tartare and the staff lunch of meatballs and salad.


An ultra delicious Sticky Date Souffle that Jane made for me to try and A Poached Egg in Jamon.


That was day 1. I got a great insight into the industry seeing what happened and talking to all the chefs about why they want to do it and what their dreams are. I can't wait to see what else I learn coming up.

Don't forget that you can watch live streaming of the restaurant and at 3pm each day, I'll host a web chat. You can follow me on Twitter and Facebook and leave comments and feedback. Finally, the Flickr account has lots more photos.

Steer Boot Camp Live Stream
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Steer Restaurant Boot Camp - Live Webcam Stream

As of next week, I'll be working at Steer Bar and Grill restaurant in South Yarra for an intensive behind the scenes boot camp to obtain more insights into how a restaurant operates. You can read all about it here.

This experience though, with the aid of technology, will hopefully be an interactive one that you the reader can also participate in. I've set up a live webcam stream of the restaurant, which will start on Tuesday morning when I start work. You'll be able to see what I'm doing, ask questions and leave feedback.

At 3pm each day, I'll be conducting a live chat and answer your questions or just talk about my day, so please log on and join me. You can find the channel at Ustream, with the title Steer Boot Camp. The direct link is below.

Steer Boot Camp Live Stream

To keep further connected, you can ask me questions and leave suggestions over at my Twitter and Facebook account. If possible, use the Facebook account as the messages will be longer lasting and I see them all in one place. Photos will be uploaded to a common Flickr account that is accesible by all.

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I hope this will be information and fun for you as a reader as I'm sure it will be for me as a participant. I look forward to hearing all your questions and suggestions.

Exciting News - I'll Be Working At Steer Bar and Grill

641 Chapel Street
South Yarra, VIC 3141
Ph: 9040 1188
Website: Steer Bar and Grill

So my exciting news is that I'll be working at Steer Bar and Grill...for two weeks anyway. No, I'm not changing profession, instead I've been given an opportunity to see the other side of restaurants and experience all the joys and problems first hand.

Let me start from the start. A little while back, I was invited to the Steer Bar and Grill launch. After hearing about the concept of a Brazilian restaurant, I was excited when I was invited back again for a full degustation meal, and also a big surprise. The surprise was that of the bloggers invited, a few of us would get to do a couple of weeks "boot camp" at Steer, learning all aspects of how a restaurant operates. We would work the kitchen, front of house, bar and learn about wines and how to match them to food.

Lucky for me, my submission to be involved was chosen, and along with Penny and Mish, we will be working shifts at Steer Bar and Grill and learning the ropes of the restaurant industry. Of course, we will be documenting every step of our journey for you to read about. So I hope you will follow us on our very exciting venture into the "dark side" of dining and help bust some myths about the restaurant industry. We will be guided by some industry heavyweights, with Raul Moreno Yague, former sommelier for Marco Pierre White and Shannon Bennett guiding us about wines, and Paul Wilson of Albert Park Hotel, Middle Park Hotel, Newmarket Hotel, The Undertaker and Archies on the Creek Gippsland guiding us on the food. You may remember about my chef crush on Paul that I wrote about here, here, here and here, so you can be in no doubt that I'm extremely excited to get to work with him.

I will be blogging, but for more up to date news, please also join me on
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Mish is already working there now so photos are up for you to look at. I also hope to be making videos and uploading them to Youtube and also doing live webcam streams, so keep your ears open for those updates.

I hope you can be involved in this event by asking questions, giving feedback and encouragement. I'm looking forward to doing my stint starting next week so please start providing your questions and suggestions.

To give you a feel for the restaurant, below are some photos of the meal that we were invited to about a month ago.



Deconstructed Brazilian dish of soft shell crab legs, prawns and cashew shrimp paste had a unique combination of flavours I hadn't tried before.
Below left, right: Amuse bouche of wagyu short ribs and eel; Octopus and squid ink gnocchi were both very good.



The most amazing wild mushroom dish I've ever tasted. The flavours of the mushroom were so intense and fragrant.


Beautiful churrasco, different cuts of beef all extremely tender and flavoursome.
Below left, right: Roast duck breast with brazil nuts; acai sorbet. Both were again unique flavours I hadn't tried before.



My favourite dish of the night, surprise, surprise, it was a dessert. The most sublime caramel fondant, with a moreish pistachio cake and goiabada, which is quince paste I believe.



Just to conclude, I hope that from this boot camp, both you and I will both be able to get a better understanding of how a restaurant works, meaning that we may be more tolerant of dining issues in future, but also expect a level of quality and not take excuses from restaurants when it's clearly their responsibility to deliver a level of quality.

SBS Food Journey Festival 2011

As part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, the inagural SBS Food Journey Festival was held this year. The festival is "A cultural feast of food, music, dancing and fun!" Luckily for me, I was invited by SBS to be one of their 5 guest bloggers for the day. I met up with Michele, Penny, Cherrie and Adrian for lots of feasting, music and fun. The festival was held at the majestic Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton, the same place as the other food festival, Taste of Melbourne.


Whilst we were all assigned different areas to cover for the day (I got an easy task and could relax while Penny and Adrian were running around like headless chickens), we all arranged to meet up at the al fresco dining area to eat lunch. While most festivals are usually just indoor, this one had both an indoor and outdoor component, which I love. The vibe outdoors is much more relaxed, with the smell of food cooking and music on the stages bathed in glorious sunlight that day. Indoors, all the food product stalls were setup and it was easier to walk through them as people were not congregating in the aisles eating their food.



There was a host of interesting food and product stalls. I loved how cute this coffee stall was.


I asked some random stall holders questions to get a feel for what they do. Naomi Garcia here runs Casa Pepe, which is a catering service she operates. They come to the events and set up their cooking stations and off they go making Spanish cuisine. The Seafood Paella she made definitely drew in the crowd with that massive pan and the colourful rice.


My Californian mate John Boland looked slightly angelic when talking about his chilli sauces, staring off into the skies above while explaining how he came about making his sauces. What started off as a love of chilli sauces from his home country has turned into a complete range featuring chips, dips and even a take away shop. His famous prize winning coconut chilli sauce was a winner in his fish tacos.


The pizza from Woodfire Gold Coast is Simone Wright's business. She tows the wood fired ovens to various events and also sells the ovens, as well as pizzas. The pizzas contained their special Heathcoote Shiraz reduction, which really gave the pizza a zing and made all the difference. Their "A Load of Bull" pizza was great, containing shredded beef they baked that morning and lots of cheese. I was trying to do the cheese pull you see on pizza advertising. We washed our pizzas down with some crispy Robello Apple and Strawberry Cider, delicious. Then we promptly got told off for taking alcohol into the licensed al fresco area. Booo to that. They should have a general dining area next time.



The Argentinean meat platter from Senor BBQ was full of meaty goodness, with ribs, sausages and wings all grilled to perfection.


I spotted a couple of familiar faces when I saw Costa Georgiadis, the gardener formerly from Channel 31 and now SBS. I also saw my mate Rob Mikecz from Rochester Ginger. I bumped into his previously at various food festivals and again talked to him about his ginger drinks. He's just developed a new one and it definitely has a nice kick to it.


I was full after eating so much food that I didn't try the Lush desserts of Lemon Meringue and Strawberry Tart. They did look delicious.


The Ganache Chocolate stall looked so enticing with their beautiful chocolates, but again the waistline was already fully expanded.


Finally, I was off to cover my assignment for the day, the Italian heirloom vegetables demonstration. There, former geologist turned gardener, Geoff Hudson showed everyone how great heirloom vegetables are by making a simple pasta dish. You can read about my account of the demonstration over at the SBS Food website.


And last, but by far least, I got to meet my favourite TV food presenter, Maeve O'Meara. I love her on Food Safari and it was such a pleasure to meet her. She was so nice and had her trademark smile and laugh. She even told me about her new series French Food Safari where she got to meet luminaries like Alain Ducasse, Paul Bocouse and my food idol Pierre Herme. How exciting, can't wait to watch it.


That was the end of yet another very enjoyable food festival. Thanks to SBS for inviting me to the event and I look forward to going again next year.