Fresh Catering has announced a new partnership with James Viles, chef and owner of Bowral’s Biota Dining.
Viles will join the team, including culinary director Geoff Haviland, as consultant chef from April 2016.
Viles will work across the group’s restaurant and events portfolio, crafting a series of four course menus to complement Fresh Catering’s event spaces. Guests at weddings and corporate events will be offered dishes like rib-cap cooked over coals with smoked beetroot and prune paste; spanner crab and pomelo dressed in fried fish bone juices; hay smoked hen with creamed corn and sprouted grains; and whipped chocolate with quince cooked over coals and milk granita.
Interactive event concepts created by Viles will showcase local producers. Dishes such as “The Pear Tree” will provide an edible installation from which guests can pick sheets of dried pear paper from a dried pear tree to enjoy with blue cheese from Pecora Dairy in the Southern Highlands.
Menus curated by Biota for Fresh Catering’s restaurants – The Governor’s Table, Vaucluse House Tearooms and No.10 Bistro – will include slow-cooked pumpkin with cured pork jowl and warm cheese milk; beef tartare with wild Australian condiments and a cracker made from potato water; and deep-sea scampi cooked in kelp oil with celeriac and smoked bone juices.
“I greatly admire James’ commitment to sustainability and his development of the lesser-known botanicals in his beautifully manicured garden. At Fresh, we are serious about sustainability, and he will bring a more determined focus on how we can effectively and efficiently incorporate sustainable and botanicals-focused ingredients into our menus,” said Haviland.
