It was like something out of a movie. The narrow length of the the iconic Malibu Pier was lined with white tablecloth-draped tables, punctuated by a series of tall stanchions topped with wistful festoon of eucalyptus fronds and other local flora. It was spring 2024, and the Los Angeles Times had partnered with Australia Tourism to create the Great Australian Bite, an immersive culinary event that celebrated the unique flavours and flair of authentic Australian cuisine, from Indigenous ingredients to a performance of a traditional didgeridoo to a selection of outstanding wines, including an ‘M3’ Chardonnay from Shaw + Smith and a Shiraz from Yalumba.
As well as being a family-style feast for 300 guests, Great Australian Bite was an opportunity to share how important innovation and sustainability is to Australia’s culinary scene. This one-of-a-kind gastronomic experience was a fusion of Australian culinary traditions with local, Californian ingredients.
The unique Malibu venue was only a small part of the magic. The real stars were the three celebrated Aussie chefs who hosted: Josh Niland of Sydney’s Saint Peter, Jo Barrett of Victoria’s now-closed Little Picket (she has since started Wild Pie with a group of fellow foodie sustainability advocates) and Monty Koludruvic of Hollywood’s members-only Living Room. Before dinner service, the trio was introduced to guests by Chris Allison, Vice President, The Americas at Tourism Australia. When Niland was asked to share how he’d developed his approach to seafood sustainability, I was intrigued by his answers.
Niland explained that after he and his wife opened Saint Peter in 2016, he learned that being zero-waste was not only important for the environment, but also for his nascent restaurant’s fragile bottom line. As a result, Niland learned to get creative with his team and use every part of the fish – including the eyes – not just to reduce waste, but also to create opportunities for new revenue.
Only a month later, I saw Niland again at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024 list announcement in Las Vegas. Niland was on-stage (see video below) talking in more detail about fish butchery, while simultaneously breaking down a whole wild kingfish into multiple usable parts. As he captivated the crowd with his meticulous butchering, he expanded on his approach as a chef and restauranteur: “The reason we do these more unconventional cuts is because we’re trying to find something desirable, to create a bit of luxury, while capturing the most appropriate margin from each product,” he says. And as a seafood conservationist? “If we’re able to marry the ethics and the economics, I think that puts us all in a better position, where we can celebrate the extraordinary tastes that a wild fish can offer,” says Niland.
Guests at The Great Australian Bite were able to experience Niland’s astonishing, and delicious, seafood butchery skills with his Lobster Bouillabaisse Pie (each pie featured an entire lobster butcher from tail to claw, emerging from the dish) followed by a Tiramisu so creamy and decadent that you would never know that the fat, bones and even the aforementioned eyes of a fish were used to make it.
An interview with Josh Niland
The event (Great Australian Bite) was spectacular and I have to say I don’t understand how it was even possible for you to create such incredible food for over 300 people. Have you ever done anything like that before?
Hah! That’s very kind, thank you. Being paired with the extraordinary talents of Jo Barrett and our great Aussie mate Monty Koludruvic gave us a very strong team and I felt the planning prior to the evening was the catalyst to the wonderful outcome.
How long have you known Jo Barrett and Monty Koludruvict?
I’ve known Monty since I was 20. He used to work in Becasse Restaurant in Sydney and we share mutual friends. I can’t remember exactly when I met Jo but I can remember being enamoured with her talent and exuberance for her work.
Could you tell me a little bit more about the planning. To think that you planned this from Australia! Truly amazing.
Looking back now, I think we had close to 5 to 6 weeks of time to bounce ideas back and forth and navigate the logistics and procurement of ingredients. We had to put together a game plan that made sense despite having basically no bearings of the space. I was grateful to have the talents of my head chef Erin Jackson Yates of Saint Peter and former chef Prune Lacoste assisting me before and during the event.
I’d also love to know a little bit more about the menu. It was something to behold. There was not one dish that wasn’t perfect. And the way that the servers walked out with those incredible casseroles of Lobster Bouillabaise was unforgettable.
The menu design was developed to accommodate the inevitability of it cooling down being served outdoors in the evening air and my fear of serving a cold main course. I made the menu more complicated behind the scenes so the preparation was difficult but that allowed for the service to be easy, and luckily that worked. I also wanted to make sure that the dishes were dramatic enough visually for all the photos that would be taken, hence the lobster pies. Although we originally hoped for local spiny lobsters, we had to settle for Maine Lobsters (not a bad substitute!!). From memory, we made 40 pies and I believe we received approximately 50 lobsters so everyone had plenty of meat in the pie.
Do you see any similarities in cuisine between the United States and Australia?
Absolutely. I feel California in particular is very spoilt like Australia for quality ingredients and exceptional cooks. The cuisine from both locations offers great quality and diversity from street to award winning restaurants which showcase the fantastic quality food for everyone, not just a privileged few.
Have you served any of these recipes at your restaurants?
The Bouillabaisse pie was a dish we did a version of at Fish Butchery that evolved into another for an event we did for Petermen. The coal-kissed Kingfish and pine nut vinaigrette is a Saint Peter favourite. The Fish tiramisu made its debut at Malibu and is now on at FYSH Singapore having loved preparing it so much.
We can’t have an interview without talking about that Fish Tiramisu.
The objective with every dish that we design when working with texturally or aesthetically challenging parts of a fish is to remove as much friction as possible. The objective was to make a DELICIOUS tiramisu made from fish not a tiramisu that tastes of fish.
I love what you said about not just nose to tail but nose to fin.
There are so many easy recipes and ideas in my three cookbooks that will give you some insights and frameworks into how to tackle the next fish you get for Friday supper. I really believe that what I discover or create from the technical butchery to dish ideas is not valuable unless it is shared. We need to create a platform of full transparency if we are going to impact the usage and wastage of fish.
What would you say was the highlight of the event for you?
Without doubt the team’s sense of achievement. The highlight was seeing all of succeed on such a big stage for so many people. And I think the post-service beer was a pretty good highlight as well.
Josh Niland at the World’s #50BestTalks
