Mike McEnearney, chef and owner of Sydney, Australia’s No. 1 Bent Street by Mike, tells us about his food journey, seasonal cooking and the ingredients he loves to work with.

Tell us a little about yourself. When did you first become interested in food and what inspired you to pursue a career in the food industry? I wish I had a romantic story to tell you about how cooking is in my blood and that I feel it is my responsibility to carry on the legacy, but I don’t. I grew up in the north-western suburbs of Sydney. Both of my parents worked so there wasn’t a huge amount of time dedicated to eating. We ate very simply. It was due to this that I started cooking at home from about the age of 14. Mum was smart and bought me a few cookery books to keep me inspired, so it was often that I would be cooking the family meal. I never ever dreamed of becoming a chef; I just happened to be cooking at home because I wanted to eat different cuisines. When I finished my HSC, I had decided that I wasn’t going to be happy at university. I love learning, however I’m not an academic. So after mooching around wondering what I should be doing with my life, I read on the cover of the employment pages of the Sydney Morning Herald about a chef. It looked glamourous (how mistaken I was) and that was it. I haven’t looked back.

How would you describe your food philosophy? Generosity, simplicity, authenticity, seasonality and sustainable wholefoods form the core of my personal philosophies. I have a deep belief and trust in the joy of eating real food in its purest form, and this wholesome and honest energy is reflected in the food I create. If I was to single out something that is most important to me, it would have to be cooking with the seasons. This single thing will feed into all of my personal philosophies. Cooking what’s in season is better for you – nutritionally and ethically. I don’t want my kids to eat food that is pumped full of chemicals to make it grow, nor flown half way around the world at all times of the year. The bottom line for me is that it’s all about flavour. Food in season just tastes better…the flavour is in its prime. Since time began, man has been living in accordance with the seasons and with nature. Right now, with the economic and geographical climates in peril, people have begun to realise the importance of returning back to the seasons – discovering a simpler, ultimately richer way of life.

Describe your restaurant No.1 Bent Street by Mike – what kinds of dishes will diners find here and what kind of experience does it offer? No.1 Bent Street is a gloriously unfussy, unpretentious restaurant, serving hearty, uncomplicated food. We focus heavily on the seasons at No.1 Bent Street. We source from local farmers and producers who share the same core values as we do, so we’re assured of receiving produce in its peak. We therefore take a ‘less is more’ approach in order to focus on a single ingredient and enable it to shine. We rarely use more than three key ingredients on a plate to keep our food pure. For instance, we wrap a whole beetroot in a salt crust and bake it in the wood oven. After four hours we crack the crust and serve the beetroot whole, simply with some buffalo curd and walnuts. It’s all about capturing that pure flavour and enhancing it with as little as possible. Another important aspect of our kitchen is the wood oven, rotisserie and grill that enables us to use different hard woods and orchard woods in our cooking. These add another level to our food in both technique and flavour, which enables us to offer a very considered approach to what we are cooking and allows the ingredients shine.

You’re an advocate for making things from scratch, such as bread. Why is this something you’re passionate about? I’m an inquisitive chef and love to learn. I like to try my hand at making everything at least once. If I can make it better than I can buy from a producer, than I will make it. However if I can’t, then I certainly would never make it only in vain. There are many people who are artisans and craftsman that specialise in things that I will never be able to improve on. I also have strong beliefs in training my staff and want them to learn as much as possible while they are in my kitchens. It brings me a huge amount of satisfaction to see an apprentice make a loaf of bread in our restaurant that is equal to any bread in the country.

Tell us about your work as creative director of Carriageworks Farmers’ Market. I was appointed in 2015 and have focused from day one to bring the Carriageworks performance space and the farmers’ market together, into a food and cultural precinct. To inspire and educate people to do their weekly shop from brilliant New South Wales producers and to try and make the Carriageworks Farmers’ Market the centre of the community, where people meet and chat and form relationships with food and the people around them. I am constantly on the hunt for small New South Wales producers to join our market who share our core values.

What have been some of the key things you’ve learnt on your food journey? My food journey is ever-evolving and changes constantly depending on the road I take. The most important thing to me is to follow my heart and understand that gut instinct is the most important thing. Things can’t be forced; good things take time and quite often take an unconventional path.

Why is establishing and nourishing relationships with suppliers and growers important? We must have a relationship with our food. It’s not about walking aimlessly down aisle sixteen for your apples. We need to know that the food around us is humanely, ethically and sustainably produced so that it is not just here today, but also tomorrow. These values should have always been paramount and should always be paramount in the future. Today I tasted some milk from a farmer in Kiama. He milks eighteen cows per day only. His family have been farming the land for generations. He believes in the same ethics as his father, using the same cows, not becoming too large, not over-heating the milk at pasteurisation, not disturbing the milk to keep the structure the same. He has all of the stress and bother of modern society such as the bank, however, he doesn’t want to change because he believes what he is doing is the best he can do. Now that’s integrity. If consumers know more stories like this, I truly think it will change the landscape of food and markets in Australia. It’s an investment for the future.

Who are your food heroes? I could go on forever about the people who are my heroes and have influenced me. If I was to name one it would be Alice Waters, for her ethos and style of cooking and for driving the small producers and farmers’ markets in the United States. I was given her cookbook Chez Panisse Cooking that she wrote with Paul Bertolli in 1990 when I started to cook, and it has remained my constant.

What is your favourite ingredient to cook with, and why? That’s such a hard question. I always love very good olive oil and butter. Perhaps seasonally: - in spring I love globe artichokes; in summer, stone fruit; in autumn, mushrooms; and in winter, quince.

And your favourite dish to cook (or eat)? Roast chicken, or quite simply my Sunday night standard of boiled eggs and soldiers.

What’s next for you? Kitchen by Mike re-opening. Stay tuned.

Check out No.1 Bent Street by Mike’s TL&CC profile here.

News: Other things you need to know

• Vancouver, Canada restaurant Burdock & Co are participating in the EAT! Harvest cooking event at the 2018 EAT! Vancouver Food + Cooking Festival. Taking place on Friday 9 November, the event sees 24 top chefs offer a range of canapes that embody their cooking style and ethos. Visit www.burdockandco.com for more information. Burdock & Co has also welcomed a new wine director. Claire Saksun, formerly the wine director at celebrated restaurant Royal Dinette, brings her passion for natural, organic wines to Burdock & Co, which carries a farm-to-table ethos.
• November is World Vegan Month! Established in 1994, the initiative celebrates vegan food and philosophy, and encourages people to incorporate more vegan meals into their diet to promote health, well-being and sustainability. Many of the restaurants in TL&CC celebrate vegan cuisine, such as PPURI on the Plate in Seoul, South Korea and Vedge in Philadelphia, USA. Visit
• From 23–29 December, Fogo Island Inn is welcoming all to its Newfoundland, Canada doors for an exclusive Christmas celebration. A Merry Little Outport Christmas invites guests to experience local yuletide traditions, most notably the tradition of ‘mummering’, or dressing up in disguise for incognito social events involving music, drinking and dancing. Celebrate the festive season with handcrafted decorations, mulled crab apple cider brandy, juniper tea, fireside stories and gift wrapping in the Gathering Hall. Visit www.fogoislandinn.ca to find out more about this exciting event.
• USA organisation DIG (Development in Gardening) is hosting their fifth annual Cocktails & Castoff event in Atlanta, Georgia this Sunday 11 November. The event focuses on sustainability and food waste, and features delicious food and drink as well as live music. TL&CC restaurant Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours is one of the participating restaurants, with executive chef Deborah VanTrece set to cook up a storm on the night. Visit www.reaplifedig.org for more information.