Ever wondered where Canberra chefs like to eat on their night off? Do they head across town for a special bowl of noodles, or book a table at a fine dining restaurant?
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Canberra Times restaurant reviewer Chris Hansen is always looking for recommendations - aren't we all?
With his own history in the food industry - he has previously worked for the Chairman Group and run his own restaurants - he's always had some insider's knowledge, but he was keen to find out more about this new crop of Canberra chefs.
The result is Chefs Eat Canberra, a book that's part food guide, part cookbook, a 200-plus-page glossy coffee-table style book which will be out in September.
"It's a bit of an industry insider, if you like," says Hansen.
"I get the chefs and restaurateurs of Canberra to tell me where they like to eat on their nights off and it turns out a lot of them like different things and have diverse tastes."
The book's set up like a chain letter of sorts, one chef recommends a place and their favourite dish, so Hansen goes there next and gets that recipe and asks that chef about their favourite thing, and so on.
"Onzieme's Louis Couttoupes says to go here, Clement Chauvin from Les Bistronomes likes this particular dish, Bar Rochford's Josh Lundy swears by the noodles up in Dickson, it's been great getting all their insights," Hansen says.
He wanted to find out more about the food experiences of the chefs and restaurateurs too. James Souter from The Boat House shares a story about a fantastic meal at Melbourne's Attica; Chauvin shares his favourite haunts in his home town of Lyon, France; Raku's Hao Chen remembers a meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Tokyo.
"One really interesting story was that when I reviewed Such and Such I noticed the music and the sound within the restaurant were really well controlled," Hansen says.
"It turns out that co-owner Dash Rumble studied sound engineering at the CIT and a lot of attention has gone into that aspect of Pilot and Such and Such.
"So they've shared the Such and Such Spotify playlist which goes for 100 hours."
Featuring stunning photography by local photographer Ashley St George, the book will profile close to 40 restaurants including Pilot, Les Bistronomes, Rebel Rebel, Bar Rochford, Such and Such, Onzieme, Raku, Corella, Miss Vans, Beltana Farm, Otis and dozens more.
There's also a section on the history of the Canberra hospitality industry, dating back to the 1970s.
Hansen has interviewed industry stalwarts, even former Canberra Times wine reviewer Chris Shanahan, about how it all started.
"Chris told me about this secret restaurant one of the Farmer brothers used to have in his house in Kingston; I've got some old photos of Atlantic and Vivaldi in the early days, that part has been really interesting," Hansen said.
The Canberra Times will publish extracts of these sections in coming months. Stay tuned.
The book will also include the Chefs Eat Canberra Food Photography Prize with $8000 worth of dinner vouchers up for grabs from the featured restaurants.
- For more information about the project follow along @chefseatcanberra