Two precocious chefs keeping the flame burning

restaurant

27 Jul

Written By Antony

RESTAURANT MONTH 2023: CHEF COLLAB AT CASSIA

The first chef collab events of Auckland Restaurant Month, Sid Sahrawat with Nelly Robinson cooking at Cassia is set to be cracker – explosive flavour carried by showstopping techniques and presentation. Anna King Shahab had a chat with these two lauded chefs to get a sneak peek of the menu ahead of them getting on the tools for this special occasion on the evenings of August 2 and 3. Yes, that’s next week! If you’re thinking about grabbing a ticket, get cracking!

Both chefs got an early start in the industry in fine dining environments

“In India the easiest way out of studying at school for me was to do a hotel training course”, says Sid. “I started that at 14 and then moved to Muscat in Oman to do my chef’s apprenticeship.” In Muscat, Sid worked and trained in an Italian fine-dining restaurant, doing pretty avant garde things from that young age. The path led to head chef roles in top restaurants, founding his first restaurant Sidart in 2009 aged 29, to today being at the helm of three of the city’s most celebrated establishments.

Nelly’s journey is not dissimilar. “I grew up in Blackburn, Lancashire in the north of England, in a place with not a lot of money going around”, says Nelly. “I was fortunate because my parents were very loving people but we didn’t have a lot, so when I was 14 my dad said I needed to get a job to start contributing to the family. My best friend’s dad had a restaurant down the road and when I knocked on the door and asked for a kitchen hand, his dad gave me an apron and said I could start right away”. The restaurant was Northcote Manor, which wore a Michelin star. At 15 he undertook an apprenticeship in the kitchen, and by 22 had secured his first head chef position. He later moved to Sydney and was 29 when he started his esteemed Surry Hills restaurant Nel in 2017.

The collab was a result of mutual admiration

The chefs have admired one another for years and Nelly, who is married to Kiwi Danielle and describes Auckland as his second home, loves to dine at Cassia when he’s visiting the city. Given the chance to hold the first international chef collab in Cassia’s new home on Federal Street, Sid immediately thought of Nelly, and the two came up with a clever spin: in this case Nelly will be the one bringing Indian flavours to the party – through a lens of some of the British Indian dishes he grew up loving – while Sid’s dishes will revisit signatures he’s created over the many years, dating back to his days as Head Chef at The Grove.

With both having spent well over half their lives on the tools in professional kitchens and meeting the many and varied challenges of running restaurants, I’m curious as how they stay inspired and passionate…

Sid and his wife and business partner Chand have garnered a reputation over the years for fostering a family atmosphere and passion for the job among staff, and that returns dividends to Sid, he says. “My team and their drive and passion keep me motivated and inspired in what we do”.

“It’s an interesting topic because I don’t often get asked about how I keep the fire burning for myself, and we’re usually just focusing on running the show and keeping our team motivated”, says Nelly, whose menu at Nel changes every 10 weeks. “The thing that keeps me going every day are my customers, and my staff – I want to be able to create an atmosphere where everyone wants to come to work and they’re happy at work, and where my guests are wowed and have an experience they want to come back for. I have goals and I’ll always still be learning. Starting to cook with my many amazing chef friends around the world keeps me interested and keeps me evolving. I’m very excited to cook with Sid at Cassia.”

On the menu for the Restaurant Month Chef Collab at Cassia

Guests will enjoy an arrival drink with four snacks, followed by six courses served with wine matches. It’s safe to assume nobody will be walking out of there hungry. Here are a few sneak peeks at what the boys have been busy working on:

Nelly

– inspired by the tomato salad you’ll find served on the side of tikka at a UK tandoori house, a tomato salad in marshmallow form, topped with caviar.

– Aotearoa scallops (Nelly loves working with our sashimi grade scallops) marinated in wildfire spice (a native spice blend) with korma flavours and spiced coconut milk.

– 48-hour marinated tandoori kingfish with smoked yoghurt (Nelly’s dad loves tandoori and Nelly says tandoori spice is one of his earliest food memories)

– a main of blue cod kedgeree with slow egg yolk

Sid

– pomme soufflé with smoked eel cream and vinegar powder (Sid’s nod to fish ‘n’ chips)

– Canterbury beef tri-tip tartare with fresh Bay of Plenty truffle

– cold-smoked salmon with pistachio and a verjus and chilli sorbet

– venison with leek ash, beetroot molasses, date and chorizo

– a main of caramelised pork belly – a a multi-day prep with the pork belly rolled and cooked in master stock, the dish is signature Sid, dating back to his days at The Grove

Dessert

Both Sid and Nelly are excited about the dessert course …. It features Agria potato, spiced mead, and pineapple and suffice to say it looks set to surprise and delight on the night.

We have partnered with H eart of the City to offer a special Restaurant Month giveaway to our Lazy Susan members. Purchase tickets to any Restaurant Month event via iTICKET using the promo code LAZYSUSAN and go in the draw to win a $500 Heart of the City dining voucher of your choice. Click here for T&Cs.

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