WITH a new manager running a very tight ship, and a new chef in the kitchen armed with a new menu, Oceanus on the Beach in City Beach has undergone something of a renaissance in recent months.
Since moving to Perth from his native Scotland, chef John Martin has run kitchens at the likes of the old Campo De’fiori in Applecross and the Royal Perth Golf Club as well as his own Wembley restaurant, ultimately selling the business to spend more time with his growing family.
Martin said the first thing he did was change the Oceanus’ menu to something more in tune with the beachside restaurant’s oceanic surrounds.
“The last chef went sort of 90 per cent meat on the menu, and I thought, we’re surrounded by water here, so I went back to about 80 per cent seafood, 20 per cent meat,” he said.
“There’s nothing on the menu that I’m not proud of.” Martin – who was originally trained in French cooking – said simplicity was an important part of his culinary ethos.
“I go for the good taste and the flavour and I tell the staff in the kitchen to keep it simple ,” he said.
“You get a lot of chefs that put too many flavours in; complex flavours, and you end up with this mish-mash on your plate.
” Another recent addition to Oceanus is manager Paul Fox, brought in by owner Tom Galopoulos. Fox said he arrived at the restaurant shortly after Martin.
“All I’ve done is just streamline the staff to make sure the service is at a level where it should be, that all the staff are fully professional and really compatible with the industry,” he said.
“I’m teaching my staff the three things I find lacking most in the industry – complex flavours, and you end up with this mish-mash on your plate and, to let people know that the menus are suggestions.
“If you like the sound of the fish of the day, but you don’t want the mashed potatoes with it, we will ask what would you like with it?
“Products in the fridge are there to be used and the chef is there to cook the food that you want to eat.”
Oceanus is also introducing some dinner shows later in the year, with pub-rock legends Mental as Anything dropping in as part of their 30th anniversary tour, as well as a show by Richard Clapton.
Source : www.inmycommunity.com.au
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Gordon Ramsay targets Tracy Grimshaw in rant
Posted in Local News, tagged A Current Affair, a lesbian, a pig, activities., animal, audience, Australian journalist, Botox doctor, celebrity chef, Channel Nine, Chef, chief executive, comedian, comment, commented, cook, cooking., create, crowd, Current Affair, David Gyngell, depicting a woman, depictions, deriding her looks?, describe lesbians., dump him Australia., executive producer, facial mole, food and wine, food expo, FOUL-mouthed, Friday nightsponsor, gasps, get paid, Good Food and Wine Show, Gordon Ramsay., Grant Williams, great relationship, Grimshaw, Grimshaw's, Grimshaw's sexual preference, Hell's Kitchen, high profile, highly derogatory, holy crap, immediately, impress, inappropriate, incident, interview, interviewed, joke, kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, LG, Local News, looks, major sponsor, Melbourne, Melinda Tankard Reist, money, nightmare., Nine's, obscene, of women., out of order., pretty good, programs, public, publicly, putrid tirade, Ramsay's sponsors, rating highly, reacted, references, remove, send him packing.", sexist rant., sexuality, shocked, shocked audiences, Simon Cowell's, spokeswoman for Ramsay, sponsors, stunt, Sunday Herald Sun reports., support, term, The Chaser.", too far, Tracy Grimshaw, trip, verbal abuse, vilifying, wart, Women's Forum Australia on June 7, 2009| 2 Comments »
The putrid tirade, which included references to Grimshaw’s looks, sexuality and depictions of her as a pig, shocked audiences who went to see the celebrity chef at the Good Food and Wine Show in Melbourne.
Ramsay told an audience of several thousand people that Grimshaw was “a lesbian”, the Sunday Herald Sun reports.
When the crowd reacted with gasps, he said: “What? I’m not saying she’s a …”
The phrase that Ramsay used was a highly derogatory term often used to describe lesbians.
Ramsay also showed a picture of a woman – who appeared to be naked – on her hands and knees with the features of a pig and multiple breasts.
Tracy Grimshaw,” he told the audience. “I had an interview with her yesterday – holy crap.
“She needs to see Simon Cowell’s Botox doctor.”
Ramsay – who later dismissed the comments as a joke – went on with more innuendos about Grimshaw’s sexual preference and activities.
The crude remarks did not impress Channel Nine chief executive David Gyngell, who phoned Ramsay to tell him they were inappropriate and that he had gone too far.
Just a year ago, the celebrity chef had been lauded as the network’s saviour, with his programs Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares rating highly.
Mandy Saunders was at the food expo with her two children and elderly mother.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and hearing – it was disgusting,” Ms Saunders said.
“The show is meant for families. That was way out of order.”
Anthony Kavroulas was also in the audience at Ramsay’s performance.
“What can I say? It was totally sexist,” Mr Kavroulas said.
Women’s groups also expressed their disgust, saying it was wrong that Ramsay was making money by comparing women with animals.
Melinda Tankard Reist, from Women’s Forum Australia, said Ramsay’s sponsors should dump him and he should leave Australia.
“Ramsay’s sexist and demeaning actions are offensive to every Australian woman,” Ms Reist said.
“Why should he get paid for depicting a woman as an animal and publicly deriding her looks?
“He shouldn’t be making money through the verbal abuse of women.
“Gordon Ramsay is no longer welcome here. The sponsors of his trip should immediately remove their support and send him packing.”
LG, a major sponsor of the Good Food and Wine Show, said it did not want to comment on the incident.
Ramsay appeared on Nine’s A Current Affair and was interviewed by Tracy Grimshaw on Friday night.
During the interview, he commented on Grimshaw’s facial mole, asking: “Is that a wart? It looks like your little sister’s on your lip.”
Grimshaw appeared to take that remark well.
But A Current Affair executive producer Grant Williams said yesterday the chef had gone too far and should stick to cooking and lay off the comedy.
“We know Gordon Ramsay sets out to shock, but if what we’re being told is true, we’re very surprised,” Williams said.
“Frankly, although it’s plainly a joke, it’s out of order.
“Gordon has proved here that he doesn’t need to be in the kitchen to create a nightmare.
“As a comedian, he makes a pretty good cook. Maybe he’d be better off at The Chaser.”
A spokeswoman for Ramsay said the stunt was just a joke and should have been taken as one.
“He really respects Tracy Grimshaw as a journalist. It was just a joke,” Sarah Armstrong said.
“She interviews him every time he comes to Australia. They have a great relationship.”
Source www.news.com.au
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