Ahead of the opening of Bills in Bondi, we chatted to internationally renowned chef, Bill Granger on all things food, trends and his own day on a plate.
RESCU: Where and when did you learn to cook?
Bill Granger: I’m a self-taught cook so I just learned to cook out of cookbooks. It was a bit of a necessity; my mother wasn’t much of a keen cook. Although she does cook well now! In the early days she was working a lot and I was fussy so I was like, ‘I want to cook. What can I cook?’ I wanted to because I love to eat.
RESCU: When did cooking turn from a passion into a profession?
Bill Granger: It was an accident! I was at art school working part time at a restaurant just to pay my way. I never dreamt of wanting to be a chef or in the restaurant business but I totally fell in love with the restaurant world. I always loved the restaurants as a customer you know; now I live in them. But that’s when it all began. At 21 I decided I was going to work in restaurants.
RESCU: And obviously you’ve never looked back!
Bill Granger: It’s weird, it was never a conscious decision, really – I just opened something up. You make small decisions that just have long consequences that keep on going.
RESCU: Food culture has really exploded in Australia over the last few years, tell us about one “foodie” moment you love, and one maybe not so much!
Bill Granger: I’m not a big fan of foam! And plate smears – all those kind of things on plates, oh, and square plates and slate plates!
RESCU: The wooden boards?
Bill Granger: Anything like eating off a wooden board — all I can think about is the germs! I don’t want to eat off a board or anything square unless I’m in a Japanese restaurant.
RESCU: Any other trends that you think are over-done?
Bill Granger: No, I think food is fashion. It’s sort of sundried tomatoes are the flares of the eighties and we all go through our different things. We’re all guilty of over using some of those ingredients. Actually, truffle oil is one of those… I didn’t like that!
RESCU: What do you predict for the future of food in Australia?
Bill Granger: I think we’re all worrying a lot more about our health. And I think that’s really important. You know, we’re caring about what we eat and I think that’s important cause we’re eating out so much. That becomes more and more important knowing that our food is good for us.
RESCU: People also really want to know now where their food has come from.
Bill Granger: It’s a level of sophistication and it’s a level of learning. Because, you know, everyone cooks well now — we eat such great food anywhere. I think the difference is when the ingredients are beautiful.
RESCU: What are your own pantry essentials?
Bill Granger: I’ve always got to have decent olive oil, some sea salt as well as the latest ingredient! I’m using a lot of Japanese miso paste in everything at the moment. Any type of miso really, and pickles! That’s a food trend. Love that one.
RESCU: What are your favourite things to cook at home?
Bill Granger: Nothing the same as what I’ve cooked before. I try to always cook something new, never the same thing twice. Just totally wanting to make it interesting and exciting…and its part of my job to push myself and keep coming up with new recipes. Oh there is one I keep going back to though. Roast chicken! That classic roast chicken, I never change.
RESCU: Will you experiment at home and test things out on your family and friends?
Bill Granger: Oh, totally. My children say ‘Daddy, can we have something non confronting for dinner?’ They’ll come home, bring a friend and they’ll be some mad thing on the table. They’ll realize when they’re older that their upbringing wasn’t too normal…
RESCU: Tell us about the restaurants that you visit when you want a seriously good feed:
Bill Granger: I love Fratelli Paradiso, Nomad and the River Café in London. They’re all great ones.
RESCU: So you’ve got eateries in London, Tokyo, Hawaii and you just opened Bill’s in Bondi. How do you give each venue a different flavor whilst still maintaining your signature?
Bill Granger: Well I love travelling. The reason I do restaurants everywhere is purely selfish, I love visiting them all! In Honululu we’ll take lots of local influences, which is Asian-fusion. We also do ‘the fresh Aussie’, the big mixed breakfast, which actually comes from Hawaii! Different things from everywhere come into it.
RESCU: Finally, what does your own day on a plate look like?
Bill Granger: Well I start with an egg. I love eggs. Boiled egg, sourdough toast, I make my own seeded bread right now for Bondi. It’s all activated and healthy and really delicious. Then I’ll have a salad or a bowl of grains…at Bondi we’re doing a tuna bowl which is just tuna and salad and brown rice.
For dinner I think there’s nothing better than a grill and salad. Grilled fish, or chicken, anything grilled! With a nice salad.
Bills in Bondi opened Wednesday 17th September 2014
