Hello everyone! Firstly, I would like to start with my introduction. I am Archana Rajbansi and I am a student here at Pacific Hospitality And Culinary Academy enrolled in Certificate III in Commercial Cookery. I have just recently completed my one year of training with PHCA during which I got the opportunity to do my internship in the kitchen department in Hotel Shambala, Kathmandu. It was such a wonderful experience training under professionals and getting that kind of industrial exposure. I had also received the opportunity of participating in the Hypro Master Chef Challenge, a special event in the Sixth Food & Beverage Hospitality 2018 expo organized by House Of Rajkarnicar. And to my surprise, I was able to secure the second runner up position in the competition. I was very hesitant of participating at first because I was not a confident person. Thankfully, with the college’s support and guidance I participated and I got to share and live such an overwhelming experience. It really boosted my confidence and I really got to learn so much. I have got the opportunity to have had many such experiences that would remain in my mind’s eye as PHCA always strives to provide such kind of platforms and exposure for the students through events, workshops, trainings, etc. We really get to explore ourselves and create, innovate and push our skills further.

One of such events was “The Christmas Delight” event that was organized by British Coffee School in association with Pacific Hospitality Culinary Academy on the 24^th of December at PHCA. It was a dinner event where the guests invited got to experience fine dining and indulge in a three course meal. And with all of us, the aspiring chefs engaged in back of the house as well as the front of the house, the Christmas dinner party turned out to be a success. I, however, was involved in the food production department where as some of my friends were involved in service, some in maintaining guest relations and some in live music as well. To sum it up were given the responsibility of running the entire show, be it food, be it service as well as entertainment.

Experiences are personal – and there is a lot of learning that can be derived from those experiences. We entered the kitchen at around 10 AM for the preparation needed. Then we had a small briefing about the dishes we were assigned; furthermore we were divided into groups. After group division we were on the floor doing the preparation.

Having had the experience of working in a professional kitchen I have realized that kitchen is a place where team work, co-ordination, communication, helping each other matters the most. We all went through the precarious process of producing delicate and delicious meals. Everybody was on full swing doing their allocated works. The event started at around 5 PM, and then the real game started on. Pressure and stress could be felt and the kitchen environment looked tense.  Then list of orders started to pile up, we were on and on dealing with the meal prep, plating and finally passing the orders to the service department. In this kind of situation we ourselves become more critical of our dishes than the customers.

Talking about the obstacles, I clearly remember we ran out of stock for our main course. It was a chaotic experience, my friends and I myself had a kind of panic attack but with great team work we overcame that too. Within a nick of a second, some of our friends came up and helped the team for the immediate production. And we were able to provide the dishes on time.

Summing up the whole experience, yes there was some rush hour but what is a kitchen without the rush hour and at the end all of those efforts were definitely worth it. For running a successful event great team work is a must. And I was glad I got to learn that through experience. Lastly, I would like to thank our college management team for providing us this experience.

The message is: always be positive, passionate, listen to your superiors and never question their credentials or their judgments. Learn how to be a good team member but never rest easy because that team will change tomorrow! So you need to be on your feet all the time! Be confident and work with full determination towards turning your passion into a career!

This interview was conducted keeping in mind that the students willing to pursue a career in Culinary Arts may have queries regarding the scope, the opportunities and the challenges this field offers. It is an informal interview with Australian Chef David A Brunelli who owns the restaurant, Gennarro’s Italian Restaurant in New South Wales, Sydney. He has conducted many workshops for the students of PHCA and has also welcomed PHCA’s graduates to work in his kitchen in Australia. A few of PHCA’s graduates have been doing their training (paid internship) in his restaurant in Australia.

We hope the questions the Chef has answered will give you a proper insight to this field, the challenges it has to offer along with the great opportunities that await!

How long has it been since you have started this career in the hospitality industry?

It’s been 25 years since I have started cooking. And I still have a lot to achieve.

 

Are any of your family members in this field too?

Yes, my family has been in this industry since my childhood. My father is an Italian and my mother a first generation Irish woman, they both are brilliant cooks and so they decided to open a restaurant.

 

Who do you look up to?

It has always been my father, whom I look up to. Since my father was an Opera singer as well, he used to sing and cook in the restaurant. Every child look up to their parent, don’t they?

 

 Did you go to any culinary school?

Yes, I did. But before joining the culinary school, I finished my high school and went to university and studied Environmental Toxicology, but since my father needed help in the restaurant so I joined him and started my training in a culinary school. In Australia, cookery is classified as trade. TAFE NSW is Australia’s largest vocational education and training provider. So, I learned my cookery skills through this training provider.

 

What is it like to be a chef in your family?

Since both my parents are brilliant cooks, cooking skills run in the family, it’s like I have inherited the skills.  So it’s quite competitive being a chef in my family.

 

 Is there any dish that your family loves when you cook for them?

On Sundays, we have this “Family Day” where all of our family members come for a late lunch or early dinner, where we cook like 5-15 courses. The food I cook is called ‘Ragu’ that’s basically a meat based sauce. I use pork and beef and cook it for 4-5 hours. I see my family enjoying the dish so am guessing they love it!

 

Is there any chef that you admire the most?

I’m not really big on “Gordon Ramsey” kind of stuff. I have my mentor Mark, Edward, who is an English Chef, I admire him the most. And then there is Anthony Bourdain, an American Celebrity Chef, I admire him because I found him very down to earth, he didn’t cut to the chase.

 

How often do you meet your family?

Since it’s a very demanding job, you don’t get to meet your family very often. Generally, when you have a public holiday, it’s hectic the most around that time, I am talking about 15-16 hours of duty, you can’t make it to different occasions and celebrate with your family and friends simply because it’s the time when the flow of guests are more.

 

What’s it like to have your own restaurant? Was it a “Dream come true” moment for you?

It’s always one’s dream to have your own business. When my father got ill, I took over my father’s restaurant.  It was quite a challenging task moving from an employee to an employer. You’re basically responsible for the staff, guest, and management administration. But my wife, she is my business partner as well and she is a Nepalese. Without her I wouldn’t be able to handle it, she basically does all the management work.

 

What makes you happiest when at work?

When the customers and the staff are happy, if I don’t have to tell the staff that something’s not right, that’s what makes me happy.

 

Where did you work before?

 The first place I started to work was a 5 star hotel. It’s called Grace Hotel. It’s in Sydney; I worked there for like 12 months. After that I worked in a 5 star hotel called Westin. It’s a fine dining Italian restaurant. I probably worked there for 6 months. And then a friend of mine got a job for me in an Eco Tourism Resort called Dooralong Valley Resort located in Central Coast.

I worked in Hornsby RSL Club too. It’s a club for the people who have served for the country, it’s open to the public as well. That’s where I got into the management part. I worked there for 3-4 years, that’s where I met Mark Edwards, the person who inspire me the most.

After a while I interviewed in another company called Villa Acru De Chelu, It’s a private resident for the Saudi Arabian prince. I was working for the royal people. I worked there for about 5 years.

In between I also worked for a company called ‘Chefs on the run’. Basically, they provide temporary or permanent placements of Catering and hospitality recruitment for hotels, restaurants, pubs and contract catering. This kind of job is very demanding cause everyday you could be in different place working. This was the highlight of my contracting career because it allowed me to work in 5 start restaurants to small cafés. It was probably the best experience in my career.

After that I started my own catering company called ‘Sopra Vento’ meaning Sopra is “above” and Vento is “wind”. That was a strange experience for me, because I started taking over the kitchen management in South West Italian Australian Association which is a company that contains club, hospitals, nursing homes, etc. I worked on a contract basis for like 1 year.

I once again got approached by an RSL club, that had club and a nursing home as well, where I took over the kitchen management, that’s the time when I wasn’t cooking anymore, I was basically handling the kitchen administration. Most of the latter part of my career was administrating the kitchen.

Once again I got approached by a hotel called Grand Hotel, but this time it was for my father’s restaurant to be leased inside the hotel. Finally I started Genarro’s Italian Restaurant again, but this time the restaurant is inside the hotel. We provide 3 meal courses for the hotel guest and the general public as well.

 

 Any advice you would like to pass on to the students who are planning to work aboard?

First thing, I would like to suggest is to make your English very strong because the English spoken here and in abroad has a huge difference. English is going to be the biggest obstacle. And that’s the key to be understood and the key to understand somebody that you work for. You can be really good at work but if you have a communication gap then the hard work might not pay off.

The next biggest hurdle is to become integrated to the western culture. Many of the people think it’s very easy because you watch it in the television, but in reality it’s very difficult to live in western society. The cost of living is much more expensive, so students need to work hard and never give up.

Also, you need to have a positive attitude if you are aiming to work in the international hospitality industry. Here, work comes before anything, so you need to have that passion, sincerity and determination to pull it through the day with a smile on your face. Students need to enter with a big dream, a vision but should not close an eye to reality! Because what they do today and how they perform today will actually define and determine their tomorrows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being a Chef of a restaurant that you actually own comes with great responsibility! However, it certainly provides you brief moments of joy and fulfilling escapes through divine food indulgences in your own kitchen!

Thrilling experiences through food experiments and exploration; one could get easily used to this life style! Having lived this life style for more than 20 years now, Chef David Brunelli finds great pleasure in sharing one of his favorite family recipes for Gnnochi Napolitano with us!

Gnochhi refers to various thick, small and soft dough dumplings in Italian and these dumplings can usually be made from wheat flour, eggs, cornmeal, potato, cheese or similar ingredients. You can always make preferential choice of adding flavours of herbs to the dish. Similarly, Napolitano or Napoli sauce basically covers all kinds of tomato- based sauces derived from Italian cuisines.

Chef David however, loves his family recipe for potato Gnochhi which is actually the most famous one that are known and loved world-wide. It dates back to the sixteenth or, more likely, the seventeenth century. They generally say it all started after the Spanish explorers brought potatoes from South America and introduced them to Italian kitchens. David shares with us today, this recipe for potato dumplings and fresh Sougo fresco Napoletana;  a sauce based on tomato, garlic, olive oil and basil. It is a very popular dish and he has been making it for years now with his family and has also included this dish in his Italian restaurant’s menu. He adds that this dish is very easy to make even at your home. He recalls those memories when he along with his father, mother and sister would gather around to make this dish sharing conversations, talking about their life, work and where they were in life at that moment. You can follow why this recipe is so close to his heart!

Now, lets take a look at the ingredients that one needs to have to make Gnocchi Napolitano (egg free)

For making Gnochhi

• 100 grams Flour + extra for dusting
• 1kg potato cooked

For making Napolitano Sauce

• 1kg ripe cherry tomatoes ( the smaller the sweeter, if you are using larger tomatoes you need to cut it)
• 4-6 cloves whole garlic
• 1-2 whole fresh chilies for some zing (*preferential)
• 250 ml dry white wine for deglazing
• 100 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil (E.V.O.) for the Italian flavor and taste
• 4-5 fresh basil leaves for fragrance
• 4-5 fresh parsley leaves for aroma (*preferential)
• A pinch of black pepper or white pepper (*preferential)
• Parmesan Cheese
• Once you have all these ingredients ready you are set to follow these methods for cooking Gnocchi and Napolitano sauce

Method that you need to follow for Gnocchi

• Boil potato whole in skin until soft, drain, cool and remove skin while warm.
• Mash potato as fine as possible, crush against board/bench, use potato ricer or mouli.
• Level crushed potato on bench and sieve flour over potato. Combine creating dough.
• Flour the bench (working table) surface lightly to prevent dough sticking and for rolling purposes.
• Make a ball and divide into 4 and roll into cylinder shape approx. 1cm diameter.
• Pinch dough lightly at approx. 2cm intervals and cut at intervals. Prepare water for cooking.
• Bring adequate salted water to boil and drop gnocchi into water, do not overcrowd the pot.
• Gnocchi are ready when they float to surface of water, then strain and put it on a plate.

Method that you need to follow for Napolitano Sauce

• Heat oil to medium heat, add peeled whole garlic and chili, brown lightly and remove the garlic and chilly from oil.
• Heat oil to high heat and add whole tomatoes and blister and sauté until collapsed.
• Deglaze with white wine so that it imparts little bit of sweetness and takes away the acidity of the tomato and reduce liquid by ¼.
• Lower heat to simmer and cook for approx. 5-10 minutes according to taste.
• Add freshly cut parsley and stir
• Add a pinch of black or white pepper
• Bruise fresh basil between hands and add to sauce.
• Add a little sauce to cooked gnocchi to prevent sticking.

Finally,

• Plate gnocchi and finish with a little Napolitano sauce and garnish with grated parmesan cheese and basil sprig.

You are now all set to indulge in Gnocchi Napolitano! Stay updated with our posts, we will soon be sharing a Vlog for the recipe.

What is it like to be born in a family of Chefs from generations? What are the inspirations and aspirations? Let’s take a brief look at the journey of one such well wisher of PHCA who started right from the bottom and made his way through becoming a Chef and now a restaurateur!

Meet Australian Chef David Brunelli who specializes in Italian Cuisines and owns an Italian based restaurant – Gennaro’s Italian Restaurant which is located inside the Grand Hotel, Wyong, NSW, Australia.

We managed to sit for an interview with Chef David for knowing him better, his journey, his experiences, his inspirations and what was it really like to become a chef in a family where the cooking spirit has thrived in the members for generation. During this interview, we also got an opportunity to understand his background, his love for food and why he made the choice of pursuing a career in the ever growing hospitality industry.

So from what we know now, David’s family has been engaged in the restaurant business for generations , his father who is from Naples, Italy, owned an Italian restaurant called Genarro’s Italian Restaurant. So the restaurant is named after his father. His mother on the other hand is Irish and a brilliant cook! Looks like cooking skills are inherited in the family’s genes!

We all are well aware that Italian food is loved globally, be it crusty pizza, or cheesy flavored pasta packed in a bowl.  It is hard to find an individual who wouldn’t adore this Cuisine. And so was for Gennaro’s, though it was a small family business, the food they served was loved and enjoyed by the customers. Chef David recalls the time when he rushed to the restaurant after his high school got over in order to help his father in the restaurant’s kitchen because that’s how busy it actually got! Meanwhile, he learned about Italian cuisine and eventually with time he fell in love with it! As his love for the business started growing, he started getting more involved in the kitchen and their food menu so much so that he was also involved in production. Soon he began to receive positive tips and reviews from the customers and then came the moment of realization, that was when he could listen to his guts telling him that this was what he was meant to do! He was now aware of his passion for cooking and this instinct guided him to take the lead and make the decision to drop his further studies in science, and dedicate himself in learning and understanding the hospitality sector.

Being a student from Science Faculty, David has the benefit of the knowledge that comes from the fundaments of Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Due to this, David incorporates his knowledge of science with his cooking skills and considers his academic background to be a great asset. He likes and enjoys the fact that he actually understands what goes into making a great food not only using ingredients but using science! He also considers himself to be quite inclined to art and innovation. He believes he is a creative person and so he channels his creativity to presenting food in a way that describes and validates the food beyond words! And that’s what Culinary Art is all about!

He quotes “I am not a scientist or an artist, nor a psychiatrist but rather I am a cook with mad ideas. And I love it that way.” He adds that it helps him to observe the theory behind atoms and molecules, so that one can understand how things are happening and why they are happening. It has helped him to develop his cooking skills over time.  Further he states “I mix up my ideas, put some spices and flavors and finish it off with my artistic instinct that is depicted as an art in a plate or bowl, which then I serve it to my customers”.

Everyone goes through a stage in their career where they struggle, work hard and put in their best interests and effort to achieve their goals. And it was not different for David, he had always dreamt to own a renowned restaurant. Although he has successfully achieved his goals and is now living his dreams, he recalls those days and hours of hard work that has made it possible for him! Before becoming the owner of  Gennaro’s, he worked for various notable hotels and restaurant such as Westin Hotels and Resort, Dooralong Valley Resort, Villa Arcu De’ Chelu, Chefs on the run and a few others that we lost count of! After gaining some experience through these places, he started his own catering company called SopraVento. That was when he started taking over kitchen management and administrating kitchen in South West Italian Australian Association (SWIAA) which is formed to provide social welfare, cultural and cross-cultural services to the Italian residents in the South West region of Sydney. Along with these associations, he adds he has been involved as a kitchen consultant for kitchen designing and renovations.

Chef David looks back in time, through his journey and shares with us that he is proud of what he has achieved so far and he still aims to provide better and quality food services to his customers in the near future.