Chef Nic is a slight man with a calm demeanour, prone to sudden bursts of enthusiasm about his food. His restaurant, Embrasse tucked on Drummond Street is a little like him. An oasis of white tables, intimate and unpretentious. A place where you feel you might get to eat some great food and unwind.
I just want a restaurant that does good food.
After sitting in conversation with him you discover that he loves using local produce (a delightful trend in most of the chefs I’ve met), he tends a garden where most of the flowers and herbs for his Meli Melo comes from and that he cares a lot about his staff.
As a Chef, Nic Poelaert certainly has the credentials working at various Michelin starred restaurants, citing his turn at the Michel Bras outfit in South of France as one of his most valuable.
But it’s hard to know a person just by reading about him. You need to sit at his table and eat his food. Alas! We didn’t get to try his food this time but he did bring out a little saucepan of aligot. This is a cunning mix of potatoes, cheese (in this case its tomme cheese), cream, butter and a little garlic. What you get is a wonderful silky, elastic consistency.
Traditionally the dish comes from the Auvergne region and used to be made out of bread by monks. Potatoes were substituted later because it gives a better texture. I could eat this dish all day, a combination of comfort food and cheesy snack that squeaks a little at the back of your teeth. Babyfood for adults.
A saucepan of this and a good movie and I'm set!
Chef Nic takes a lot of inspiration from his birth country but tempered with Aussie casualness. His dishes are inspired by freshness. His meli melo is never the same, with herbs, leaves and flowers interchanging with different dressings and emulsions so that "you're never going to find the same flavour in each mouthful".
He talks about using ocean trout from Tasmania- because it's colder, there's more fat on the fish hence more tender and tastier. He works with a master cheesemaker who goes out and brings in small village cheeses. He experiments with new ingredients that he finds like black garlic from Korea. This is garlic, dried until the inside is black, sticky and sweet. He makes an emulsion with boiled egg, sunflower oil, salt and the garlic pureed into a fresh paste, then served with wahyu beef.
Hmm... my mouth is watering listening him talking about ingredients. There's a simplicity and purity about his food philosophy that is very appealing. You can see why he won Young Chef of the Year. His restaurant meteoric rise happened fast. He got reviews after three weeks, won the award and in February this year just celebrated their first year. I cursed my busy schedule, I really fancied staying here until dinner and eating my way through his menu.
"I just want to cook and keep people happy." That and have happy staff. "Happy staff means happy customers." On Mondays and Tuesdays which are his market days, he makes sure that his staff go out and meet people. He's hands on and often talks to customers- many of which are great fans and surprised that he's there every night. In the one year Embrasse is in operation, he's only been away for two services.
He's wanted to be a chef since he was 14. His mother is a great cook and many of his recipes are inspired by childhood memories. "My mother still tells me what to do," he smiles. He loves to do special nights where he prepares original recipes he used to eat as a kid. And he needs to constantly be around produce. Daily he can spend up to 15 minutes in the fridge just looking.
That's why his garden is his joy and private space. "Even my wife doesn't disturb me there." And when we asked him what his favourite food are, he answers immediately, " I love Asian and Indian food but the best is when I go to someone's home and they cook for me." I guess for a chef that's a real treat.
Embrasse is on 312, Drummond Street in Carlton, Melbourne. They have a 5 or 8 course degustation menu and a 12 course vegetarian degustation. Website:
www.embrasserestaurant.com.au
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