Chef Ben Williamson, of award-winning Agnes, is bringing stand-out dishes that celebrate smoke, scorch and char.
Brisbane chef Ben Williamson is packing smoked potato sourdough, applewood smoked butter and cherry wood logs to take along with his luggage to Melbourne for an event that transports one of Australia’s best wood-fire restaurants to the QT Melbourne for one night.
Presented by QT Hotels and hosted by Good Food Events, “Agnes x Pascale: Playing with Fire” will see Williamson – co-owner and executive chef of Fortitude Valley restaurant Agnes – join forces with QT Melbourne’s executive chef Nic Wood for a four-course feast at Pascale Bar & Grill on Thursday, June 19.
It’ll be a rare opportunity to experience one of the country’s most awarded restaurants, recently featured in Good Food’s “10 Queensland restaurants you need to eat at this year”. The timing, too, is ideal. Agnes really comes into its own in winter, when the complex aromatics of the different woods come together with the sights and sounds of the crackling fire. “It’s just the best,” says Williamson.
Half of the menu will come from Agnes, with Williamson hand-picking some current highlights. The line-up includes a wood-roasted duck from free-range Great Ocean Ducks, dry-aged for two weeks, then slow-cooked high over sweet, fruity cherry wood to absorb all the subtle nuances of the wood. “It’s that old adage – what grows together goes together, and it’s the same with the woods you’re cooking over. Cherry and duck is a match made in heaven.”
The duck will be finished with generous spoonfuls of that excellent applewood smoked butter, which will also be used to emulsify a rich, slightly spiced duck bone sauce. The dish will be served sharing-style with golden, bubbly pommes boulangere – sliced potatoes baked in a skillet – gently grilled rosa radicchio and small, seared muscat grapes.
Williamson will be using a basket grill – a very finely meshed pan – to cook southern calamari because it allows the fire to come right up into the food. The calamari will be accompanied by a yeasted beurre blanc and burnt bay-leaf oil. “We’re bringing some of our smoked potato sourdough with us that we’ll toast, and you can use that to mop up all the juices. It’s warming, hearty and super saucy. It’s everything you want when it’s cold.”
As for Wood’s half of the menu, diners can expect a charred O’Connor sirloin MB4+ steak with smoked bone marrow and Italian meringue, which will be coal scorched rather than flamed, and served with blistered blueberries and bitter chocolate mousse.
“I am super excited to have Ben from Agnes cook alongside me as he is currently one of Australia’s best chefs,” Wood said. “I went to Agnes two years ago, and it was one of the most memorable dining experiences I have had in Australia.”
“Ben and I have the same level of respect for cooking with fire, and I think all the dishes are going to complement each other well.”
The menu will be paired with bespoke Four Pillars Gin cocktails, crafted to harmonise with the smoky flavours of the food, and wine.
Tickets for Agnes x Pascale: Playing with Fire are $139 and are available here.
Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.
Erina Starkey – Erina is the Good Food App Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Previously, Erina held a number of editing roles at delicious.com.au and writing roles at Broadsheet and Concrete Playground.
