“Think of it as an internship,” said chef Lou E. Perella. He and his wife, Laura, a pastry chef, are leaving a home where they have just settled in at their family’s restaurant, Perella’s Ristorante in Warren, to have the cooking adventure of a lifetime.
They are embarking for Melbourne, Australia, where Lou E. Perella will be in residence for three months. This is not a move to start a new job. The Perellas already have their plane tickets for their return flight home in December.
This is a professional chef coming into another restaurant for a short residency to learn techniques, practices and procedures that have made the restaurant and chef world renowned. The restaurant is called Attica. It is owned by chef Ben Shewry.
It is no less than the 33rd-best restaurant in the world, according to an industry award known as the San Pellegrino list, named for the sparkling mineral-water company which sponsors it.
So what does Perella know about the restaurant where he is going to spend the next three months of his life? He says Attica itself is hard to define. “First you have to answer the question, ‘What is Australian food?’ ” he said. “I’m not sure what that is yet.” His friends both in and out of the business have all asked him if kangaroo is on the menu. According to Attica’s website, it is. The menu is leading edge. Emu has been known to put in an appearance, as has marron, described as “a large, sweet, native crayfish.” Vegemite, the protein-packed spread that is at best an acquired taste, is on the menu as well.
Perella says the restaurant has its own farm less than a mile away where he will work in the fields once a week. This should be easy for the young chef to relate to. His father, Louie Perella, founded Perella’s 20 years ago and the first relationships he developed were with local farmers. It was a way for Louie Perella to keep his fledgling restaurant going through its formative years. And young Lou E. Perella took it all in.
The younger Perella’s connection to Australia came by way of the prestigious Bocuse d’Or, an exclusive international culinary society. The society’s main function is to put on a “culinary Olympics” each year. The Bocuse d’Or focuses on young chefs and has a mentoring initiative called Ment’or Grant. Through this initiative, established mentors from some of the world’s top restaurants open their doors and provide invaluable training to up-and-coming chefs. Grantees get to learn new techniques, as well as understand different kitchen cultures and approaches to food and cooking. Recipients may earn a one- to two-month grant, capped at $6,000 per month, to cover housing, transportation and salary.
“Since it’s a three-month stint, I’ll rotate through different positions and stations working closely with the cooks. I’ll have to discover what their [line of cooks] system is.” Laura Perella will do her own unofficial internship. She is not an official part of the tour but is no less interested in broadening her horizons. She plans to talk to local bakers in the Melbourne area and hopes to find a position as a baker’s assistant in a few different spots around town. •
Bruce Newbury’s Dining Out radio show is heard on 1540 WADK-AM, wadk.com and the TuneIn mobile application. He can be reached by email at bruce@brucenewbury.com.
