Dad’s Dinner

Dad’s Dinner: This is my first menu I’ve ever created. ✨ In honour of my dad, Phil ❤️ Every dish in this ten course degustation is a memory or inspired by dad. ⠀
I’ve poured my heart and soul into this menu, it’s been months in the making, my passion project. I drew inspo from one of my fav chefs @nellyjrobinson , he creates amazing dishes from memories @nelrestaurant my fav restaurant in Sydney. ⠀
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I made this dinner on the 1st anniversary since losing Dad, we lost dad to cancer and this journey has been such a nice way to remember him, grieve and celebrate him as his legacy. Here I’ll be sharing each dish, the recipe and the story behind it.⠀
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Thanks to all of you for letting me share a massive part of me ❤️

Oyster Bloody Mary shooter & Oysters shared with a rhubarb mignonette 🦪🍅⠀
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Opening dish of Dad’s dinner, I once saw him do an oyster shooter at a restaurant and thought he was the coolest!! He also loved rhubarb so I incorporated the two to put together this simple dish and added my flair ✨⠀
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Shooter: tomato juice, vodka, lemon juice, celery salt, salt n pepper + tobasco & Worcestershire⠀
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Mignonette: rhubarb, eshalots, white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, salt n pepper ⠀

“Bush Tucker” Kangaroo tartare with dukkah & finger lime with lemon myrtle pepper crispbread⠀
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This dish was inspired by Dad and I’s trip to Uluru. We hiked to the very top of Kings Canyon. Experienced sunrise at Ayer’s Rock, and finished one of our days at the only fine dining restaurant in Ayer’s Rock. Dad loved Aboriginal culture and always loved getting up early and going to the smoking ceremony in the city every year for Australia Day. ⠀
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Tartare: Kangaroo, spring onion, capers, dill pickles, lemon juice, oil and soy⠀

Pescatarian version: Salmon, pink peppercorns, dill, lemon juice, oil and Worcestershire sauce.
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I was apprehensive to work with Kangaroo, especially raw, but this was one of my fav starters. The flavours were so tasty, with strong dill pickle flavour. Kind of like a cheeseburger! Plating inspired by: @nelrestaurant @nellyjrobinson

“Easter Show corn” baby corn with a corn puree with sage leaves and finger lime⠀
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My Dad was obsessed with corn 🌽 . We used to tease him because you could tell when dad made the salad as he would put in a whole can of corn!! He loved corn fields, because of his favourite baseball movie Field of Dreams. He also never missed an Easter Show, so this would have been his fav dish. ⠀
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Corn Purée: Canned corn kernels, unsalted butter and thickened cream ⠀
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I knew I couldn’t do a Dad dinner without corn. I tried a few different things: popcorn, corn chips etc. Corn on a cob style but to make it more fine dining, I went with steamed baby corn finished in the pan.

“Date night with dahl” 8 hour slow roasted silverbeet dahl served with curry leaves, coconut saffron rice and roti⠀
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Everytime mum and dad had a date night in they’d always order Indian. Dad would make a darl/dahl joke almost everytime. ⠀
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Dahl: Dried yellow split peas, garlic, ginger, chilli, ghee, brown onion, curry leaves, cardamon pods, garam masala, tandoori paste, curry powder, ground tumeric, canned chopped tomatoes and Silverbeet ⠀

“Dad, do you want a meatball?” Beef meatball with a pipette of tomato sauce on a bed of micro herbs ⠀
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I made this video when I was around 12 years old. My sister Jenna @jenhen___ and I made it an ongoing thing to record dad when he was “doing noddy’s”/falling asleep in front of the tv. Dad loved this video so much, he wanted it as his ringtone. When we were going through his laptop, he had the video saved. ⠀
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Beef meatballs: breadcrumbs, Parmesan, zucchini, spring onion, oil, beef mince⠀

“Silence of the lambs” sous vide lamb with VB braised onions, fava bean purée and a Chianti jus. ⠀
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I found dads copy of silence of the lambs on VHS when I was younger and I think that’s where my love of horror movies came from. Dads beer of choice is VB and I needed another element in this dish and I thought it would look like brains. ⠀
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Turns out fava beans are broad beans in Australia, fun fact! ⠀
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This was a crowd favourite and probably my fav dish of the night.

“Roadtrip Yowie” White Chocolate mousse with Yowie bites on a bed of vanilla persian fairy floss ⠀
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In 1997 we took a family trip to Queensland. Dad loved a roadtrip so he drove up with me and back home with Jenna, while mum flew. On the roadtrip I remember stopping at the sugarcane fields and every time we stopped at a servo I’d convince dad to get me a Yowie. ⠀
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Yowie chocolate is so shit that’s why I used it as a bowl instead. Would love to do a Kinder one too 🤤

“Mercury St Lemon Tree” deconstructed lemon tart 🍋 ⠀
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Dad grew up in Mercury Street in Narwee, in the backyard they had a lemon tree 🌳 so this dish is a tribute to dad and where he grew up. 💛

“Look at the stars” - Mufasa to Simba: peach foam with galaxy sprinkles 🍑 ⠀
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Dad and I took a trip to Uluru in 2014, the stars are absolutely incredible out there. One night after dinner, we drove out of town and turned the car lights off and looked up at the stars to see the Milky Way. I’ll never forget that moment! ✨ ⠀
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Peach foam: 300g peach slices frozen, 10g honey I used @miliatis_bees honey , 2 tbsp lemon juice, 2 egg whites⠀
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This isn’t whipped enough but you get the idea. Tastes extremely peachy 🤤⠀
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Thanks to @miliatis_bees 🐝 for the honey. Worked perfectly with this dish. Check out this beautiful family’s bee friendly products including honey, honeycomb, candles and lip balm. 🍯

“Field of Dreams” - Baseball cookie with canteen snacks ⚾️ ⠀
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Dad played baseball since as long as I could remember. As a kid our weekends would be at the game, adventuring off while dad played and mum scored the game. Coming back just to ask for money for the canteen. ⠀
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Almost at the end of the series!! Next dish is the final 😔 hope you’ve enjoyed as much as I’ve enjoyed doing it. Now someone win the lotto and buy me a restaurant 🤩

“Bedtime Story Petit Fours” - clinker slice and hash brownies⠀
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To wrap up this series, this dish is made up of the sweetest and funniest memories. Cinderella is a family memory of ours. Dad was a creative director of “Cinderella” featuring my cousins and dad as Prince Charming/Narrator. This just reminds me of his attitude, always fun, funny and playful. ⠀
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Clinkers are such a dad dish so I added this in there. One of dads friends, made him hash brownies fo help with the pain cancer brings and we decided to do them one night together. Dad went straight to sleep, I greened out. ⠀
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This Cinderella box found me!! I was in a variety store looking for something else and I walked past it and 🤯 mind blown. With inspo from @nelrestaurant @nellyjrobinson realised it would be the most perfect way to wrap up this special dinner.