FOODIE HEAVEN ON HIGH

From a $240 steak to lobster bolognese, Sally Coates finds out how Nineteen’s head chef plans to up the ante on the food front

The chef at The Star’s new rooftop bar and restaurant, Nineteen, is taking things up to the next level

NINETEEN’S infinity pool and stunning 19th floor outlook has certainly captured the Gold Coast’s attention since opening at The Star last month.

You’d be living under a rock not to know the restaurant and rooftop bar is the project of Simon Gloftis and Billy Cross, however, a name you may not be as familiar with is Kelvin Andrews, the head chef responsible for delivering fare fitting for a world-class venue.

A close friend of Simon’s, Kelvin was given free rein ... and he hasn’t wasted the opportunity.

“I worked with Simon at The Fish House for a couple of years before I left to live and work in Sweden,” Kelvin says.

“While I was over there Simon called me and asked me to do this with him and Billy and I said yes straight away. I was so excited.

“There’s been 12 months of planning. I designed the kitchen and travelled Australia looking for the best meat and seafood suppliers.

“I spent time in Sydney working with Anthony Puharich, who is the best butcher in Australia, just learning about meat and looking for the best meat farmers. We always wanted food to be elegant, but in its purest form, highlighting the best of Australian produce.”

Rather than being locked in to one style of cuisine, Nineteen is primarily produce based, with an ever-changing menu dependant on what the pick of the protein is that day.

“We’re the only restaurant in Australia to offer Kiwami wagyu beef,” Kelvin says.

“It’s the best beef in Australia but it’s not available in Australia — it’s export only, even though it’s only from about three hours away in the Darling Downs.

“If it’s the best beef in Australia, why can’t we use it? Why export it?

“So we’ve worked out a deal and they’re going to supply us. One reason was that it is so expensive nobody would pay for it, but we will.”

The $240 Kiwami beef is Nineteen’s signature premium steak for two, a permanent menu item to tempt high-rollers.

But this restaurant’s hero dish, and Kelvin’s personal favourite, is the rock lobster bolognese.

“Pasta and seafood go so well together, but we didn’t want to do a typical marinara,” Kelvin says.

“We get lobster flown in live daily from all around Australia and we use every single part of it. The shells we hang over the fire to smoke them all day to get maximum flavour and depth for the dish and make a ragout from them.

“It is quite a meaty dish because of the roasted shells, with sweet, clean lobster meat on top, all on handmade pasta.”

The lobster shells will just be one thing hanging around the state-of-the-art kitchen, which in Kelvin’s opinion, is among the best in the country. But his favourite thing about it isn’t the hi-tech equipment and modern layout.

“My favourite thing is 100 per cent my bonsai tree,” he says.

“It just calms me down. We didn’t want the classic sterile, depressing kitchen, especially when we’re in there 16 hours a day.

“So it’s like a gallery, everything’s a feature and people can look in and watch through the glass.

“There’s no other restaurant and bar like this in Queensland and they are few and far between in Australia.”