A Taste Of De Bortoli
Ben Levene, Head Chef Of Locale Restaurant At De Bortoli Wines Yarra Valley Estate, Australia, Makes An Appearance At Favola
Elevate your dining experience and enjoy an exploration of the senses at the award-winning
Favola at Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur, as it proudly welcomes Chef Ben Levene, Head Chef of Locale Restaurant at De Bortoli Wines Yarra Valley Estate, Victoria, Australia from 18 to 20 September 2019.
Residents and visitors to Kuala Lumpur can take this opportunity to embark on an exciting culinary journey with Chef Ben, as he acquaints the palate with his refined and ingenious creations, specially paired with exquisite wines from the De Bortoli range.
The philosophy behind
Locale Restaurant is a perfect match with the De Bortoli belief of moving towards sustainable, environmentally-aware farming and winemaking practices. Beautifully located at the
De Bortoli Vineyard at Yarra
Valley, a 1.5 hours’ drive from Melbourne’s CBD, the name
Locale (pronounced Low-car-leh), reflects not only the De Bortoli family’s Italian heritage but also the restaurant’s philosophy of sourcing the best local, seasonal and organic produce. Sourcing this excellent local produce is a job that is made easier because of Locale’s position in the Yarra Valley, an abundant region full of people producing great quality ingredients, from quail and salmon to beautifully fresh mascarpone from Yea and trout from Buxton.
Chef Ben Levene’s motto is to give it 110% and that is exactly what he has done since he started with De Bortoli back in 2016. Hailing from the United Kingdom, Ben’s passion for food started when he was 16 on work experience at the Royal Automobile Club in London
Pall Mall. The rest, as they say, is history. After completing the Specialised Chefs Scholarship at Bournemouth and Poole College (one of the best cooking schools in the United Kingdom), Ben found his way to Australia and Locale, where he joined as Sous Chef and is now Head Chef. His average day starts with setting up the kitchen, prepping for service and making fresh pasta before checking off orders and planning for upcoming events. “The fact that De Bortoli is run by a family really makes it feel like home” says Ben. The De Bortoli family spirit and his own memories of sitting around the dinner table drinking a glass of wine paired with delicious food is what inspires Ben’s food.
Expressing himself through creating dishes using the finest quality ingredients and produce is a passion of Ben’s - “The farm to plate approach really excites me and De Bortoli makes it easy with our vegetable and herb gardens. There is also an abundance of fantastic local produce in the Yarra Valley.”
Ben enjoys exploring ways to incorporate wine in his cooking too and his favourite wine match is De Bortoli’s iconic Noble One with Tiramisu. “We use Noble One in the sabayon, it helps to cut through the rich, creamy mascarpone - it’s delicious!” When asked about a tip when incorporating wine in cooking, Ben had this to say, “Don’t try to over complicate it! Keep it simple; lighter wines with lighter dishes like fish, more robust wines with meats and Rosé for everything else.”
De Bortoli Wines is a 3rd generation family wine company established by Vittorio and Giuseppina De Bortoli in 1928. The couple immigrated to Australia from Northern Italy, from mountain villages at the foothills of the
Italian Alps, near the historic town of Asolo. Their son, Deen De
Bortoli (who passed away in 2003), expanded and consolidated the business created by his parents. Since then, Deen’s children have been responsible in establishing De Bortoli’s reputation for premium wine including the iconic dessert wine Noble One and then via the success of the cool climate wines produced at the family’s Yarra
Valley estate. Bearing a winemaking philosophy that says ‘Great Wine Begins in the Vineyard’, De Bortoli has always been focused on careful site selection, vine maturity and high input viticulture with a move towards biological farming principles.
From 18 to 20 September, discover Chef Ben Levene’s unique cuisine at the awardwinning Favola.