Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
House special: a night with mentors
It has been a roller coaster of a year for acclaimed Marlborough restaurant Arbour. Reporter spoke with chef and co-owner Bradley Hornby about a special event on Saturday with his two mentors Lindsay Bennett and Paul Ellis.
What’s the idea behind the mentors dinner?
I generally speak to either Lindsay or Paul every week. We’re at that stage in our careers where we use each other as sounding boards for our individual work lives. The idea of the dinner was to create a celebration of their influence on my life that our regular guests can share in. Paul, Lindsay and I will create three dishes each and Liz [Buttimore] will match with some of her favourite wines. Our regulars were so excited about the event it booked out in just one day.
How important were Lindsay and Paul to your development as a chef?
Both are probably the reason I am in the style of food I amnow. Lindsay gave me my first restaurant job as a teenager which gave me that important step up from my cafe job of dishes and cooking. I met Paul whilst working for Lindsay and over the next decade bounced back and forwards between the two. Chef training then was very disciplined. They were extremely tough on me, but because of that I know how to work hard, can cover several sections at once and I understand the art of pastry, which can let a lot of chefs down in their menu.
It’s been a pretty big year for Arbour, what have the highlights been for you?
It’s been a roller coaster hasn’t it! Most of what we have achieved is in our five year plan, but it’s always a huge surprise to have these things become reality. Highlights would be helping the Hospice Fundraising Committee raise $200,000 for Hospice Marlborough. We are all so proud of the fact we managed to pull ourselves together during review season to gain a Cuisine Hat after Manuel [Rabl] and Carmen [Scheiwiller’s] tragic story, and of course Liz’s amazing achievement being named Cuisine Magazine’s Kenwood Restaurant Personality of the Year. I’m so very proud of her! It was so unexpected that I stayed here to cover the workload and she went to the awards alone!
How would you describe the kind of food, and the atmosphere you’re trying to create at the restaurant?
We want to showcase our local producers with dishes that are exciting and surprising to both regulars and regional visitors. We want to be known for ever changing fine food, but I think the important balance to that is that we have friendly, casual service. There are so many times Liz and I have left a great restaurant feeling we simply didn’t enjoy the food because of how uncomfortable the wait staff made us feel. We don’t want that pretense.
We want our guests to relax and really enjoy themselves.