Spice, Friendship and a Fond Farewell

by Jen

It is a rare occasion that all the staff at Lochiel House get the opportunity to enjoy a meal together. Of course there are our daily staff lunches, but these are always tainted with the knowledge that soon we will all have to go our seperate ways in a matter of minutes to complete prep lists, wash dishes and re-set the restaurant all in time for dinner service.

So it was with great eagerness that we all pulled out our best outfits (scarves and boots included) and set off into the city on a chilli Monday evening to take a load off and delight in a lovely dinner, good wine and the friendship that inevitably develops when you spend long, late shifts working in a restaurant. As well as having a chance to catch up with each other, the dinner was a farewell to Owen - one of our apprentice chefs who had just completed his training and was leaving us to go out into the big world and become a paramedic!

Monique and Tony had done a wonderful job of keeping our dining destination a secret as we travelled in two cars along the motorway, eventually arriving at an underground car park smack-bang in the middle of Sydney's CBD. All eight of us followed Tony blindly as he directed us through the traffic like a trail of ducklings, until all of a sudden we found ourselves standing before a mysteriously illuminated and - wait for it - animated front door. With an image of brightly coloured oriental scarves seemingly blowing in the wind greeting us, we soon discovered that we were being treated to an experience at Spice Temple - one of Neil Perry's most recently opened establishments.

As we walked down the winding staircase into the deep, dark (but fragrant) depths of the restaurant we were already buzzing with anticipation. This is a place with an almost intoxicating ambience. While our eyes slowly adjusted to the almost cave-like darkness of the dining room, lit up only by subtle white and red lighting, we all sat down together at a long communal table. This is what we had all been waiting for. It really wouldn't have mattered if we were sitting in the parking lot of a fish and chip joint, the simple idea of being able to share a good laugh with good friends made the rest of it seem like a bonus. Having said this, Spice Temple was a great place to unwind and enjoy sumptuous modern Chinese fare.

The highlight of the meal was a dish of marinated pork spare ribs: dripping with a rich, dark and sweet sauce, we soon found ourselves abandoning any sense of dining etiquette and dug in. There was no need for cutlery or chopsticks - these ribs begged to ravished and our hands were soon covered in sauce. We then went on to enjoy some other great dishes including a platter of bamboo, snow peas and quail eggs and a perfectly succulent serve of crispy duck.

After the meal we were invited into the kitchen to see how they do things Neil Perry style. Monique and Tony already knew what to expect having worked for him in the past, but for the rest of us it was exciting to see all the woks, steamers and fryers being handled with flair by fifteen or more chefs. Our Apprentices Braden and Kat were dazzled with Kat remarking on the amazingly well designed set-up of the stoves. "I just want to get in there and cook!" Braden said to me after being asked what he thought.

There was no doubt that this was an inspirational place for us to all dine and as main courses made way for dessert, it was time to reflect on why we were all here. After working at Lochiel for five years, our newly-qualified Apprentice Chef Owen had to brace himself for a huge serving of love, encouragement and support for his future plans.

There were some tears of joy for the amazing friendship that we had all shared with Owen during his time with us and it was with slight apprehension that we farewelled him and looked to a future working without such a talented, efficient and hard-working person.

If only there were more opportunities to get together and relax like this. But for now, it's back to running our own restaurant. We hope you enjoy seeing a few of the snaps that we took on our visit to Spice Temple in July, 2010.