Luke
Mangan
Articles
Hot
in the kitchen, by By Nicole Bittar - May 4, 2004
(Credit:
The Age)
It
is possible to be kicked out of high school and become
an international celebrity chef. Just ask Luke Mangan.
The
only book he claims to have read (he has almost finished
his second, Paul Barry's The Rise and Rise of Kerry
Packer) is about his chum, Richard Branson, whom Mangan
met in October last year when the Virgin founder dined
at two of Mangan's three Sydney restaurants on the
same day.
Forest
Hill-raised Mangan, 33, has appeared on NBC's Today
show, the US Food Network, filled in as guest chef
for Martha Stewart on American television, and files
reports for Channel Nine.
And
on Saturday, he will host a diplomatic culinary event
for royalty. Mangan has been invited by the Australian
Embassy in Copenhagen to prepare a state dinner for
the Crown Prince of Denmark, Frederik Andre Henrik
Christian, his fiancee Tasmanian princess-in-waiting,
Mary Donaldson, the Australian Governor-General, Major
General Michael Jeffery, the Danish royal family and
up to 52 foreign dignitaries. The event is being held
in the lead-up to the royal wedding on May 14.
It's
not the first time Mangan has cooked for royalty;
Prince Charles and Prince Andrew have tucked into
Mangan's fare, as have movie stars such as Samuel
L. Jackson, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise and Uma Thurman.
Given
such exposure to stardom, he was unfazed at first
by the Copenhagen invitation.
"I
didn't think too much about it. I just treated it
as a normal event," he says. "Without sounding
arrogant, I've been lucky enough to cook a few things
overseas before to promote Australian cuisine. But
once I had a chance to think about it, this is a huge
honour and I'm very lucky to be a part of it."
The
Northern Territory barramundi, Tasmanian salmon and
South Australian kingfish on the menu are being flown
over daily. On arrival, guests will enjoy 1997 Kreglinger
Estate, Pipers Brook sparkling wine, followed by coconut
broth, Crystal Bay prawns, mushroom, foie gras and
2002 Henschke Julius riesling.
My
philosophy is, never say no, give the customer what
they want and never give up on your dream or goal.
LUKE MANGAN, chef
A
few courses later, poached loin of lamb with a mustard
crust and Jerusalem artichoke puree will be washed
down with a 2001 Fermoy Estate cabernet sauvignon
from Margaret River, Western Australia. And for dessert,
licorice parfait with lime syrup will be served with
a 2001 De Bortoli Noble One botrytis semillon, from
the NSW Riverina.
Mangan
will also host a buffet for close friends of the royal
family on May 12, and will still be in the kitchens,
"assisting and learning", on the wedding
day.
He
dons an apron less frequently these days, given his
myriad enterprises: cookbooks, a consultancy business,
eponymous produce sold at Pyrmont Growers Market,
Sydney, and David Jones. Then there is the stream
of restaurant and chef awards, including Mangan's
Darlinghurst restaurant, Salt, winning The Sydney
Morning Herald's Best New Restaurant 2000 award and
two chef's hats in the Good Food Guide when the restaurant
was only eight months old.
And
he still finds time to leave the country; Winemaker
Southcorp invited Mangan to help launch Penfolds'
1998 Grange in Aspen, New York and San Francisco,
in June last year.
"It
was like being in a rock concert, because it was so
bloody hectic," he says. "We'd arrive in
New York to do a dinner for 100; that same night we'd
mingle with the crowd, hit the sack at 3am, get up
at 5am to catch a 7am flight to Aspen, and then do
it all again. We had limos waiting for us; girls in
our rooms waiting for us (sorry, that was in the dream).
It was really hard-core, but great fun. I think it's
the best food we've cooked off-site and I loved every
minute of it," Mangan says.
But
it's not all glitz and glamour. The restaurant business
is ruthless, says the Michel Roux-trained chef, whose
first three jobs in Melbourne after working at England's
three Michelin-starred Waterside Inn and Kensington
Palace, were short-lived; all three restaurants proved
unsuccessful.
"I
nearly threw in cooking but one last chance came when
(Sydney) Restaurant CBD opened in February '94 and
I was in the right place at the right time,"
he says.
"To
be honest, I was so lucky to be there; it really kicked
my cooking off. I was a head chef at 24. I had never
been a second chef, so I learnt along the way."
He
and partner Lucy Allon stayed at CBD for four years,
during which time they devised their recipe for success,
before establishing Salt, Bistro Lulu and Moorish.
"It
comes down to bums on seats: how we get them and how
we keep them coming back. This sounds easy but my
philosophy is, never say no, give the customer what
they want and never give up on your dream or goal,"
Mangan says.
He
started his apprenticeship at South Yarra's Two Faces
when he was just 15. These days, he rejoices in helping
others achieve their goals.
When
Mangan was at CBD, he employed Perry Hill when he
was "just a kid". Hill is now his head chef
at Moorish. Another CBD apprentice, Shannon Binnie,
has travelled the world with Mangan and cooked for
former US president Bill Clinton.
"Shannon
is coming to Denmark as well. I have been so lucky
and they have been so loyal to me. I just want to
give them something back. Loyalty is much harder to
get than someone who works hard for you. But what
I have with most of my key staff is both, so I can't
ask for much more than that," he says.
Does
this mean that Mangan will take time, even for a second,
to smell the roses? "I think I'll concentrate
on what I have and keep improving on that, and see
where it takes me. I'm open to every opportunity that
comes my way."
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