60 OCTOBER 2019
JOSH NILAND AND CHEESECAKE: ROB PALMER; BREAD AND BUTTER: ELODIE BOST“I’m trying to diversify the
fish that everybody wants
to put on their table.”Sure, you can make a decent compound butter with a smattering of tarragon. That’s old news. Auguste Escoffier,
the great codifier of French cuisine, wrote about the virtues of beurre blended with other ingredients more than
a century ago. But as the dining public has lost its fear of carbs, chefs have gotten creative with not just their
bread, but also what gets slathered all over it. At the hip new L.A. restaurant Yours Truly, in Venice, chef Vartan
Abgaryan serves his fluffy Parker House rolls with seaweed butter.
Across town, Eric Bost’s rustic bread course at California contemporary Auburn comes alongside butter
whipped with avocado and drizzled with herb oil. And in NYC, at elegant French restaurant La Mercerie, chef
Marie-Aude Rose features multiple variations, including vanilla. From kimchi butter to sorghum butter to habanero
butter, the list of creative combinations goes on, proving we live in an age as golden as the best beurre. J.R.Better
Butter
ROBB RECOMMENDS...when you sit down at Saint Peter,
chef Josh Niland may hand you a fish’s
eyeball. More surprising yet, you’ll gladly
eat it. “Eyes are sludgy, and stringy and
gross, and like what the fuck do you
do with it?” Niland says. At his 34-seat
seafood restaurant in Sydney, Australia,
he’s searched for how to make eyeballs and
all the other nasty bits delicious. In the
process, the 30-year-old has turned himself
into one of Australia’s most innovative
seafood chefs. And now he’s ready to
spread his message around the world.
Niland started at 16, in a professional
kitchen in Newcastle. By 17, he was
100 miles south in Sydney, working at
restaurants big and small before heading
to one of England’s Michelin three-star
restaurants the Fat Duck.
In his nearly four months with Heston
Blumenthal’s team, precision and self-
confidence came through tedium. “I’dAll the Fish That’s Fit to Eat
cook with chocolate for a whole month
and then with eggs for a whole month.
He’s got a list of egg temperatures from 95
F to 185 F, and you poached eggs at every
one of those temperatures,” Niland says.
“It was a great way to learn.”
He’d come to marry that exacting
approach with vital lessons imparted at
chef Steve Hodges’s famed Sydney seafood
restaurant Fish Face. Gutting the fresh
catch every day, he saw that focusing only
on the fillet and ditching all the organs
meant discarding a lot of tasty ingredients.
The potential for turning waste into
dishes stuck in his mind.
With his wife, Julie, they opened Saint
Peter in 2016. The self-funded restaurant
operated lean, and necessity bred
creativity. A typical seafood restaurant
may throw away up to 55 percent of a
fish. To cut into that, he had to make
sperm sacks, swim bladders and liversappetizing. Blood became blood pudding.
Bones were turned into powders that
improved the flavor of fish stock. Fish oil
was the base of caramel. And the eyeballs?
Blended with tapioca and then fried to
make a delicious, salty chip.
Because he was now able to use 91
percent of the fish instead of just 45
percent, Niland made sustainability
delicious and good for the bottom line.
He brought an experimental streak to
Saint Peter. Niland started dry aging like
he was making charcuterie and cooking
fish very gently underneath a heat lamp
that was originally designed to merelykeep food warm. He spread his message
to cooks half the world away through his
Instagram following of nearly 90,000.
With the chef’s years of experience
and goodwill from his peers at his back, he
released The Whole Fish Cookbook
this fall, in which he details the process
of making eyeball chips, head terrines,
a seafood take on beef Wellington and
more. “I’m trying to diversify the fish that
everybody wants to put on their table,”
Niland says. “And I want to explain it to
people that there’s far more to a fish than
just the fillet.” Jeremy RepanichJosh Niland uses 91
percent of the fish,
deliciously.Auburn's
bread
and avocado
butterVanilla cheesecake
and John Dory
roe biscuit with
raspberries and limeThe Goods | FOOD & DRINKG2G_Oct_GDS.indd 60 9/3/19 1:27 PM60 OCTOBER 2019
JOSH NILAND AND CHEESECAKE: ROB PALMER; BREAD AND BUTTER: ELODIE BOST“I’mtryingtodiversifythe
fishthateverybodywants
toputontheirtable.”Sure,youcanmakeadecentcompoundbutterwithasmatteringoftarragon.That’soldnews.AugusteEscoffier,
thegreatcodifierofFrenchcuisine,wroteaboutthevirtuesofbeurreblendedwithotheringredientsmorethan
acenturyago.Butasthediningpublichaslostitsfearofcarbs,chefshavegottencreativewithnotjusttheir
bread, but also what gets slathered all over it. At the hip new L.A. restaurant Yours Truly, in Venice, chef Vartan
Abgaryan serves his fluffy Parker House rolls with seaweed butter.
Across town, Eric Bost’s rustic bread course at California contemporary Auburn comes alongside butter
whipped with avocado and drizzled with herb oil. And in NYC, at elegant French restaurant La Mercerie, chef
Marie-Aude Rose features multiple variations, including vanilla. From kimchi butter to sorghum butter to habanero
butter, the list of creative combinations goes on, proving we live in an age as golden as the best beurre. J.R.Better
Butter
ROBBRECOMMENDS...whenyousitdownatSaintPeter,
chefJoshNilandmayhandyouafish’s
eyeball.Moresurprisingyet,you’llgladly
eatit.“Eyesaresludgy,andstringyand
gross,andlikewhatthefuckdoyou
dowithit?”Nilandsays.Athis34-seat
seafoodrestaurantinSydney,Australia,
he’ssearchedforhowtomakeeyeballsand
alltheothernastybitsdelicious.Inthe
process,the30-year-oldhasturnedhimself
intooneofAustralia’smostinnovative
seafoodchefs.Andnowhe’sreadyto
spreadhismessagearoundtheworld.
Nilandstartedat16,inaprofessional
kitcheninNewcastle.By17,hewas
100 milessouthinSydney,workingat
restaurantsbigandsmallbeforeheading
tooneofEngland’sMichelinthree-star
restaurantstheFatDuck.
InhisnearlyfourmonthswithHeston
Blumenthal’steam,precisionandself-
confidencecamethroughtedium.“I’dAll the Fish That’s Fit to Eat
cook with chocolate for a whole month
and then with eggs for a whole month.
He’s got a list of egg temperatures from 95
F to 185 F, and you poached eggs at every
one of those temperatures,” Niland says.
“It was a great way to learn.”
He’d come to marry that exacting
approach with vital lessons imparted at
chef Steve Hodges’s famed Sydney seafood
restaurant Fish Face. Gutting the fresh
catch every day, he saw that focusing only
on the fillet and ditching all the organs
meant discarding a lot of tasty ingredients.
The potential for turning waste into
dishes stuck in his mind.
With his wife, Julie, they opened Saint
Peter in 2016. The self-funded restaurant
operated lean, and necessity bred
creativity. A typical seafood restaurant
may throw away up to 55 percent of a
fish. To cut into that, he had to make
sperm sacks, swim bladders and liversappetizing. Blood became blood pudding.
Bones were turned into powders that
improved the flavor of fish stock. Fish oil
was the base of caramel. And the eyeballs?
Blended with tapioca and then fried to
make a delicious, salty chip.
Because he was now able to use 91
percent of the fish instead of just 45
percent, Niland made sustainability
delicious and good for the bottom line.
He brought an experimental streak to
Saint Peter. Niland started dry aging like
he was making charcuterie and cooking
fish very gently underneath a heat lamp
that was originally designed to merelykeep food warm. He spread his message
to cooks half the world away through his
Instagram following of nearly 90,000.
With the chef’s years of experience
and goodwill from his peers at his back, he
released The Whole Fish Cookbook
this fall, in which he details the process
of making eyeball chips, head terrines,
a seafood take on beef Wellington and
more. “I’m trying to diversify the fish that
everybody wants to put on their table,”
Niland says. “And I want to explain it to
people that there’s far more to a fish than
just the fillet.” Jeremy RepanichJosh Niland uses 91
percent of the fish,
deliciously.Auburn's
bread
and avocado
butterVanilla cheesecake
and John Dory
roe biscuit with
raspberries and limeThe Goods | FOOD & DRINK