“Wedealwithnature,”sheexplains.“Yougetthings
thatarechallenging.Youmightgeta kingfishthat’sa little
bittoosoftora fishthat’stougherthanit needstobe
becauseit hasn’tbeenhandledinanidealway.”
Butthosechallenges,saysLara,onlyaddtothe
excitement,assheis forcedtogetcreativeandthinkbeyond
a freshfishfillet.“Itmightbea matterofcuringit orsalting
it down;anywaytomakesurethefishhasn’tbeencaught
andkilledfornothing.”
Oneofhermostrecenttriumphswasoceantroutsalami,
whichhasstartedtoappearonthemenuat Niland’s
restaurant,SaintPeter.“I’mquiteproudofthatone.You
wouldn’tthinkit wouldwork,butit does.”
Noteveryexperimentis assuccessfulbutLarasaysthat’s
allpartoftheprocess.“Everythingmightnotturnoutthe
waythatyouwouldexpectit to,butmostofthetimeit
turnsouttobesomethingthat’susable.It’ssurprisingand
keepsyouonyourfeet.”
Larawas 14 yearsoldwhenshedecidedtobecome
a chef,motivatedbya dualloveofeatingandcooking.
Afterfinishinghighschool,shebegana chef’sapprenticeship
withSimonSandallat AriaCatering,beforeworkingat
TheBridgeRoomandthenMonopole.
It wasat thelatterwinebarthatshedevelopedtheflair
forcharcuteriethatshebroughttoFishButchery.“The
biggestpartofourethosis wetrynottowasteanything,she
says.“Normally,a fishmongerwouldgetthefish,ripthe
gutsoutandthrowit allina bin.Weripthegutsout,putit
ona tray,andinspectit andhavea look.Wemightsay‘that’s
a niceliver,wecanmakepâté’...Eventhehearts,wecansalt
themdownandusetheminanXOsauceorcharcuterie
products.It’sallaboutexploringthepotentialofthings.”
Thatcuriosityandopennessfortryingnewthingsis
what first led Lara to Fish Butchery, after she began toquestionherfutureandthegruellinghoursthatrestaurant
servicedemands.“WhenFishButcherycamealong,it
wassodifferent.It wasa greatopportunity.Thehours
aredifferent,thework-lifebalancewasgreat.I wasalways
thekindofchefthatlovedcomingintoa kitchenand
preppingfora service.Workingat FishButcheryis like
a reallylongprepday.”
Despitesomeinitialreservationsaboutmovingto
front-of-house,Laraquicklycametolovetheretailside
ofthebusinessandservingcustomers,especiallyasthey
have embracedtheFishButcheryapproach.
“Inthebeginningit mighthavebeena bit
trickytosellsomethinglikea JohnDoryliver
pâtéora terrinemadewithfish,”shesays.
“Now,they[customers]seeit,andthey’ve
maybeeatenat SaintPeterorthey’veseen
whatJoshdoes,andthey’rea lotmoreopen
toit.They’rewillingtotrustuswhenwetell
themthatsomethingis great.Aschefs,I think
weunderestimatethepublic,intermsofhowexperimental
they can be. But they are willing to try anything.”●“Thebiggestpartofourethos
iswetrynottowasteanything...
It’sallaboutexploring the
potential of things.”GOURMET TRAVELLER 29WORDS JOANNA HUNKIN (MAIN) & KYLIE KWONG (INTRO). PHOTOGRAPHY JOSH NILAND (LARA) & MARK POKORNY (KWONG).