Since it opened in March this year Three Blue Ducks Restaurant & Café in Byron Bay has been attracting rave reviews and droves of foodies. With its spectacular hinterland location, mouth-watering menu, and sustainable ethos its not hard to see why.
Incorporating a laid-back restaurant, takeaway café and fresh produce store, Three Blue Ducks is part of The Farm Byron Bay – a 32-hectare property with a focus on sustainable farming practices, and a mission to “grow, feed and educate” the community.
Set up by long-standing chef friends Darren Robertson and Mark LaBrooy, together with three business partners, the new restaurant embodies the same down-to-earth character that made its Sydney forerunner so successful.
While the decision to move to Byron Bay was recent Darren says the rural restaurant concept has been a long time in the planning.
“We spoke about the idea years ago. We have a little kitchen garden [at Three Blue Ducks] in Bronte and it was always our plan to have a farm one day. We looked at some rural properties in Sydney but nothing was quite right, he says. Then this opportunity just came up, and it all happened really quickly.”
The restaurant itself seats around 90 people and there is also the takeaway café with a mouth-watering menu, an outdoor picnic area where people can relax and enjoy the rural atmosphere, and a fresh produce store which offers local, organic fruit and vegetables and weekly groceries.
The Farm also sub-lets land to other local farmers. This means theres a greater diversity of produce and that Three Blue Ducks can source the majority of their supplies locally. Their general rule is to only use fruit, vegetables, meat and poultry sourced from within 400km of The Farm.
IN THE KITCHEN
When it came to fitting out his kitchen Darren relied primarily on advice from other chef friends and colleagues.
“Colin Fassnidge put me on to Moffat. He had recently decked out 4Fourteen, and was raving about the catering equipment, saying its solid and reliable. We were looking around at the time, so spoke to a couple of other chefs, and that was it. We followed their recommendations and went with Moffat.”
So far, Darren says the standout performers have been their two new Convotherm 4 10.10 electric combi-steamer ovens. The ovens are used for everything from baking fresh bread to steaming crab, to roasting bones for stocks or roasting veggies for service.
As well as the Convotherm ovens, Darren and his team also chose to invest in an impressive Waldorf Bold fit-out, in a dramatic black enamel finish. This includes a chargrill, griddle, bratt pan, oven range and a fryer. Darren says they chose this catering equipment based on reputation and aesthetic strength.
Also in the kitchen, are two new Washtech dishwashers a pass-through dishwasher and a GM glasswasher. While the dishwashing equipment has performed quickly and effectively so far, Darren says it is Moffat’s servicing of the machines that he found to be the most impressive. “Even if we weren’t sure about something, the Moffat guys would come out on the day to help, and that’s unbelievable,” he says.
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