Eye of The Tiger
That was the theme song in my head when I emailed our Chefs their Valentines Day Challenge. I sent all BOH (Back of House) a group email with a request to each submit a dish that was unique to Elaia Cafe, that would reflect their creativity, personality and ooze 'romance' and 'sexiness'.
Well their submissions blew me away! Their sexy and romantic catch words and phrases would have made Google Ads blush, so we decided not to include them. But feel free to use your own imagination....
Our Chef's dishes not only represented their personality their fun factor and creativity, but also showed their true commitment to Elaia, our dining culture and our guests.
Allow me to introduce to you our Elaia Kitchen Team. Combined (including Perry) they all have close to 30 years experience working with us so that's a lot of Elaia living and loving.
Sarah Bennett has been with us for over 6 years. Sarah completed her Apprenticeship with us and has been qualified for two years and is now a force to be reckoned with. Her assigned dishes were the Oysters and Atlantic Salmon.
Sarah says: "Lets get your night started with some feisty fresh Oysters with Avocado, Tomato and Lime Salsa.."
I'd go a glass of the Sparkling Jansz Rose with this one!
Sarah's good for the heart and soul Walnut Crusted Atlantic Salmon on honey glazed asparagus with a side of rocket, pine nuts and tomato...
Say Hello to Veronica "Ronnie" Creeley. Ronnie has been with us for over 5 years and is most likely to be the first BOH you will see in the kitchen as you walk into Elaia. Her assigned dish is the pizza.....
Cajun chicken pizza topped with a cheeky mango and avocado salsa. Perfect for two! The only cheekiness I can see is your cheeky smile Ronnie.
Meet Jonno Burridge. Jonno joined us close to 2 years ago and didn't his eyes light up when he was assigned the Steak dish! He loves getting his teeth stuck into it... literally!
Jonnos dish is your choice of beef... Scotch Fillet or Porterhouse or T-Bone Steak with a potato, beetroot and asparagus salad topped with scallops in a horseradish creme.
Meet Teresa Scott our Queen of Sweet! Teresa has been with us since August last year and has already provided our guests with many sweet moments with her creative desserts. It was no surprise to me that when I assigned Teresa desserts that she came up with not only one but TWO Special Valentines Day Desserts. My Team never cease to surprise, delight and inspire me....
"hurry hurry hurry... quick quick quick.... the ice-cream is melting!"
In true Valentine's Day spirit, Teresa has come up with a Truth or Dare Dessert...
The Truth Dessert is a Baked Ricotta Cheesecake, Strawberry Salsa and Vanilla Ice-cream...
and the Dare Dessert is a Chocolate Brownie with a Chocolate & Chilli Sauce with a Summer Strawberry Ice-cream!
Which will you choose? And what will be your truth or dare? Care to share with us?
Teresa has great attention to detail even if competing with the extra heat in the kitchen...
We hope you enjoyed meeting our talented Elaia Cafe Kitchen Team. They had great fun putting this together for you.
Happy Valentines Day 2014 and enjoy the weekend!
Ritsa, Perry and the entire Team at Elaia Cafe
Perry and Jonno photo bombing!
All pretty stoked with Sarah's Atlantic Salmon dish.
"A Chef's Table' on another level. A full dining room meant pulling out the tucker box to dine on. I did offer to set with tablecloth and candles.
Can I get some cutlery please?
And our Front Of House ... well some of them anyway.