The Chefs Series: what Brisbane’s best chefs would eat for their last meal
What would you order for dinner if you knew it would be your last meal on Earth? A fat burger? Endless ice-cream? Oysters? The question got us thinking – “What would a top-notch chef order if they were in the same situation?” As part of The Chefs Series, we asked some of the winners and runners-up of the 2015 EAT/drink Awards – sponsored by Newstead Brewing Co. – to have a crack at a few burning questions. For the fourth and final instalment of The Chefs Series, we get real with some of Brisbane’s best cookers about what they would order for their last meal on death row.
Cordell Khoury – Beccofino
My death row meal would be either a multi-course Italian feast with lots of grilled seafood to start, then a pasta course (maybe orecchiette broccoli) and then finish with a giant Bistecca alla Fiorentina and lots of vegetable dishes. I’d also have lots of champagne and beautiful wine to wash it all down. Otherwise, I’d go for a bunch of wood fired pizzas with a case of beer and a big bowl of “twixed” from Gelato Messina to finish me off, so to speak. I could die a happy man.
Nims Zavackas – The Jam Pantry
I’d have a table set with white embroidered linen napery and polished silver flatware with 2 plain tumblers – one for lemon water and one for a full bodied red with at least a 2 year vintage; nothing too fancy. Then I’d have some 1930s jazz hall playing in the background. For food, I’d go for a rib eye basted with butter, garlic and thyme and cooked medium rare with a side of onion marmalade to which a little cider vinegar has been added, and potato dauphinoise and a crisp green salad with a sharp lemon and Dijon mustard vinaigrette. Throw in a crusty whole-wheat sourdough baguette, unsliced and laid in a linen lined basket with kefir butter. Follow that with a fat dollop of bitter chocolate mousse served alongside an espresso poached pear and walnut praline. To finish, I’d have a double Lagavulin malt whiskey, (neat), and a short macchiato made on Coffee Supremes’ Origin blend.
Ben Russell – ARIA
So, obviously this is a very hypothetical question – but as death row would imply I am in the Southern States of America let’s assume I am still capable of making sane and rational decisions. The only choice is American barbecue with all the trimmings!
Anthony Nicastro – Julius Pizzeria
My last meal? This one’s not easy. I’m torn between my mum’s homemade macaroni with pork and veal ragu and the crumbed eggplant, and my mother-in-law’s stuffed cotoletta (schnitzel) with cream cheese and ham. I wouldn’t say no to a great steak béarnaise and frites, or just give me the lot and I’ll happily slip into a food coma.
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