For chef Blayne Bertoncello, it’s no surprise he likes to grow his own food. “My dad and my dad’s dad grew up in farmland down [in] Clyde. They had veggie farms, they were farmers by trade.”
That connection to land is the driving force behind Bertoncello’s restaurant O.My in Beaconsfield on the outskirts of Melbourne, with the kitchen sourcing its fruit, vegetables, eggs and honey from a farm in nearby Cardinia. “The farm is 10 minutes from the restaurant. We use only what we have grown.”
Bertoncollo says his hyperlocal focus can also be traced back to his Italian roots. His family is from the area around Bassano del Grappa in central Veneto. “They actually try to eat in their areas – they don’t go too far out,” he says. “That’s what we are trying to do, to make our whole menu relevant to our area so we can tell those stories.”
Bertoncello began cooking as an apprentice at Nosh in Melbourne when he was 15. “My brother was a chef there, so I just went to work.” After completing his apprenticeship, he spent two years as head chef at local Italian joint Slippery Jacks before opening O.My with his younger brother Chayse in 2013.
It’s been a steep learning curve. Bertoncello admits that back then he didn’t have a lot of experience. “I just wanted to have my own place so that I had no restrictions,” he says. “A lot of my thoughts came from reading cookbooks and just doing the things that I enjoyed, like gardening.”
O.My has now established an orchard, a beehive and almost 400 garden beds at the farm – and has clinched some notable restaurant awards along the way. Although Bertoncello’s cooking falls into the seasonal- and produce-driven category of cuisine, he admits the restaurant is often misunderstood because of this. “We always get branded as vegetarian or vegan, but we dress a lot our our dishes with meat, [or they’re] cooked in chicken fat or with offcuts.”
And the ethos of sourcing locally also applies to meat and seafood. When it comes to fishermen, for example: “They will call me on the boat and tell me what they have caught,” says Bertoncello.
The menu changes weekly at O.My based on what ingredients come through the door. Recently, Bertoncello has served a starter of cured rock flathead, salted radish and miner’s lettuce, skewered on a stem of seeded kale; and delicate bites of artichoke, fried in sourdough culture batter, with thyme flower and preserved lemon.
But one thing remains constant: “We always have a pasta on the menu. Always. We have 50 chickens on the farm so we have the best eggs.”
Blayne Bertoncello’s bacon and eggs on sourdough – recipe
(Pictured above)
Eggs – and bacon – are the mainstays of Bertoncello’s “quite simple” breakfast recipe. The secret is to cook the eggs in the rendered bacon fat, which imparts a soft sweetness that is balanced by the bright freshness of the chives. Frying the sourdough in butter and lemon juice is the final, luxurious touch.
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Prep 5 min
Cook 10 min
Serves 2
200g good-quality bacon rashers with the fat on, diced
3 eggs, as fresh as possible
4 sprigs of chives, chopped, plus extra to serve
20ml vegetable oil
30g butter
2 thick slices of sourdough
10ml lemon juice
In a frypan over medium heat, cook the bacon to render the fat, stirring occasionally for five minutes, until the bacon begins to brown.
While the bacon is cooking, in a medium bowl, whisk the eggs.
When most of the bacon fat has rendered in the pan, add the eggs and chives. Using a spatula, gently fold over the eggs to incorporate the bacon and chives into the layers.
In a separate frypan over medium heat, heat the oil and butter until the butter begins to foam. Add the sourdough and fry for two minutes. Drizzle the lemon juice on to the sourdough, then flip and fry on the other side for another two minutes.
To serve, place a slice of fried bread on to each plate, top with the folded eggs and finish with a sprinkle of chopped chives and salt.
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