Isolation Interviews: Guy Grossi

Whisky & Alement is passionate about supporting our local community and keeping people connected. Tune in every week as we chat with local distributors, producers, and industry wild-cards.

A legacy stretching back to 1980.
An apprenticeship in commercial cookery from the Box Hill Institute.
First kitchen? A Malvern seafood restaurant.

Fast forward to 2020. 6 best-selling cook books, and 5 iconic venues later.

Today Whisky & Alement shares a virtual dram with leading Australian chef and food personality, Guy Grossi. Recognisable to many from his appearances on Australian TV programs (Iron Chef Australia, MasterChef Australia, Postcards, Getaway, Neighbours, My Kitchen Rules, etc), recognised by all, as an industry treasure.

Considering our current circumstances, what is your desert island dram or drink, and do you think now would be the time to open ’that’ bottle?

My dessert island drink would probably be a beautiful pinot or burgundy. Or a nice, well made, cold Negroni.

What does this industry mean to you, and how did you end up in it?

This industry is everything to me, my father was a chef so it is something that has always been second nature to me. Food in general was always a way to bring our family and friends together, it’s for celebrating, making memories, sharing laughs, its human connection. So translating that into a career is something very special to me. I’m lucky that I get to do something that I have loved for such a long time, I started when I was 15 so this year marks 40 years of being in the industry. While it hasn’t always been easy, this year particularity, i’m grateful to have been part of the fabric of hospitality in Melbourne that has grown into a world class industry.

Have you adopted any new daily routines (or adapted any of your old routines) to keep happy and healthy in isolation? 

Definitely, i’ve been cooking a lot at home, trying to make use of produce from the garden where possible. We’ve been keeping our sourdough starter alive so feeding that and making leavin and bread everyday has been a really rewarding process. I’ve had the chance to get out and walk a bit too so getting some exercise in the open air is something that i’ve not always been able to do which is really nice. There are positives to be taken out of every situation. Having dinner at home with the family every night has also been really nice, again not something that i’ve been able to do a lot of over the years.

When the cogs start turning again and venues are opening their doors, where are you going first and what are you ordering/doing? (This could be for food, drink or socialising)

This is a hard one, where do you start! It will be a Sunday lunch, something i’ve really missed. It’s so hard to pick where to go, there’s so many beautiful restaurants in Melbourne that I hope will see through this difficult time. One that springs to mind is France-soir. I might need to go and have steak tartare and snails and brains and a beautiful steak or duck a l’orange. Some chardonnay, some pinot. I’d be in heaven, fingers crossed I can do this soon.

Support Grossi by checking out his ready to heat menu where you will find your favourtie dishes from Grossi run kitchens across Melbourne.
Available for pick up or delivery via Grossi a Casa.