“Creating sustainable food that’s full of flavour is easier than you think”
Matt Stone, the talented young gun behind Oakridge Wines Restaurant, continues to innovate and impress with the publication of his new book The Natural Cook: Maximum Taste, Zero Waste.
Published by Murdoch Books, the premise of The Natural Cook rests on the question of how to ‘cook irresistible food without harming the planet’. Following a similar notion, and passion, as global chef Dan Barber and sustainability icon Joost Bakker, Matt is a passionate advocate of ethical food and zero-waste cooking.
The text encourages readers, and cooks alike, to adopt sustainable and ethical measures. The essence to Matt’s philosophy is to make use of local foods, and thereby respect native produce, and reducing waste by being resourceful.
Awarded the Gourmet Traveller’s prestigious Best New Talent Award in 2011, Matt has long been a vocal advocate of sustainable dining. An emphasis on utilizing regional produce, has permeated every endeavour on his journey, including his tenure at Oakridge.
Most importantly, though, is that the essence to Matt’s philosophy rests in the belief that cooking this way is not only ethical, but the outcome is a deliciously ripping meal. If the produce is respected and allowed to flourish naturally, then the quality and taste will be superlative.
The menu at Oakridge features no ocean-going fish, but instead uses trout, caviar, eel and Murray cod grown in the surrounding valley. In addition to this, Matt has been established a substantial garden on-site at Oakridge to produce seasonal produce and a spring harvest, all of which embody a farm-to-plate philosophy.
Stone, who is has been an advocate of eWater since engaging with it at Greenhouse and Brothl, said of the product,
“It is absolutely amazing. I’m going to save thousands of dollars a year on chemicals. We use it to clean surfaces, to clean tables, to clean the floor…By using eWater we’re not polluting the water, we’re not polluting soil – it’s a very safe product to be using that’s cost effective and, most importantly, its efficient. I could not imagine building a restaurant without an eWater System.”
Matt will spoke at the Restaurant Leaders Summit in September 2016, discussing a number of sustainability initiatives he's introduced at the winery’s restaurant since taking the reins just over a year ago, and the impact they’ve had on the operation’s bottom-line.