Chef Eddie Noble moved to Melbourne ten years ago after completing his chef apprenticeship in Adelaide.
He oversaw cafes in Fitzroy and a bakery in Abbotsford but it was when he connected with the team behind the Social Food Project – the former social enterprise that offered pop-up dinners, sustainable catering and cooking workshops which closed in 2020 due to COVID – that Eddie started to focus on the ethical, sustainable and a more thoughtful approach to cooking.
He found himself working at a Social Food Project pop-up at Noisy Ritual – the urban winery in Brunswick East – and is now head chef of their Lygon Street kitchen, creating a menu built around seasonal, local and ethically sourced produce – and this is why he’s a perfect fit for our Mount Zero Hero this month.
“What really drew me to Noisy Ritual is the diversity, the dining room, the winery, the ethos, in the inner-city, it’s great!” says Eddie. “It’s a great place to work.”
He adds that Mount Zero fits in well with their vision. Eddie says he was aware of Mount Zero products for a long time and, “used the products as much as I could. The business [Mount Zero] has the same belief system as us and I love that they support grain farmers and producers local to them as well, it’s a massive drawcard for me.”
Eddie says they use the Mount Zero Frantoio Extra Virgin Olive Oil to, “finish 90% of all our savoury dishes. We use the mixed olives and marinate them with ingredients like cumin and orange rind from Cam’s [Cam Nicol, Noisy Ritual owner] backyard and dehydrate the Kalamata olives to use as a crumb over burrata.”
The recipe for beluga lentil parfait that he has shared with us is also central to Eddie’s sustainable ethos of eating less or no meat.
“I don’t eat meat,” he says, “but I like the taste of meat and I wanted to make something equally rich and fulfilling, so here’s my lentil parfait. A lot of the guys here eat meat, but they love this dish.”
We love that this recipe not only provides a vegetarian (or vegan) alternative to a classic entertaining dish, but also uses nourishing black beluga lentils grown in the Wimmera in Western Victoria. Thanks Eddie!
the fast five
1. If you weren't a chef, what would you be doing?
I would like to have a job in the outdoors. Somewhere in the High Country, something in conservation.
2. Last place you dined out?
A small Balinese restaurant in Adelaide.
3. What's your favourite Melbourne restaurant?
Etta in Brunswick.
4. Favourite season of the year for produce?
Autumn.
5. Do you have any special projects scheduled for 2022 or beyond?
We are pushing to get as close to zero waste as we can and working on reducing waste behind the bar, in the kitchen.
By Hilary McNevin