Chef Elias Salomonsson, moved to Australia about 10 years ago. The Swedish native – from Malmö in southern Sweden – had completed his third year of culinary school with an internship at the five-star Adare Manor in Limerick, Ireland and set off for Australia, to travel, and, of course, to cook.
Cooking was a large part of his life growing up, and becoming a chef seemed a natural progression for him. After his travelling adventures – and lucky for us – Elias chose Melbourne to settle and get some serious culinary runs on the board.
He started in a Sous Chef role at the Vue Group, working up to Group Executive Sous Chef and then Head Chef. In February 2022, he moved to Scott Pickett Group and worked across its stable of venues - including being a part of opening Smith Street Bistrot - as the Group Executive Sous Chef until December 2023.
He’s now running his own kitchen, at the much-anticipated Circl Wine House on Punch Lane in Melbourne’s CBD. The new venue with a breathtaking cellar and 150 wines-by-the-glass, is the platform upon which Elias can tap into his Swedish heritage and classic training to work closely with local producers, which is why we had to ask him to be our Mount Zero Hero this month.
“Since I’ve been in Australia, Mount Zero has always been around,” says Elias. “It’s a high quality olive oil and much of my menu is built around local suppliers, as much as I can.”
Elias uses our extra virgin olive oils to finish dishes, “I love the Arbequina,” he says. “It’s a very versatile oil and works really well to finish a fish or steak.”
He is also loving our Agrumato olive oils. Agrumato refers to an Italian method of cold co-processing fresh ingredients – in our case, citrus fruits – with the olives to produce a zesty, vibrant, distinctive olive oil.
Elias has taken to our new Bergamot Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil. “It’s fantastic, it is such a great product,” he says. “I love the Yuzu Pressed EVOO, too, but I wanted to do something different, and this is it.”
The dessert he makes at Circl Wine House is a bergamot olive oil ice cream and curd with orange marmalade and an olive oil cake.
Elias doesn’t expect us to make our own ice cream at home, so has shared a recipe for a Bergamot Olive Oil Cake finished with more of the oil and some orange marmalade.
“I love afternoon tea, a cup of tea or coffee with a sweet treat,” he says, “and you can serve this for dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The Bergamot olive oil is what gives it its distinctive, delicious flavour.”
The Fast Five
1. If you weren’t working as a chef what would you be doing?
I’d be a fireman. That was the initial plan but I happened to fall into cooking full time.
2. Last place you dined out?
Bar Liberty, Fitzroy.
3. What's your favourite Melbourne restaurant?
Dinner at Vue du Monde for a high-end occasion.
Other places I love are Kirk’s Wine Bar and Tipo 00.
4. Favourite season/s of the year for produce?
When Spring kicks into gear – I love asparagus - and I also love the end of summer into early autumn.
5. Do you have any special projects scheduled for this year or beyond?
In the middle of one at Circl and it’s very exciting.
circlwinehouse.com.au
by Hilary McNevin