It wasn’t a dish or a chef that inspired this month’s Mount Zero Hero; it was a cocktail that got our attention.
The fifth anniversary of award-winning Melbourne CBD cocktail bar, Byrdi, included Mount Zero olive oil – namely our Early Harvest Picual Extra Virgin Olive Oil – in their birthday celebrations and shared the story of a cocktail called…Mount Zero.
As they mentioned online, “We wanted to shift our focus back to the core values of what BYRDI is; a reflection of the Australian terroir and the provenance of the produce that we work with.”
With that in mind, it was only fitting to ask Luke Whearty, the co-owner of Byrdi, with his partner Aki Nishikura, to be our Mount Zero Hero this month!
Luke discovered Mount Zero when he and Aki moved back to Melbourne from Singapore just over five years ago. “I was focused on finding good Australian produce and drew up a list of everything we’d like to use,” says Luke. “We researched a heap of different producers and when it came to olive oil, Mount Zero was in close vicinity and of great quality.”
The Mount Zero cocktail “is like a hybrid Martini and French 75 with some sparkling wine in there,” Luke says. “The aim was to zero in on the grassy, tomato and green vegetal notes of the Early Harvest Picual EVOO in the drink. The oil screams tomato vine leaf; it’s intensely grassy and savoury.”
Luke loves what olive oil can do to a drink. “The technique of incorporating fat, otherwise known as fat washing, is about combining an alcohol and a fat together. It needs heat, though not too much, and any fats will disperse their flavour throughout the liquid,” he says.
“It’s like cooking and a great way to do it is to sous vide the oil and alcohol at 60°C for four hours,” he adds, “once finished, you bring the oil and fat to room temperature, then put it in the freezer.
The alcohol and fat will separate, and then you remove the solidified oil and the flavour compounds and the texture of the oil is infused into the spirit, creating a delicious ingredient.”
But fear not if you don’t have a sous vide machine at home, Luke has tips for the home cocktail enthusiast.
“At home, go a little bit rogue”. Luke suggests working around it with an old milk bottle or another vessel you can seal and put it through a gentle cycle in a dishwasher, so you have controlled heat for a longer period.
“Fat washing is a good way to dip your toe in the water of more advanced cocktail techniques," he adds.
The passion and time taken to create all Byrdi’s drinks is clear in their ingredients, presentation and flavour, and it’s balanced with a very real and warm approach to their guests.
“I like sharing what we do and let people see the lengths we go to make our cocktails,” he says, “but it’s not a lecture, not a science lesson, we just love talking about it.”
Luke has used our Smoked Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the cocktail, Paper Bark, that was on their opening menu and eventually turned into a bottle cocktail. The creativity is endless and places like Byrdi are so important in a city’s bar landscape, for quality, focus, research and using quality local produce.
The Fast Five
1. If you weren’t working as a bartender and business owner, what would you be doing?
I’d be a professional kids’ sports coach in basketball and soccer. When I’m not at Byrdi, I coach my son’s teams.
2. Last place you dined out?
Brico – Josh [Begbie, the co-owner] is an old colleague of mine.
3. What's your favourite Melbourne restaurant?
Embla. I love Dave’s cooking, it’s super consistent.
4. Favourite season/s of the year for produce?
That’s a tough one.
There really is something to look forward to each season. Truffles in Winter, Summer for tomatoes, but I often default to Spring. I just love it and how fresh and vibrant everything is.
5. Do you have any special projects scheduled for this year or beyond?
There definitely are some, but I can’t share yet…
We can’t wait to hear more, Luke!
By Hilary McNevin