White Wedding
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday October 14, 2003
When chefs get married, kitchen whites are part of the groom's attire.
Chefs spend their working lives catering for other people's special occasions. So what do they do when it's their own wedding? Here are three recent wedding menus and one from the past from four of our leading chefs.
The intimate garden wedding
Forty One's Dietmar and Nicole Sawyere.
When October 2002.
Where At their home in Cremorne Point.
Why there? "We've both been married before and have done the big wedding thing so we decided to keep the day about us and to share it with our closest family and friends," says Dietmar.
"There were just 12 of us so we wanted to keep it low-key but also to do something nice. To keep it intimate, we decided to have the ceremony and celebration at home on a Sunday afternoon in our garden, which overlooks the harbour."
What was on the menu? "Seafood and Krug champagne. We set up a table with a big mountain of seafood so guests could help themselves throughout the afternoon. Because
we were doing the food ourselves at home we decided to keep things simple, so the food was easy to prepare beforehand.
"We served the oysters natural and steamed some mud crab, prawns and lobster and served them with a selection of dipping sauces including shallot vinaigrette, pesto mayonnaise and chili salsa. We didn't want to over-prepare the food - we have such wonderful seafood here that you really don't want to mess around with it too much or you'll spoil it."
Anything you'd do differently? "Nothing. We ate seafood on a lovely summer afternoon and we were in a beautiful spot by the harbour. It was perfect."
An extravaganza of food and wine
Rockpool's Neil and Samantha Perry.
When March 2003.
Where Sunday lunch at Guillaume at Bennelong.
Why there? "It's a very special place and Guillaume is a great friend of mine," says Neil.
"We had 130 guests so we fitted into the space perfectly. We also had the ceremony there - up on the platform in front of the Opera House. It was a perfect day for it, not a cloud in the sky."
What was on the menu? "Guillaume and I worked on it together. I started collecting wines for a while before the wedding so it became a wine tasting, too.
"We started with canapes and three-litre bottles of Billecart-Salmon Rose NV Champagne specially imported from France. We then sat down for a first course of salad of mud crab
and sweet pork with nam jim, which we served with a 2002 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling and a 2001 Giaconda Nantua Chardonnay Roussane. Next was herb-crusted blue-eye with roasted tomato sauce, served with a 2000 Mongeard-Mugneret Nuit St George, followed
by Morrocan style lamb and four different red wines including a 1990 Wynn's John Riddoch Cabernet.
"For dessert we had poached peaches with Muscat de Beaunes-de-venise custard, served with a 1995 chateau D-Arche Sauternes."
Anything you'd do differently? "No, everything went really well. We had such a great time that we didn't want to leave. We almost got kicked out.
"The day started at 11.30am and there were still about 50 of us milling around at 8pm when the manager politely suggested we head home."
The big Italian celebration
L'Unico's Danny and Joanne Russo.
When May 2003.
Where The marriage ceremony was at St Johns Chapel in the grounds of Sydney University and the reception was in the Heritage ballroom at the Westin Hotel in the city.
Why there? "We chose the Heritage ballroom at the Westin because it has so much character - it's very elegant - and because we had 150 guests, which is considered small for an Italian wedding," says Danny.
"We needed a large space. One of my best friends, Massimo Bianchi, is the executive chef there so we worked on the menu together, which was great because it meant I was allowed to do whatever I wanted.
"We had food critics, chefs and restaurateurs, QCs and judges among the guests so I wanted the food to be perfect."
What was the on the menu? "A seven-course degustation. We started with canapes followed by a seafood antipasto. For second course we served ravioli with a sauce made from leeks, prawns and a prawn bisque. We used a combination of sheep's milk ricotta and buffalo milk ricotta, which we had specially imported from Italy.
"Second course was slow-roasted baby veal loin wrapped in prosciutto with porcini mushrooms and spinach and a beautiful red wine jus. That was followed by lemon sorbet, then a cheese platter of gorgonzola dolce latte and parmigiano reggiano.
"Dessert was my signature, Sicilian cassata. It was quite a huge production - there were 40 chefs working in the kitchen that night."
Anything you'd do differently? "Definitely not. It took six months to organise but it was an absolutely fantastic day. Not that I got to eat much - I was too busy talking to everyone and dancing and making sure everything went according to plan."
The buffet on the deck
est.'s Peter and Bev Doyle.
When? September 1979.
Where? The ceremony was at Avalon Catholic Church followed by an afternoon buffet at home in Palm Beach.
Why there? "We'd just got back from 12 months in Europe and since we were financing the wedding we decided to do it at home and keep it small," says Bev.
"We had about 30 family and friends. Greg [Peter's brother] and Peter prepared the food. We did the whole lot ourselves, poured the drinks and everything. For lunch we set up a buffet on our deck and everybody sat around and drank and told jokes all afternoon."
What was on the menu? "Peter was working at Chanterelle in Ultimo in those days and he only had one day off work so he and Greg had to do all of the preparation the night before and the morning of the wedding.
"As soon as we got back from the church we hurriedly took all of the food out of the fridge and put it on the table and everybody helped themselves. It's been 24 years so I can't remember exactly what we ate but I know we had prawns and oysters and chicken liver pate and a few salads.
"I don't think we had a cake - we were in too much of a hurry to organise that. We did have punch though, which I whipped up still wearing the hat I had on for the church ceremony."
Anything you'd do differently? "Oh no. I don't think anything fancy would have made our marriage any better."
© 2003 Sydney Morning Herald