Diana Desensi x Dan Lidgard at Bau Bau
The pair will come together for one-night only to showcase premium ingredients and Italian cookery.
Overview
Bau Bau Dining, which brings elevated Italian cuisine to Mount Eliza, will host a very special, exclusive event this month. On Saturday, May 2, Bau Bau Dining's Dan Lidgard will host up-and-coming chef Diana Desensi for a one-night collaboration celebrating season, terroir and instinctual cooking.
The Mount Eliza restaurant focuses on true farm-to-table dining, with hyperlocal, seasonal produce transforming dishes from ordinary to extraordinary. Bau Bau, along with sibling restaurants Bistro Elba and Patsy's, is supplied by their own regenerative farm, Beer Garden Produce. Located in Rocklyn, near Daylesford (a tiny former gold-rush town), the farm's five acres of rich volcanic loam were transformed into a regenerative farm producing rare European varietals, grounded in principles of ecological restoration and seasonal abundance. Around 150 vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers flourish in an evolving roster driven by communication between chefs and farmers.
On May 2nd, Lidgard and Desensi, who will soon take the lead at Jamie Valmorbida's Delmonte when it opens later this year, will come together to showcase premium ingredients and Italian cookery. While most of the produce will be sourced from Beer Garden Produce, some will also come from Desensi's uncle's garden in Rosebud — a true collaboration. Diners can expect handmade pasta with a hearty rabbit ragu, southern Italian croquettes, fresh shellfish and more. Bookings for the five-course meal, priced at $120 per person, are now available.
Desensi and Lidgard bonded during their time at Pt Leo Estate, where they worked at the same station. Lidgard says, "Dee would hands down produce the best family meals. She has a knack for making the simple things really bloody good. Most of all, we just had a lot of laughs — that's what I'm looking forward to."
"I've worked with some amazing chefs in Victoria, but I still fillet a John Dory the way Dan showed me. His style — intuitive, but grounded in research — is something I really admire," says Desensi.
Images: Supplied.
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