How Celebrated Baker Morgan Hipworth Created This Real-Life Take on a Virtual Dessert
The mind behind Bistro Morgan reimagined a classic culinary component of 'Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart' for PlayStation to Plate.
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On the surface, it may seem like food culture and gaming culture are literally worlds apart. But, dig a little deeper and you'll quickly see that they boast no shortage of similarities. Both inspire connection, both can offer a truly immersive experience, and both can instantly transport you to another place or time. And it's these very crossovers being celebrated this month for PlayStation to Plate — an innovative new dining concept that sees much-loved Aussie chefs bring virtual food from the PlayStation universe to life.
From Friday, December 3–Sunday, December 12, three Aussie eateries will each create a limited-edition menu item that reimagines an iconic video game dish IRL. The restaurants are serving up their signature creations across all ten days of the pop-up, but you can also have any of the dishes dropped to your door courtesy of Deliveroo.
Morgan Hipworth, the young gun baker behind Melbourne's Bistro Morgan, is no stranger to whipping up eye-popping, otherworldly desserts. His Windsor bakehouse is famed for its vibrant rotation of inventive doughnuts, cookies and sweet treats. And this month, Hipworth is unleashing that creative flair on the gaming world, to deliver an IRL recreation of Chef Tulio's Sirangian Honey Mousse from Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart.
The game is a high-impact, dimension-hopping adventure through multi-coloured worlds, the energy of which the young chef has translated into an eye-catching dessert layered into a jar. "Ratchet & Clank is full of heaps of different dimensions, so I've created a multi-layered taste experience," Hipworth explains to Concrete Playground.
"We start off with a layer of strawberry jelly and then top it with a house-made vanilla bean custard, a layer of strawberries and chocolate sponge cake, and then that all-important Sirangian honey mousse," he describes. "And it's green, because it's from another dimension!"
Morgan Hipworth, of Bistro Morgan
It was a fitting choice for Hipworth, who dubbed the virtual dessert 'a perfect match'. "This dish really brought out the fun of the Ratchet & Clank world, as well as the creativity of why I fell in love with baking," he adds.
As for how he reworked an animated dish into an edible off-screen creation? "I wanted to channel the fun and spirit of the game, and bring the colourful world to life," Hipworth says. The chef selected flavours that he knew worked well together and then cleverly rejigged them in the form of a classic Aussie treat. "Trifle is such an iconic dessert," the baker explains. "Bringing a fun twist to it with some Sirangian honey seemed like the best choice."
As with all of Bistro Morgan's dessert creations, this one aims to also deliver a serve of escapism. "I want my customers to be transported to another dimension, and you can do this with flavours, smells and colours," he shares.
After all, for this dessert king, the leap between the worlds of hospitality and gaming is often not that huge. "One of my favourite things about food is how immersive it is — and the exact same thing could be said for gaming," Hipworth explains. "Both have the ability to connect and bring people together. Both have an innate ability to instantly transport you to another place or time."
Catch PlayStation to Plate from December 3–12, in Sydney and Melbourne. You'll find each dish featured on the menu at its respective venue, as well as being available for takeaway via Deliveroo.
