Chefs of the House

Overview

The Sydney Opera House plays host to the most revered musicians, actors and artists in the world, but it's also home to some of our finest culinary experiences. The four remarkable chefs who manage the Opera House's hospitality offering — Matt Moran of Opera Bar and House Canteen; Peter Gilmore, Executive Chef of fine diner Bennelong; Mark Olive, who directs the native ingredient-focused Midden; and Danielle Alvarez, who oversees the Opera Houses's private function spaces, the Yallamundi Rooms — are coming together for the first time to curate a series of intimate dinners.

Drawing on the iconic venue's stature as an arts venue, each shared-table meal will held in the Opera House's cutting-edge Immersive Digital Experience Room — a space where 270-degree projection technology in tandem with live music will enhance the unique themes of each menu.

Image: Anna Kucera

The series commences on Thursday, August 1 and Friday, August 2, with Danielle Alvarez's Winter Harvest Symphony — a multi-course meal celebrating seasonality and directly sourced produce. Through a carefully crafted fusion of food and paired wine, projected video and a live string quartet score, Alvarez will illuminate the special relationships with farmers, producers and artisans that underpin Australian dining culture.

Next, on Thursday, August 8 and Friday, August 9, Mark Olive will present Dreamtime, an ode to the Indigenous cuisine he has pioneered at Midden. "By presenting some of the incredible native produce and Indigenous ingredients from the Midden menu, I hope to give people the opportunity to try something uniquely Australian and something we should all be proud of — a national cuisine within a national architectural icon," Olive explains.

During the meal, diners will hear from First Nation performers Marimayi as they share the stories of their ancestors using the traditional sounds of Country mixed with blues and folk influences. A specially commissioned digital artwork inspired by Indigenous astronomy will be projected throughout the dining space, mirroring the fusion of traditional knowledge and contemporary techniques displayed on the plate.

Image: Anna Kucera

The third instalment of the series takes place on Thursday, August 15 and Friday, August 16, when Peter Gilmore will present his Icons of Bennelong dining experience. Lifted from more than 50 years of Bennelong menus, diners will get to sample some of the most legendary dishes ever served at the Opera House's fine-dining restaurant — including the iconic Pavlova inspired by the venue's distinctive sails — accompanied by vibrant projections and live jazz performances, a wink to Bennelong's long-running Sunday jazz program.

The final menu in the series, on Thursday, August 29 and Friday, August 30, comes from Matt Moran, whose Ocean to Table concept takes Australia's vast coastline as its muse. Championing the importance of sustainability and provenance in dining, this marine riff on the paddock-to-plate philosophy will feature locally sourced seafood served on bespoke flatware made by third-generation ceramicist Sam Gordon, who has incorporated crushed mollusc shells into the lustrous patina. Projections based on artist Dr Fiona Hillary's Reverberating Futures, which examines the bioluminescence of algal blooms and ocean fauna, will illuminate the space with an aquatic light show for diners as they eat.

If you're unable to make it to one of the Chefs of the House dinners, you can still get a taste of this remarkable series. Throughout August, a signature dish showcased on each chef's menu will be available to order at their respective restaurants.

Image: Anna Kucera

Top image: Katje Ford