There’s a reason our executive chef is found behind the counter in the deli on a Sunday and Monday. Philip Harrison applied for a job with us it was as deli manager, but before the hiring process was through, our former chef John Mahindroo decided to go to Greece, and so Philip has a hand in both the deli and the kitchen.
Philip was working as a chef at Peppermint Bay, when his wife Claire applied for the position on his behalf. “She knew I was fed up with the long hours – and she was too – but she also knew I’d be a long time getting around to doing something about it, so she put in the application and then told me ‘you’ve got an interview’,†he said.
Although he fell into the double role by accident, Philip says his time in the shop complements his time in the kitchen. He wears his whites behind the counter, and on top of the counter there are tastings of some new product.
“I get good feedback, and if customers want something special they can talk to me in the shop and we will get it organised,†he said. “I think it’s important to let people know they can come and speak to me.â€
Philip grew up in Gloucester in the West Country of England, and worked in the Undercroft Restaurant at Gloucester Cathedral before leaving in 1996 to come to Australia with Claire, who is a Tasmanian.
He worked first at Launceston Country Club, then ran the Hackney Hotel in Adelaide. The couple’s son Sean, now eight, was young and they returned to Tasmania for a quieter life, which it was while Philip worked first at Salamanca Inn and then Beachside at Kingston, but then he went to work with Steve Cumper at Peppermint Bay at Woodbridge.
There, Philip was in charge of functions, making him a master of canapés. The Hill Street kitchen can organise canapés, or dinner, for any function you are having and either drop them off and pick up the empty platters later, or organise wait staff and a complete tidy-up of the venue for you.
However, it also meant that often Philip started work at 8am and finished at 11am, returning home to “sit in front of the telly with a beerâ€. No wonder Claire kept an eye out for likely day jobs!
Phillip said since he joined Hill Street in April, “I actually saw every match of my son’s soccer season this year - instead of one game like last year.â€
As well as canapés another skill Philip sharpened at Peppermint Bay was making bread. With Steve Cumper’s permission, Philip has worked on two of his recipes – a stout bread and a fruit bread – for Hill Street.
Every day, Philip, or one of his six apprentices, starts the stout bread soon before the shift finishes at 4pm. The 14 loaves prove in the fridge overnight. First thing in the morning, they are dredged and slashed, then baked and into the shop by 9.30am. Philip also makes a batch of 12 fruit breads a day, but is still perfecting a fruit-and-nut bread.
At Hill Street it would never do to stray too far from the much-loved collection of dishes handed on by Anastasia, and Phil has not let go the moussaka, pastitsio or galaktobouriko (semolina custard cake), but has also expanded the range.
Many of the introductions are traditional dishes, but given a modern twist. There are old-fashioned rabbit stews made with Tinderbox rabbits, osso buco and chutney simmered slowly for a long time.
Quiches might be standard fare, but previously we outsourced their baking. Now that Phil’s team bake Lorraine, chicken-and-camembert, salmon and vegetarian quiches in house, the price has come down – for us and our customers.
A new hot box in the shop accommodates the rotisserie chickens prepared in the Hill Street kitchens, and to go with them we have baked green and red capsicum, potato, zucchini, pumpkin, and onions all tossed in tomato and oregano.
Stir fries of noodles and vegetables that are 90% cooked and just need to be tossed in wok and sprinkled with a little extra oil, are another new item.
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