Andrew Blake

Sets a strong style from Southbank which has been much copied

Andrew Blake has always stood out from the crowd. Not only is he tall but he's always been able to distinguish himself by his work. Starting in his early years at trade school where he led his year to his successful bid for the prime restaurant postion at Melbourne's Southbank. He has always been ahead of the pack, by a combination of talent and being in the right place at the right time.

A trade school peer also remembers him for other reasons -

"I remember how tall he was and how he would never shut up. At the end of final year, he won best theory student and I won best practical student," says Greg Malouf

Greg also remembers Andrew from his time working with Gloria Staley at both 'Fanny's' and 'Glo Glo's' - " he had quite a bit of style in putting things together."

Gloria Staley was the queen of style as far as Melbourne restaurants were concerned. She led the way for many years with her two restaurants and Andrew was one of her young stars. He had come from "an inglorious apprenticeship at an out of Melbourne country club" which probably did more for his golf handicap than for his cooking abilities. After finishing his apprenticeship in 1980 he joined Fanny's and worked his way up from the downstairs bistro kitchen. Gloria has always had a keen eye for quality and she recognised Andrew's talents. Her confidence in him was so high that in 1985 she put him in charge of the kitchen at Sydney's 'Chez Oz', her first restaurant out of Melbourne.

From there Andrew never looked back

After three years in Sydney, Andrew returned to Melbourne and established a name for 'Cafe Kanis' in Richmond, a trendsetter in its time. The young chef then went into partnership with the Kanis cousins to set up 'Kanis, Blake & Kanis', an upmarket deli in South Yarra. It was one of the first of its kind to market chef-made produce - jars of sauces and relishes, as well as cooked dishes for home eating.

'Blake's' opened in September 1992 at Southgate. It was an enormous investment for Andrew at that time, he was working round the clock, juggling different jobs to stay afloat. It has proven worthwhile, now securely established and consistently successful. He has had his disagreements with the precinct management, publicly criticising rentals and the facilities there. But now, after being there seven years says: "Every year it gets a bit better, a bit more consistent. It's a hard because there are so many places fighting for the passing trade, but if you are a destination restaurant it's great. There's no doubt that this is the place to be because...the passing trade is the cream."

Five years ago, one challenge was not enough for Andrew Blake and in 1994 in conjunction with friends Geoff Lyndsay and Grant Van Every his second restaurant, 'Stella', opened. It was just that, a quickly rising star, from very early days. At 'Stella', the East/West combinations from Lyndsay, and the wine matches suggested by the respected sommelier, Van Every, brought a lot of attention to the business.

Andrew then created a cafe/bar called 'Tonic' in South Yarra in 1995, and in October 1997 renovated a derelict building at South Wharf to create the 300 seat 'Events Warehouse by Blake's'. Also in October 1997, Andrew and his partners at Stella took over and renovated the cafe at Heide Museum of Modern Art, in Bulleen.

Each of the Blake businesses were very different in style and in product and were all trendsetters. But it has always been 'Blake's' at Southgate which has consistently attracted a dependable mix of affluent and conservative clientele along with younger foodlovers. Part of Andrew's success has been in maintaining a high public profile in both the food and social pages. He regularly does guest chef promotions and donates his time to fundraising events. If all this was not enough for one, albeit tall, chef to do, Andrew also released his eponymous cookbook in October 1996.

Now, at the end of the century, he has shed a few responsibilities and acquired others, with the birth of another child. 'Tonic' was sold several years ago, 'Stella' in the city in 1999 and 'Stella at Heide' is soon to go too. He seems content now with the one a la carte restaurant and the big bold canvas he has to play on with functions at 'Events Warehouse by Blake's' - "having more businesses just means more debt. I just need the one business to get the kids through school. Maybe I might look at something next year."

Meantime he is slowly compiling another book of probably 100 recipes, all based on dishes from the restaurant. "There will be more entree-style dishes, small portions, tastings." Andrew's first book was a best seller with many of the dishes copied by chefs round the country. "I don't go back to it much, I don't like to stagnate. I like the energy of doing new things, new dishes. I dream about them, my mind is always making up things. I would prefer to be always trying things out, even if they fail."

INFLUENCES

Gloria Staley, Charlie Trotter

A review of Blakes.

Andrew Blake's Recipes