David Pugh and Michael Conran

David Pugh deserves his place in this book on his own, but his story is made that much richer in the context of his partnership with Michael Conrad at Brisbane's Two Small Rooms and Restaurant II. They are a great team, Michael out front and David in the kitchen. Their teamwork is even more impressive given that they divide themselves between the two restaurants.

Restaurant II, the latest one, is right in the centre of town, three times the size of their original suburban restaurant, but much more spaciously set and requiring a lot more staff. But having more staff can have advantages - "These days I don't have to vacuum the floors and clean the toilets myself" says Michael, "I just don't have the time anymore." It's ten years since Two Small Rooms opened in Toowong. The unpretentious old corner shop quickly became one of Brisbane's most popular restaurants. It was started by Michael Conran with Andrew Mirosch as chef, David Pugh became involved six years ago.

He and Michael have been working in the hospitality industry all their lives, Michael in service in Brisbane and David as chef in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. Michael started his hospitality career on two fronts in the late '70s; working at the famous Milano Restaurant as a commis waiter at night, and during the day as an apprentice chef at the Brisbane Club. Catering college followed and then work at the Sheraton Hotel, Brisbane's first five star hotel. By the age of 21 he was managing a restaurant there. "I came to the stage where I had to make a decision whether I wanted to be an f and b (food and beverage) manager or a general manager at a hotel, or own a restaurant." He met chef Andrew Mirosch and together they started Two Small Rooms.

In 1993 David Pugh took over as chef and partner with Michael and he is now supervising the kitchen in both restaurants. David had a classic training and worked at the Hotel Connaught in London Russell Armstrong ). His menu reflects that background "we still do a few dishes with Asian flavours and influences, but our tastes are going more classical as we are getting older. There were quite a few things that we did in the '80s and later that the staff here haven't seen before, so I guess it is all part of their education. It is a few years since we have done quenelles, and it has been a while since we had a terrine on, and we now do a proper consomme and are reverting back to sautes and braises."

As the pair said in their excellent first book Two Small Rooms...and a kitchen - "as fast as food changes, some dishes remain the same". The dishes are a product of David's cooking preferences, the ingredients available to him and the reaction of their customers. At Restaurant 11 there are two menus to 'play with': the Wine Bar choices of simpler, quickly served grills, pastas, antipasto, oysters, salads; and the restaurant menu which is the main part of their business. Staffing levels are much higher in the city, with around 12 in the kitchen and a big brigade out front. "Where Two Small Rooms suits its suburban clientele, here we have had to upgrade the menu and the prices". Amongst the eight entrees on for autumn was a duck foie gras salad, using about a kilo and a half of foie gras weekly, said David; an omelette of wood and field mushrooms with truffle oil and an asparagus soup with morels. With scallops, Moreton Bay bugs, Atlantic salmon, prawns and oysters and mud crab on the menu too, not to mention NZ venison and Mandalong lamb on the main courses, it's not surprising that food costs are high. Restaurant II also features, as does Two Small Rooms, a very comprehensive quality cheese selection, another high cost item to bear. Whilst Two Small Rooms remains as a BYO, Restaurant II is fully licenced, but trade customers are still able to BYO.

As well as a very loyal local clientele, Two Small Rooms gets a lot customers from hotels who like to send their customers "somewhere interesting or for something that is fairly Queensland or fairly Australian" says David. "My idea of bush tucker is mud crab, barramundi and prawns. The problem is a lot of the bush tucker flavours aren't Queensland flavours, and aren't clean flavours."

As a chef who has worked in very fine hotels, David now sees an improvement in product here in Australia, much of it from smaller suppliers. They are spread round the country, there is Mandalong just for lamb, Gungal Farm for pork, Barossa chickens. But "anything in Australia is only a phone call away now." He is very critical of seafood, "I can't remember when I last saw fresh prawns. They are sold in Sydney and we get small quantities here and there. There are fresh scallops shucked in Bundaberg which are absolutely gorgeous. Mud and sand crabs are great when you can get them, but it's up and down all the time. We use wild barramundi in season but the 2kg farmed stuff tastes like nothing much really, and it's an expensive fish."

David insists "We are not price driven, our food costs soar at some times of the year, but we know that if we do the right thing at Christmas time, January and February will be great. We absorb the increased cost." And the philosophical Michael adds "When you lose on one year, you end up making it up on another. You just accept it, sometimes your food percentages are very high (not surprising given they lay claim to being the largest purchasers of truffles in the country) but we keep our overheads and staff costs low.

Now with the city restaurant, the game has changed and staff costs are high. From Two Small Rooms and a kitchen in the suburbs, Restaurant II has blossomed. It will be interesting to see if the two partners can continue successfully juggling the different aspirations, customers and cooking expectations of both their restaurants.

A review of Restaurant II

David Pugh and Michael Conran's Recipes

Seared scallops with white truffle butter
Squab pigeon with foie gras butter
Bread and butter custard