Words and photos by Richard Cornish @foodcornish
Tom Brockbank is a chef who has arrived in a land of plenty. The British-trained chef who made a name cooking in the best restaurants in Melbourne’s CBD is now Executive Chef of Joseph’s Dining at Lancemore Mansion Hotel Werribee Park.
The restaurant is in the Lancemore Mansion Hotel, overlooking the parterre garden right next to the 1872 Werribee Park Mansion. This expansive historic precinct is surrounded by vast swathes of productive market gardens and other farms and is considered one of Victoria’s most important food bowls.
“When I first took on the role,” says the affable chef, “I drove just a few kilometres around the restaurant and discovered some of the best produce in the state is grown and produced right here on my doorstep.” Since he took on the role at the beginning of 2021, he has reworked the menu of Joseph’s Dining four times to create a menu that reflects the region’s broad food production.
Within a short period of time Tom established relationships with the market gardeners of Werribee South. This fertile irrigation area was established in 1912 to feed a growing Melbourne and became home to many Italian migrants after WWII. “Here is grown some of the best fennel I have ever cooked with,” says Tom. From one grower Mason Brothers, he sources his cauliflowers, cabbage and iceberg lettuce.
Mason Brothers are just one of over 150 different independent growers producing mainly vegetables and some fruit on over 3000 hectares of fertile land. During the growing season, this important horticultural region, right on Melbourne’s doorstep, can be responsible for growing the bulk of the city’s winter veg such as broccoli and in summer 70% of Australia’s lettuces.
“In addition to this, the Parks Victoria gardeners at Werribee Mansion plant chard in the parterre garden later in summer as part of a community programme, which also feature on our menus” he says. Tom is also a keen forager walking the coast around Werribee South and uses barramundi grown at Mainstream Aquaculture in Werribee, famed for breeding the rare Golden Barramundi.
Along with Werribee grown eggs and poultry, Tom can create almost an entire menu from locally grown protein and vegetables. He supplements the locally grown food with free-range pork and smallgoods from Daylesford Meat Company.
The dining room at Joseph’s is affordable luxury. While popular with those who take bed, breakfast, and dinner packages with the Lancemore Mansion Hotel, the restaurant is also open to the public. High-backed chairs sit at tables dressed in linen and set out with fine glassware, and Tom’s approach to the menu is to use classic and modern techniques sparingly to allow the produce to tell its story.
Lunch is an exceptionally reasonable offer and a window into Tom’s cuisine. It could start with preserved Ora King salmon with the tangy grapefruit and Aleppo pepper with fresh, crisp watercress and richness of fermented fennel. Or it could start with the deep flavour of smoked corn-fed duck from the Macedon Ranges, the sweet earthiness of roasted Werribee beetroot, the creaminess of shaved walnut, and a slight sharpness from pickled daikon. “I love the fish we catch here in Victoria, and I have good relationships with my supplier to make sure I get the best off the boats,” says Tom.
A lunch main could be grilled flathead with cultured butter layered with seaweed for an umami hit served alongside bitter greens from the Werribee farms. It could be a meatier affair with pieces of sweet, succulent pork from award-winning Western Plains Pork bronzed and seared over the coals of the Hibachi grill accompanied by the tangy sweetness of fermented pear, earthy Brussels sprouts, and high notes from native lemon myrtle.
Like many great chefs, Tom has moved from the multiple options of a la carte to a beautifully honed degustation menu that allows the diner to not only explore the food grown in the local region but experience Tom’s breadth of culinary technique. He has previously worked in senior roles at the Windsor, and award-winning Estelle restaurant in Melbourne and Michelin starred Pollen Street Social in London.
The five-course meal starts with several small tasting dishes that display Tom’s multi-layered skills that could include a crisp shell of choux with taramasalata cured anchovy topped with Yarra Valley caviar, alongside local seared scallops, pearls of cauliflower couscous, a creamy paste of curried cauliflower, and the vibrant tang of pomegranate molasses.
Tom’s menu at Joseph’s also has a playful, nostalgic feel with a clever dish called Egg and Soldiers that combines just set 63°C egg yolk, fingers of prawn toast, and tartar of Ora King salmon topped with sea parsley and sea blight foraged on the nearby coastline.
With the commanding mansion, modern five-star accommodation in a converted historic seminary, and the stunning offering of Joseph’s overlooking the gardens, the experience feels like a luxurious European getaway or a great English weekend escape in an old manor house in the country. Tom says, “We have aimed to create something exceptional, very beautiful, that reflects the bounty of this special part of Victoria just 30 minutes from Melbourne’s CBD.” We think he’s achieved it.
For bookings visit https://www.lancemore.com.au/mansion-hotel/josephs
Photos supplied by Richard Cornish
