UMBERTO Tinelli has sold his Applecross restaurant, Rigoletto, which was launched in February this year.
UMBERTO Tinelli has sold his Applecross restaurant, Rigoletto, which was launched in February this year.
The venture attracted strong investor interest only a short time after opening, according to Mr Tinelli.
“After three or four weeks people put offers in on it. People are interested in something that is successful and easy to manage and that they don’t have to work at 17 hours a day,” he says.
While Mr Tinelli won’t reveal the buyer, Gusto has it on good authority that accountant Joe Ferrone made the successful offer.
The large commercial kitchen at Comestibles has become the latest venue for hosting cooking classes. Each Monday night the kitchen is transformed into a school room for foodies interested in learning how to cook from culinary greats. The new cooking school is a joint venture arrangement between Comestibles and Gala Restaurant proprietors Hans Lang and Marianne Kempf.
The first class was held on July 21 and, along with the experienced team of Lang and Kempf, well-known Perth chefs also don the teacher’s apron.
According to Comestibles owner Faith Nichols, the classes are designed to offer industry training and provide the public with a chance to learn skills from those with impeccable experience all, of which will culminate into larger foodie events.
“One thing this does is provides training for my own staff. I have a stable workforce but who will teach them? Secondly I wanted to do this for the industry so I could train other people’s staff. But this is not just about the industry, it’s for all people,” Ms Nichols says.
Ms Nichols approached the team at Gala with the idea and they were more than happy to join the venture.
Mr Lang and Ms Kempf are happy to provide training expertise and often call on Comestibles to provide staff on busier trading nights.
Other teachers include Star Anise owner/chef David Coomer and Blue Cow Cheese proprietor Nick Bath, while Ms Nichols has secured the talents of gourmet food star Simon Johnson to teach a class when he’s in Perth next week.
Ms Nichols said the inspiration to develop the cooking classes came from a desire to extend her working career.
“It has go to the point where I turned 50 and as women we have to look to our future and our retirement plans. I don’t think I am going to sit at home and knit,” she says.
Ms Nichols has organised the cooking classes in stages, with the first stage involving individual cooking lessons on each section of a menu, from canapes to desserts.
An event on September 1 is scheduled to showcase the menu in its entirety.
“We are planning the second stage at the moment and that will start on September 8. They will be stand-alone ideas rather than the menu sequence and we are considering different ones at the moment,” she says.
Ms Nichols says she is talking to Kailis Bros’ Theo Kailis and Eminem’s Ismail Tosun about teaching in the second series.
Each class is $55 per person and, like most others around town, comes with a glass of wine.
“It’s based on a master class, so when you come in you get a glass of wine we give out information packs that suit who is taking that class. It has the blurb and the tips,” she says.
Class sizes are restricted to 16 people.
Ivan Rutherford’s crew has also decided cooking classes are a good extension to the Red Herring’s business, with Japanese cooking classes to be launched next month.
Red Herring chef Brendan Martin and oyster shucker Jerry Fraser will be teaming up to provide students with good tips and some good humour. The cooking classes will run during the month of September and are $60 a head.
The owner of the Grand Boulevard Tavern, Domenick Palumbo, is soon to open a tavern in Floreat Forum to be known as The Floreat. He is currently searching for chefs, kitchen hands and waiters and an opening is expected in the coming months.
Of interest to Gusto this week was news of a new 70-seat restaurant opening near Subiaco. Sharon McColl at McColl Hospitality Staff has been commissioned to recruit a head chef for the new venture, however her lips are sealed as to who is opening the restaurant and the exact location. All Gusto can reveal is that the restaurant will open in October and that the owner is a highly successful hospitality identity. Stay tuned.
The date for the West Cape Howe Culinary Inquisition ticket sales has been set. At 9am on Monday August 18 lines will be open to purchase tickets to the September 26 food and wine event. Presenters include Don Hancey, Must Winebar co-owner Russell Blaikie, Cloverdene Dairy artisan cheese maker Deb Dennis and oyster shucker Jerry Fraser.
Last year tickets to the event sold out in an hour and the team at West Cape Howe is expecting another hectic morning of ticket sales. Tickets have been capped at four per person and the number to call is 9848 2959.
To celebrate its second birthday this month, Reflections by the Swan is hosting an anniversary party. Beatles tribute band The Fab Four will provide tunes for the black tie cocktail party scheduled for August 30.
Those partial to a stroll around Kings Park on a Sunday afternoon might fancy a stop at Fraser’s Restaurant to enjoy its recently launched jazz afternoons. Every Sunday between 1pm and 4pm the restaurant features the Sassy Catch Jazz Trio.
