Eat Like A Hatted Restaurant – At Home

Amanda and Jamie run a small farm with big ambitions out of their lush lot in Terrey Hills. Nurturing seedlings as if they’re part of their young family they’ve carved out a niche for themselves, supplying your favourite restaurants with the green leaves and garnishes that make every plate pretty.

The edible flowers are an obvious pick in the era of Instagram, and they’ve recently added their own pesto to the mix, but the flavours and textures of their foraged salad mix will literally stop you in your tracks. Fresh, aniseedy, ripe green goodness that elevates home cooking to the ranks of your favourite five star dishes at restaurants like Jonah’s Whale Beach, Pilu At Freshwater and Bather’s Pavilion at Balmoral.

I first stumbled across Pepesaya at my local The Beaches Market. The stall holders are typically artisans and masters of their craft so when I saw a queue around the block for $10 butter I knew it was going to be something special.

Pierre “Pepe” Issa and Melissa “Mrs Pepe” Altman originally founded Pepe Saya in 2010, with the idea of making beautiful cultured butter locally, instead of importing it from overseas. The quality of the product soon caught on with Neil Perry and the Rockpool Group jumping on board, and Qantas taking them to new heights with orders for first and business class meals.

Today you’ll find them serving up new products like their much loved Ghee, buttermilk, maple butter and lemon curd – and adding depth of flavour to your favourite dishes at restaurants like Flour and Stone, Kitchen By Mike, Black Star Pastry, Tetsuya’s, Icebergs, and The Grounds of Alexandria.

It’s a pleasure to revisit Laura and Grant and find them going strong and celebrating a phenomenal 15 years in business. I first started ordering with this whole body butchery a good few years ago, driving out to the OG Rozelle warehouse in the Sydney Summer heat to stock up for my family’s Christmas eats.

Just graduating from backpacker to new Mum I was shopping way beyond my means, but it was meant to be a rare treat – until I tasted it. Much like the Forage Gourmet Edibles and Pepesaya Butter mentioned above, once you’ve tried produce of this calibre, no supermarket alternative will ever really be good enough again.

What sets them apart is a commitment to guaranteed provenance, full transparency, and the artful use of every part of every animal – and it permeates every mouthful. They say they’ll be happy when we’re all only eating meat that comes from pasture-raised animals grown on regenerative farms, that contribute to the overall health of the planet. I look forward to doing my bit when I head back there in a few weeks to reclaim that Christmas tradition.