On Sunday I went to the Dank St Festival in Waterloo – which unfortunately got rained out – however, this meant that I went into the fabulous Dank St Depot for lunch. This picture is of the fabulous Porchetta lunch that I ordered and a vodka and organic Parker’s blood orange juice cocktail.
Now, Dank St Depot is no ordinary restaurant – Jared Ingersoll is the celebrity chef, and a fabulous guy – but there is more to my choice to eat at Dank St Depot than the fabulous food (it really is something special) and the celebrity chef who takes the time to talk to his customers…… Because I am still a poor uni student and I can’t afford to eat out very often at all, especially fine dining, I have to make my choices as to where to spend my money carefully. In this case the choice is clear to me – Dank St Depot is a restaurant which ensures that all the produce is sustainably sourced and produced with integrity and passion.
I first became aware of Dank St Depot and Jared Ingersoll through my friend Ray Marshall (who passed away this year and who was one of the best people I have known). He and his wife Kerry (who is now running things on her own) have a biodynamic chicken farm in the upper Hunter. My family and I would help out at the markets on his stall if his regulars were unable and look after the farm on occasion if they needed to go away (a rare occurrence when working so hard on a small farm). Anyhow, Ray was passionate about his product and inspired me a great deal. Dank St Depot is one of the fine dining restaurants that Cornucopia supplies and this is how I heard about it.
So I was thrilled to be eating there on Sunday this week. I had heard about the whole pig that Jared received the week before on Twitter (which I am afraid I look at too much these days – interesting though!) and all about what he was doing with it and how he hung it for days and then chopped it all up telling us what he was going to do with all the pieces. So I was delighted when it was on the menu on Sunday as I knew exactly what I was getting and from where. The Pork is freerange and from Tasmania and was sourced through Urban Food Market (see link on side tab).
The meal was spectacular, I was very satisfied and loved that I know the whole animal was used, no waste at all and that no food is ever wasted at Dank St Depot as Jared has recycling, compost and ways of using as much as possible in his cooking. Thank you Jared for enabling an ethical fine dining choice!
P.S. sorry about the rotation of the picture, I can’t seem to get it to rotate on this blog site…
Rotate the pic before you upload to the blog
Re: organic pig’s carbon footprint – if it came all the way to Sydney from Tassie..can you explain that to a newbie?
By: Lys Nevin on October 26, 2009
at 10:48 pm
The pic was rotated before the upload – which is why this is so frustrating! I will keep trying to find somewhere to fix this as it frustrating to me too!
Great question re the pig (which is actually not organic – it is free-range – organic pork is a very rare and expensive thing due to the high cost of production – pigs eat a lot of grain and organic grain costs at least $1000 per tonne). Now, my answer as to why I would still choose free-range pork that has been sent up from Tassie is that the pig has been treated humanely and has had a good life and has had the ability to roam and dig and snuffle as a pig should. Compared to the horrific cruelty that a commercially bred pig in feedlot conditions would have had even if it was produced closer. These are the hard choices. But I also choose to eat meat only rarely these days and so when I do eat it, I choose the meat that is produced the best way I can find (preferably biodynamic, then organic, then free-range on a sustainably run farm) with the lowest footprint available. Check out the Urban Food Market website link in the right column for more info on the happy pigs at Boks farm.
Hope this explanation helps a bit
By: jazglo on October 27, 2009
at 8:56 am
Great blog! and Jared does wonderful things with our produce. It’s always exciting find a chef who not only wants to source sustainable products but also understands that to use the whole animal completely one of the fundamental practices on being sustainable. Not to mention he does a damn fine job of making it tasty!
By: tim elwin on October 27, 2009
at 8:33 am
Hey Jazz,
Can you please take me to Dank St Depot when I’m next in Sydney?
chelle xo
By: Rachelle Nevin on October 29, 2009
at 6:07 am
Definitely – I am happy for any excuse to go at anytime – I think we should do a dinner there. Jaz xo
By: jazglo on October 29, 2009
at 10:56 am