Gary Jones

Confines considerable skill and experience within a tiny kitchen

"It was just a job," says Gary Jones of cooking in his first years in London. It was only after several years and time in France that he began to understand and enjoy food. And after a year in Normandy, he had even learnt the language of the cuisine and country which he now uses on his menu at Jones, Perth.

Gary managed to spend five years working in good restaurants and hotels round France, and then a further eight months in Switzerland and St Tropez before returning to London and a position as chef de partie at the prestigious Carlton Towers. Like some of the other English-born chefs in this book Jeremy Strodeand Donovan Cooke , Gary had entered cooking because he needed a trade. It was only much later that he, like the others, learnt to love food and it was usually due to the influence of French chefs they worked with.

And it’s been love and babies that have brought them all to Australia. "I had a sister in Melbourne saying how great it was, and I had an Australian in the kitchen who was telling me that too. Our little girl was six months old and I didn’t want to bring her up in the east end of London. So we thought ‘Why not?’ That was in 1988."

First were a couple of hotel jobs and one at Lynch’s. "But I wanted to open my own restaurant. We (wife Belinda and daughter Gemma) came to Perth and went into partnership in a restaurant for five years." San Lorenzo achieved acclaim as the national winner of the Gourmet Traveller Award but did not work so well financially for Gary and his family. The partnership dissolved as he felt he was doing all the hours and recouping nothing.

The family went to Melbourne and shortly after opened a small restaurant in Albert Park. Gary says of that business "it took off, but after a while we grew out of it and were looking elsewhere; I think it was time to leave Melbourne. We couldn’t do anything with it unless we spent money, and we preferred to spend the money somewhere else." The gossip in Melbourne was that he was upset by a negative review, which Gary claims "was a political thing, we were going to sell the restaurant anyway".

"We decided to go back to England. The standard of food and the technical aspect was really high, but I just couldn’t see myself working there anymore, the lifestyle is just not the same as in Australia. We decided to come back to Perth rather than Melbourne and though I enjoy it here, it is harder than Melbourne where the clientele there are more aware and the media more professional." Jones started in Subiaco just over two years ago and though well recommended and reviewed, is not as busy as others nearby. It is tucked away in a side street and not easily found but is gradually developing a clientele of regulars. Gary says those who come, always come back, "no one comes to eat here just once."

Still staff have to be kept to a minimum. "It is very hard work, I have just my second (a young Vietnamese boy) and a second-year apprentice. We do it all, including the washing up." It is a tiny kitchen and a very difficult space. Because of its limitations and because of the small staff, you know that everything you eat will have been done, or certainly checked by the chef. Given the space, there’s no way that Gary won’t have cast his eye, and usually his hands, over everything.

That’s very much his style, although he has worked in large, grand kitchens, he seems to enjoy working in these confines. His wife Belinda is often out front, and their daughter, Gemma, now 12, helps out behind the coffee counter. Belinda knew nothing about the industry before they came out to Australia and the realities of small business meant she had to learn. It is hard work for the couple but there seems no alternative. Given the size of Jones and the number of customers, they must do most of the work themselves.

Gary explained that he changes the menu every day because "in Perth it’s always hard to get consistent produce. But I don’t change dishes for the sake of change. There are some dishes that have been on the menu for 12 months, two years even, on and off." A number of those have become famous, particularly his variation on black pudding which he served with scallops. The pudding is enriched with foie gras giving a fantastic flavour and texture The plain script on the menu sheet bluntly says ‘Pan-fried scallops with blackpudding, garlic and parsley $14’. It’s a terrific dish, undersold in both its description and its price. As you’ll note, the menu does not even mention the foie gras, a costly addition which most chefs would trumpet. There’s something about taking such a luxury item and combining it with – what was once ‘poor man’s food’ which sums up Gary. A no nonsense dedication to flavour and a refusal to sell himself and his work.

Gary Jone's Recipes