The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry
Arts:Food
In memory of Kerby Craig, here's the podcast I recorded with him in 2014.
I listened back to this episode after I heard about Kerby being gone and it made me re-remember all these great things from that day, so I thought I should share these stories again, in tribute to Kerby and his enthusiasm for cooking, Japanese food culture and hospitality …
As a 15 year old, Kerby Craig was fascinated by the world of restaurants – seeing a chef breakdancing in the middle of service (!) confirmed for him that this was the industry that he wanted to work in. By accident, he ended up at the original Tetsuya’s as a teenage apprentice chef and, after stints in Sydney and overseas, later helped Koi earn a hat in The Good Food Guide. To mark this achievement, he actually got a chef’s hat tattooed on his neck – an act that was memorably referred to in Terry Durack’s review of Ume, the restaurant that Kerby opened after his time at Koi. (“That’s a hat you can’t take off him,” Kerby’s manager told Durack at an event. “That’s a hat I would never take off you, Kerby!” replied the Herald food critic.)
Despite earning acclaim, Kerby’s experience with the industry has endured some rough lows – including the business failure of Koi – and opening Ume was “very very stressful”, he says. “I don’t know how we got a loan!”
Also in this podcast, Kerby chats about his own adventures dining from Kyoto to Fukuoka – and enjoying the next-level hospitality of Japanese establishments.
If you'd like to support me on Patreon, head to patreon.com/leetranlam. From $1.50 a week, you'll get access to my weekly podcast and newsletter, where I cover all the good things I’m consuming: the best food stories I’ve read, food podcasts I’ve listened to, what I’ve been eating and I also dive into what I’ve been working on. Plus a lot of enthusiasm about Japanese food culture, too – from Tokyo favourites to the birthplace of soy sauce and my favourite Kyoto food shop.
Sarah Doyle – Bodega, Porteno, Continental Deli Bar Bistro, Wyno
David McGuinness – Bourke Street Bakery, The Bread and Butter Project
Shannon Martinez – Smith and Daughters, Smith and Deli
Brent Savage – Bentley, Monopole, Yellow, Cirrus
Duncan Welgemoed – Africola
Katherine Sabbath - Baker and Author of 'Greatest Hits'
Lennox Hastie - Firedoor
Donato Toce - Gelato Messina, Messina Creative Department
Jill Dupleix - Australia's Top 100 Restaurants
Clayton Wells - Automata
Nikki To - Food Photographer
Mike McEnearney - Kitchen By Mike, No 1 Bent St, Carriageworks
Phil Gandevia - Bentley, Eau de Vie, The Roosevelt
Rob Caslick - Two Good
Pasi Petanen and Giorgio de Maria - That's Amore, Cafe Paci and Giorgio's Fun Wines
Danielle Alvarez - Fred's
Toby Wilson - Ghostboy Cantina, The Wedge Espresso
Lauren Eldridge - Pei Modern, Marque
Mike Bennie - Rootstock Sydney
Nancy Singleton Hachisu - "Preserving the Japanese Way", "Japanese Farm Food"
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