Greg Malouf

Greg Malouf is viewed not only as one of the most influential and innovative cooks in Australia, but also as the originator of his own style—modern Middle Eastern cuisine. Its hot spot is Mo Mo in Melbourne; this restaurant became world-famous via Malouf’s books Arabesque (1999), Moorish (2001) and Saha (2005), the last of which won the gold medal at the prestigious “World Food Media Awards” in Cannes.

Greg Malouf grew up in Melbourne as the son of Lebanese immigrants. Even as a child he was fascinated by his family’s refrigerator, which was filled with exotic specialties. He was even more impressed, however, by family meals, which his mother and grandmother spent days preparing and at which Arabic cuisine was celebrated in all its opulence and variety: refined tajines (one-pot dishes), substantial meze (appetizers) and spicy meat dishes. So while it was no wonder that Malouf developed a desire to become a professional cook quite early on, his family was against it—so much, that he left home at the age of 17. He landed his first restaurant job in Sydney: as kitchen assistant at a Mexican restaurant. And with unbelievable dedication, he proceeded to follow his dream, working during the years that followed in Italy, France, Austria, Belgium and Hong Kong … but in between these jobs he returned again and again to Melbourne, as if snapped back by a rubber band. After ten years of intensive traveling and cooking, Malouf shifted down a gear in 1991 (which, in the wake of a heart transplant, was probably not such a bad decision), and he remained in Melbourne for nine years as executive chef at O’Connell’s which, under his auspices, developed from a pub restaurant to one of the city’s culinary highlights.

Even back in his Hong Kong period, he had begun contemplating a new sort of Middle Eastern cuisine. His vision was to liberate the rich culinary tradition of his ancestors from the loveless ambience of Australian takeaways and place it in an elegant restaurant. The experiences from his enormously varied training helped him to put this idea into practice, first in the form of a book, and then—from 2001 onward—as head chef of Mo Mo.

At Mo Mo, Malouf celebrates the entire diversity of Middle Eastern cuisine and enriches it with modern techniques. In doing so, he makes an exact distinction between the various Middle Eastern cuisines and sends his guests on a culinary journey through the Middle East: through the spicier foods of North Africa, the milder dishes of Lebanon and Syria, and the aromatic cuisine of Turkey and the Gulf States. In light of this, it’s little more than a minor, ironic detail that Malouf himself first set foot in the Middle East at the age of 34—not for his studies, but for his honeymoon.

Greg Malouf, Roland Trettl

A heart that beats “east-south-west”

Giving European cuisine a Lebanese flavour is a skill that Greg Malouf has developed to a fine art in Melbourne.  While his new restaurant is being built, he will be cooking in his own “crossover” style in Salzburg

Recorded by Christoph Schulte / essen & trinken
Fotos: Red Bull Photo Files / Mark Watson

This man knows how to improvise.  He certainly ought to.  To persuade me in all seriousness to fly half way round the world to eat at a restaurant that doesn’t even exist any more, you need plenty of “chutzpah”.  I arrive in Melbourne to find that Greg Malouf’s “Mo Mo” in Collins Street, the top address for near Eastern cuisine, is closed.  And that the new restaurant in the Hyatt Hotel is not open yet.

On the plus side, there is Greg.  Touchingly spontaneous, warm-hearted, funny, quick off the mark.  And he has some nice friends who have their own restaurant.  Such as Matteo Pignatelli with his establishment of the same name in Brunswick Street.  And so “Matteo’s” served us for a few days as a “Malouf training school”.  And because Greg knows how to improvise, he was able to “call” a Malouf week in the Italian-based “Matteo’s”.  The guests were delighted and I had my hands full from the start.  It’s a long time since I have had to chop as many onions as I did in Melbourne that week.

However, Greg Malouf’s cooking is worth all the tears.  A Levantine sense of enjoyment celebrated with European precision – you could not have a more exciting combination.  Greg is a child of Lebanese immigrants.  His grandmother, his mother and his father are all enthusiastic cooks.  Richly varied meze and sumptuous and sophisticated tajine were home translated into cooking, a means of retaining their identity.  At the age of 17 he left home abruptly in order – against his parents’ wishes – to start a career in cooking as a kitchen assistant in a Mexican restaurant in Sydney.  Today, Greg is celebrated in gourmet guides as a “Master of Middle East Meets West”.  When it comes to spices – cinnamon, coriander, star anise, ginger, sumak, Malouf is entirely Lebanese.  But when he is boning a pigeon breast, or tying up a baby lamb roast, or simmering a broth absolutely precisely “à point”, then it’s away with the free-and-easy Levant – what is needed is strict adherence to European method.  A typical example is a sensational terrine of duck liver, quail breast, and clarified butter, all highly spiced in the middle eastern manner.  Malouf has an appealing Arabic generosity and is at the same time incredibly finicky, insisting on giving a final quick touch to even the most perfect plate of food.

Greg and I have decided to adopt the Lebanese style of eating in the “Ikarus”, placing many dishes on the table at the same time but retaining the conventional subdivisions on the menu.  For example, in the fish section coquilles St. Jacques on a bed of hummus and almonds, prawns with star anise and tomato and pomegranate vinaigrette, marinated John Dory, fennel salad and goat’s cheese and crispy fried calamari with sesame paste will be served in parallel.  We believe that the “try a little bit of this and that” approach comes close to the essence of what middle eastern eating is all about.

When Greg first came up to me in Melbourne, he surprised me with a true Austrian greeting: “Servus, Alter!”.  He has in fact travelled all over Europe.  He went to Italy to learn how to cook risotto, to Brussels for mussels, and he has spent over two years in Austria.

Even though the new “Mo Mo” doesn’t yet exist, I was allowed to see the architectural drawings for the new restaurant.  It will be a fantastic mix of “Tao” in Las Vegas and “Megu” in New York, seating 130 guests, with a huge bar area.  Looking at the plans, it is hard to believe that Greg Malouf has already undergone two heart transplant operations.  Perhaps the beard makes him look older than his 47 years, but behind the glasses the eyes are youthful, curious, greedy for life.  I am delighted to be able to offer the “Ikarus” to Greg while he waits for the “Mo Mo” to open, somewhere for him to display his skills – and not just his improvisation skills ...

The 47-year-old Australian Greg Malouf is a hugely likeable person, as “Ikarus” chef Roland Trettl found when he visited him in Melbourne.  In the kitchen, Malouf is a European-style perfectionist, but his highly spiced creations show his Lebanese origins.

Slow roasted veal shank with giant couscous

Greg Malouf

 Our guest-chef Mr. Greg Malouf created two different menus which we will serve you in a typical Lebanese style. The dishes will be placed on your table, which invites you to choose for yourself from the culinary variety.

Amuse Bouche

 Harirra soup
Lebanese style minced lamb pizza
Spanakopita spiral

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Malouf’s salmon ‘kibbeh’ tartare
Pressed quail and foie gras terrine with dukkah butter
*Smoked ox tongue with yoghurt cheese sweet-sour eggplant*
Fattouche salad with smoked trout

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Crunchy fried calamari with tahini remoulade
Tunisian spiced John Dory with fennel-feta salad
*King prawns with aniseed, lime and sumac crumbs*
Seared scallops with almond crumbs, hummus and crisp Turkish air-dried beef

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Pigeon bistayeea
Honey and cardamom roasted kid goat
Slow roasted veal shank with giant couscous and autumn vegetables
*Venison shish kebab with black truffles and smoky baba ghanoush*

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Rose of Damascus
Lebanese doughnuts with lemon syrup and fig-barberry ice cream
MoMo’s Medjool date brulée

*(not included in menu two)*