27 January 2011

Interview With Bompas & Parr in Feb 2011 Gourmet Traveller



There is now only just over a month to our event with the Jellymongers: Bompas & Parr at the Espy. The Melbourne Food & Wine festival is always a highlight on our calendar and this year is set to be our biggest and most important with our events at Der Raum and the big one at the Espy coinciding with the launch of our new 'Sweet Studio'! Ahead of Sam (Bompas) & Harry's (Parr) arrival to these shores, the guys at Gourmet Traveller interviewed them on their work and the upcoming event with us on March the 10th. Click on the link below to the article and please use the links below to purchase tckets for any of the events.

The BIG COUNTDOWN starts soon!!

Gourmet Traveller - Feb 2011
http://gourmettraveller.com.au/bompas-and-parr-at-the-melbourne-food-wine-festival.htm?rcid=9784&mode=rcid

Sweet Architextural - Mar 2011
http://www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au/gastronomy-masterclass/masterclass-events/chef-winemakers-dinners/bompas-parr-sweet-architextural

Reinterpreting Dessert
http://www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au/event/1475

Bompas & Parr
http://www.jellymongers.co.uk/

17 January 2011

New Year, New Start & Fresh Expectations









The holiday season seems like so long ago now, we have a feeling that this year will fly by. Lots of preparation is in being put into place for our grand opening of 'Sweet Studio' later on this year. We have been working on all aspects of the business from staffing, overseeing building works, training manuals, packaging..........the list goes on and on.

With all of this happening we managed to take some time last week to work on the cakes for the shop.

Refining finishes, compiling a photographic library and recording recipes and weights for food cost were on the agenda and we were very excited with the results.

A big thanks must go to executive chef John Savage at the Sofitel hotel in Melbourne for the use of the facilities in the culinary academy, we appreciate the help and support we have received from John and look forward to welcoming him into our boutique once we have opened.

So much was gained from working through all of our cake range last week and we have lots of changes to implement, sometimes as a chef we are clouded in judgement on certain products or dishes. Valuable feedback can be gained and it is imperative to have non chefs try out your food. Many points were raised that sometimes you don't see as you have been working to closely for so long. So with all of the feedback on board from our tasters and with working out better production methods and practical finishes we hope to have an outstanding product to present to the public by the time the doors are open.

We are so excited by what this year may offer for Burch & Purchese and we will work extremely hard in many areas in order for us to achieve our goals.

We plan on working on, in no particular order and not limited to:

  • Improving ourselves as pastry chefs and as business owners.
  • Ensuring our customers receive the very best product we can provide.
  • Working hard on training our staff and promoting our trade.
  • Taking nothing for granted and appreciating our opportunities.
  • To try to give back to those who are not as fortunate as ourselves.
  • To collaborate and partner with talented businesses and individuals to enhance our brand, their brand an our industry.
We hope you enjoy the images and we will keep you updated as always on the progress of our opening.

QUICK REMINDER! We still have a few tickets left for our 'Sweet Architextural' event at the Espy in March and we have some very special surprise guests in store for those who plan on attending. Check out the link to the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival here for more details.

04 January 2011

Happy 2011 To All Our Readers





Well the silly season is all over for another year but that does not mean the fun stops! We are preparing ourselves for our busiest and most exciting year to date. Plans for our 'Sweet Studio' are well under way and builders have started to construct, we expect to be open on time and as you can imagine it is pretty full on here at B&P HQ. We will reveal more about the retail store later on this month but we can tell you it will be a very exciting year for all involved with Burch & Purchese.
We are also working on our events with Der Raum and Bompas & Parr for the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival in March and we have added some new and wonderful special surprises for the latter. Tickets are still available for the 'Sweet Architextural' event at the Espy with Bompas & Parr and enquiries should be directed to cath@burchandpurchese.com.
Summer is well under way here in Melbourne and we have been taking advantage of the fantastic produce available to us by making light and summery desserts and jams, spreads and cooling sorbets. We have also been working on a caramelisation technique for Jaina white chocolate from Chocovic. This is achieved by caramelising the milk and yoghurt solids in the chocolate and works fantastically well in a plated dessert with a sharp yoghurt ice cream (see above).
We wish all of our readers a fantastic 2011 and we will share with you more information on our opening as soon as we can. HAPPY NEW YEAR from Darren & Ian xx