Page 32 - foodservice - June 2018

32
DINING
Above: The Harley & Rose dining room.
Below: (L-R) Harley & Rose’s Rory Cowcher and Josh Murphy.
To Cowcher’s mind, the changing personality of the suburb is an unstoppable process. “I don’t think you can resist these sort of things,” he says. “You can throw a bucket through a window if you want, but it’s not going to stop gentrification from happening. “
That said, both Cowcher and Murphy were sensitive to the needs of their new neighbourhood. Both chefs have a serious fine-dining heritage: Cowcher began his apprenticeship at Andrew McConnell’s now-legendary Three, One, Two in Carlton, before a three-year stint under Ben Shewry at Attica. After some international travel, he took up the head chef position at Cutler & Co, McConnell’s high- end flagship restaurant. Murphy also worked at Three, One, Two, where he quickly moved up the ranks to become head chef. After being appointed head chef at Cumulus Inc., he was named Good Food Young Chef of the Year in 2012, and later helped establish The Builders Arms Hotel in Fitzroy as a culinary destination, thanks mostly to his work at the visionary Moon Under Water (R.I.P.).
But, the pair both have country roots: Cowcher grew up in the regional Victorian town of Bendigo; Murphy in Tasmania. Despite their up-town career-paths, both still retain the common touch. Hence the name Harley & Rose, a nod to the 1990 Black Sorrows track which tells us, ‘Like static on the dial, a look comes back in style.’ “Being suburban, and us being from the country, growing up with music like that, I guess we just felt it was suitable, and seemed to work,” says Cowcher.
Harley & Rose’s throwback-only playlist serves as something like a mission statement for the place: on any given day, you’re likely