Page 11 - foodservice magazine September 2018

INSIDER
11
HOW BILL GRANGER
CHANGED THE WORLD
INSIDER
After 25 years, it’s probably time we all said thanks to Bill Granger for the scrambled eggs. And for the avocado on toast, ricotta hot cakes, and the coconut bread. And for making us famous across the world for all the right reasons.
If there’s a little bit of fresh style and sunny attitude in any hot cafe you care to mention in
market at the crack of dawn, arranging piles of quinces in winter or tomatoes in summer on the communal table (no storage). “Fresh food makes you feel good,” he says. He borrowed dishes equally from Asia and the Mediterranean, keeping flavours light and bright. He baked like a grandmother. With no cool store, he started from scratch every day, and gave the day’s left-overs to the staff to take home. With no approval to open at night, he made breakfast and lunch the focus, and turned it into a lifestyle. With no formal chef training, he cooked the food he knew, food that made him happy. “I have only ever really cooked in a domestic kitchen,” he says. “It keeps my food simple and instinctive.”
All this was new, in 1993. Sir Terence Conran, one of the great restaurant entrepreneurs of our age, recalls the whole atmosphere at bills as being uplifting and immensely hospitable. “Nothing about bills was showy,” he says. “The tremendous sense of well-being that the place managed to convey had been
achieved very economically and with the simplest of means.”
Looking for fresh challenges, Granger opened his first bills in Japan in 2008, before moving to the UK in 2009 and opening Granger & Co in 2011 where he lightened and brightened the ‘full English’ breakfast with his ‘fresh Aussie’ approach.
Today, there are four Granger & Cos in London, three bills in Sydney, eight bills in Japan, one bills in Hawaii and two bills in Korea, with another to open in late 2018.
Everyone says Bill Granger built his career on scrambled eggs, but it’s not true. He built his career on people. “Always think about the people you’re cooking for,” he says. “And give people what they want.”
bills, 433 Liverpool, Street, Darlinghurst
bills 2, 355 Crown Street, Surrey Hills
bills Bondi Beach, 79 Hall Street, Bondi Beach
These days, everyone is talking local, seasonal, sustainable and healthy. Granger didn’t talk about it, he just did it. He was at the market at the crack of dawn, arranging piles of quinces in winter
or tomatoes in summer on the communal table (no storage).
HE PUT AVOCADO ON TOAST, SWEETCORN INTO FRITTERS, AND RICOTTA INTO HOTCAKES. BY OPENING THE QUINTESSENTIAL SUNNY, SYDNEY CAFE 25 YEARS AGO ON A LEAFY CORNER IN DARLINGHURST, SAYS JILL DUPLEIX, BILL GRANGER CHANGED THE CAFE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT.
Jill Dupleix is a food writer, editor, cookbook author, restaurant critic and co-Director of Australia’s Top Restaurants.
London, New York or Beijing, it’s because of Bill. He wrote
the book (Sydney Food, 2000), defined the aesthetic (blond wood, communal table, fresh flowers) and broke the rules
(no cool store, no bookings, no credit cards). Best of all, he came up with a cafe menu that’s still as fresh as a daisy, 25 years later.
These days, everyone is talking local, seasonal, sustainable and healthy. Granger didn’t talk about it, he just did it. He was at the
JILL
DUPLEIX
JILL
DUPLEIX