For the Hellenic Club of Canberra’s executive chef, Janaka Walakuluarachchi, plate one, plate 300 and every plate in between must receive the same level of military precision, slow-cooked care and culinary excellence. Photos: Hellenic Club of Canberra.
In the Hellenic Club of Canberra, a guest is savouring a perfectly cooked sirloin steak, drizzled with a rich, velvety jus, all of which took literal days to achieve.
In the grand ballroom down the hall, that same melt-in-your-mouth steak is served to hundreds of people.
You might expect that mass catering means cutting corners.
For Hellenic Club Executive Chef Janaka Walakuluarachchi, a plate is a plate, whether it’s destination number one or number 300.
In his kitchen, the illusion of the effortless, intimate meal isn’t shattered by scale.
“The notion that bigger functions must equal less attention is a myth,” he says.
“We commit to excellence on every plate, whether it’s ordered a la carte in the restaurant or served at a gala dinner of 300-plus guests. For us, big numbers simply mean more systems and more staff.”
Events of 300+ have become a carefully choreographed dance that Janaka and his team know inside out.
The aim is sub-20 minutes from the first meal set down to the last — a goal Janaka says they rarely miss.
That timing is no accident — it’s mathematical.
“The number of guests and the dining determine the number of people behind the scenes,” he says.
“As a typical indication, if we’re expecting 200 guests for an alternative drop, I need eight chefs in the kitchen. We form two lines, with four chefs in each. If it’s 400 guests, it’ll be 12 chefs, with three lines of four chefs. And so on. Kitchen hands and wait staff increase similarly.”
The concentration of dietary requirements can increase numbers in a kitchen, but that’s also something the team has mastered.
“I’d say we hit our goal 99.9 per cent of the time,” Janaka says.
Janaka is a self-described “yes man” in the kitchen, willing to customise almost any menu to bring a client’s vision to life.
To pull off seamless execution of a massive event, however, a la carte ordering is off the table and buffets are not a favourite.
“A buffet for a big crowd can create chaos,” Janaka explains. “We always recommend set menus and alternative drops — formats that keep the room orderly, the food hot, and the overall experience feeling special.
From there, food preparation is everything.
The chicken is marinated for at least two days ahead of time. The lamb is marinated in a vacuum pack for 12 hours before it’s slow-cooked sous vide for 4.5 hours in carefully temperature-controlled water.
Some sides, like Kipfler potatoes, can be prepped ahead of time and finished shortly before serving. Others, like the apple and fennel slaw, are better made closer to serving.
“You can see how many hours of prep go into just one piece of meat before it arrives at your table,” Janaka says.
“As for the sides, we prepare what we can and ensure we have the hands needed to finish things off when the time comes.”
Another hero on the plate is invariably the sauces, made the old-school way. Many are based on a house-made stock that takes 48 hours over a low flame to develop depth of flavour. It takes several more hours to reduce it, along with wine, into a jus to drizzle over the restaurant’s most popular dish — the sirloin steak.
“Whether it’s a single order or 300, it’s the same jus, the same carefully cooked meat,” Janaka says.
But pulling off a flawless 300-person gala or a dream wedding requires more than just culinary perfection behind the kitchen doors; it takes a synchronised effort across the entire venue.
That’s where Hellenic Club Event Manager Lauren Smith comes in.
According to Lauren, the secret to a stress-free event is offering a truly all-inclusive experience.
“We provide the catering, the bar service, the wait staff and the furniture and equipment,” she says.
While decor and entertainment are usually taken care of by clients, Lauren’s team offer recommendations for trusted and tested vendors, and can even provide quotes and assist with organising specific details.
Some events attract more client collaboration than others.
“We tend to have more questions around timing and catering for wedding clients, and are more likely to have food tastings,” Lauren says.
“As such, we’ll have more regular check-ins with them along the way, with more in-person meetings so they can visualise how the night will run.
“That said, every event will take as many meetings, as many phone calls, as many demonstrations as a client needs to feel confident that their event at the Hellenic Club will be a success.”
For more information, visit the Hellenic Club of Canberra.
Original Article published by Dione David on Region Canberra.
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