cooking up careers

Fifteen serves great food by the people for the people

WORDS KYLIE MILLER

At first blush, it looks like a typical crowd for a central Melbourne restaurant. A mix of international visitors, special-occasion diners and business-suited folk on lunch breaks are tucking into handmade pasta, hearty fish stew brimming with scallops and scampi, and the head chef’s signature dish, pork belly on a bed of lentils and salsa verde.

But this is Fifteen so these diners may also be here for a glimpse of the cooks, apprentices trained by the Fifteen Foundation under the guidance of TV chef Jamie Oliver.

Tucked in a laneway off Collins Street, Fifteen attracted international attention when it opened last September in a blaze of publicity, with a national TV series on the Ten Network and Oliver in attendance.

But it’s far from being a celebrity restaurant. Oliver is now back in London, where he’s filmed two new series, and the restaurant’s 13 trainees have just finished their first year as apprentices – the search is now on for the next 25 candidates.

Tobie Puttock, a close mate of Oliver’s and executive head chef at Fifteen Melbourne, is justifiably proud. Puttock cut his teeth at the foundation by running the kitchen at Fifteen London, the first in a growing chain of Fifteen restaurants around the world. The name “Fifteen” comes from the number of recruits at the original London restaurant, but as Puttock explains, “For us, 13 is a really good number. When we first started in the UK with 15 trainees, we actually ended up with six. We take 25 because we expect people will leave… It’s hard work.”

Set up by Oliver in London in 2002, the Fifteen Foundation helps disadvantaged youth aged 16 to 24, to enter the workforce by training them as chefs. “We’re looking for someone who’s out of long-term employment or education, somebody who’s probably tried getting into a lot of different areas, who’s tried getting into uni or tried getting a job and for some reason they just keep on failing in their attempts,” says Puttock.

“Basically, all of these guys are really young and they’ve got to a stage where they’ve lived the lives of maybe a 30-year-old and they’re only 16 and they’re maybe not mature enough to deal with all that.” Kids like Vanessa Spilsbury, 20, who spent years in and out of adult education. Or Ash Pyke, 23, whose entanglement with hard drugs left him fearful of the future – his new career as a chef gives him happiness and hope.

Over a year, the trainees are put through their paces, working four days a week in the Fifteen kitchen and attending college on the fifth. They spend a couple of weeks with a baker learning to make bread, time with a butcher learning to cut beef, and time with a fishmonger scaling, filleting and shucking oysters. They press olives to make oil, and visit the farms from which Fifteen’s mostly organic and biodynamic produce is sourced.

“We try to show these guys where the produce comes from, to try to keep their interest up and to keep them passionate and motivated,” says Puttock.

It’s not always easy. The students have complicated lives and their behaviour can be unpredictable. Puttock now rosters a full team of qualified chefs for each shift at Fifteen, to allow for days when few trainees show up.

“When we set up in the UK we had a lot of goodwill but not structure,” he says. “Jamie had so much heart and he just wanted to give these guys a chance. But we’ve worked out that we need a direct contact with these kids in the kitchen. It’s an operating kitchen; it’s busy, it goes crazy and sometimes, when it gets really busy, these kids can get washed out with the tide.”

Enter Fifteen Melbourne’s training and development chef Glenn Flood.

Flood, who joined Fifteen from a catering company where he managed a team of 20, finds the role tough but fulfilling. He’s hands-on with the trainees, both in the kitchen and at college, looking after their rosters and making sure they’re getting the most out of the accelerated training programme. When it became obvious that a student-teacher relationship wasn’t going to work, Flood became one of the team.

“It can be quite a challenge in the kitchen. They all change day-to-day and sometimes hour-to-hour; it can be very dramatic,” says Flood of the trainees. Among them are single parents, former heroin addicts on the methadone programme and people with serious learning disorders.

“It’s very labour-intensive, particularly with this group. They are unskilled, that’s a big thing in itself, but so is making sure that their mental health is OK, making sure that they’re stable.
Then there are lots of things in their backgrounds that crop up. “While we are trying to train them to be chefs, we need to be sympathetic to what they have been through. It’s more about trying to motivate and inspire them; showing what life has to offer,” Flood reveals.

For those who get through, a world of opportunity awaits. At the end of each trainee’s first year, Fifteen’s management call their contacts to get them work in other restaurants. The foundation’s support also continues after they’ve qualified.

“We can’t do anything about what happened in the past, but we can look towards the future, where they want to go and where they want to take their trade,” says Flood. “Given a chance to shine, most people will and we are trying to give them that chance with all the right support.”

One of the star recruits, Spilsbury was one of two recruits identified early for her commitment and promise – she was sent for work placement at Fifteen London. It was her first time on a plane, her first time out of Victoria.

“I couldn’t stop crying; it was very overwhelming,” she recalls. “I’m a bit less overwhelmed now.”

A year later, Spilsbury’s dream is to cook around the world, taking “baby steps” and learning until she can open her own restaurant. Then she hopes to return to Fifteen to help those who have changed her life.

“There’s a lot of us out there and all they really need is someone to care for them,” she says. “This is where it started for me, so I’ll always be a part of Fifteen. I’d love to be able to give something back and help other kids.”

As the cycle – and hard work – is about to start over again, Puttock says success stories like Spilsbury’s make everything worth it.

“I love it,” he says. “I brought Fifteen to Melbourne because of what it gives back to the kids… And hopefully to make other people realise that they can turn their business into this sort of thing – employing someone who they wouldn’t have employed before.”

AND THE FOOD?

Fifteen has a reputation for having a months-long waiting list and high-priced meals, but you might be surprised. On many days you can walk in off the street and get a table or pull up a stool at the marble bar.

Those on a budget will be pleased to know that from April, the restaurant will offer à la carte lunch and dinner, as well as a six-course tasting menu, both of which change daily. These replace the AU$90 seven-course dégustation menu – a tactic designed to limit the number of diners who sat for hours over a shared salad, just to soak up the celebrity experience.

“Now we’re at the stage where we really want to open it up to everybody,” says Puttock.

But you can have a splashy meal here if you want to – a delicious entrée of warm smoked eel and potato salad with horseradish crème fraîche might set you back AU$17 and a grilled porterhouse steak AU$38, but there’s also fresh pastas and risottos for just AU$17.

“Just come in for a bowl of pasta at the bar. That’s what I really want Fifteen to be, just a sort of people’s local. Come on down, it’s for a good cause!”

For all your travel choices, go to Jetstar.com

Fifteen Melbourne

Basement, 115–117 Collins Street (enter through George Parade), Melbourne. Open Monday to Saturday, from noon for lunch and 6pm for dinner. For reservations call 1300 799 415 within Australia, www.fifteenfoundation.org.au