Matt Stone on his roots, the changes in WA hospitality and how his years in Margaret River shaped his career.
While Western Australia has a mix of local chefs and chefs from elsewhere making their mark, there are plenty of West Australians who’ve taken the lessons learnt in their home state and made a name for themselves across the country. Matt Stone is the latter. He is one of the Australia’s most influential chefs, but that doesn’t mean that he’s left the West behind. He’s carried fundamentals learnt as a youngster in Margaret River and beyond throughout his career. To Oakridge in regional Victoria with partner Jo Barrett, then to Future Food System in Melbourne – a zero-waste collaboration with Barrett and sustainability champion Joost Bakker, and now to Ciao Mate! and a soon-to-open follow-up in Bangalow, New South Wales.
For Stone, it all started as an apprentice at Leeuwin Estate in Margaret River.
Leeuwin
Estate Restaurant, Margaret River
“The land (in Margaret River) is worked in so many different ways, from agriculture and growing grapes and vegetables, to livestock, then with the oceans surrounding. It gave me that sense of what it’s like to cook in a really beautiful country environment, to be respectful to that environment and leave the smallest impact possible,” he says.
“The best tasting food generally is the most ethically grown food, and understanding that by seeing it first-hand really set me up to strive to only source the best produced and most ethically produced.”
Stone’s most recent project, Future Food System, took the lessons he’d learnt in Perth and expanded on them in a closed-loop, zero-waste space where all the food served was grown and reared on the premises. The goal, he says, was to inspire people to alter their own habits by showing how one small change can have a big impact.
Albany Farmers Market
“From composting, you might start a herb garden; and from a herb garden you might get a beehive,” he says.
With Joost Bakker, Stone was handed the keys to pioneering Perth restaurant Greenhouse in his early twenties. Here he ran the breakfast, lunch and dinner service, managed a rooftop vegetable garden, milled his own flour and kept the whole thing zero-waste, while picking up accolades along the way.
“I think (Greenhouse) really had an impact on food not just in Perth but in Australia in showing what is possible,” says Stone.
On Stone’s latest trip, he made a point of dropping in to some of his old haunts, making a beeline for Margaret River Bakery for a pepper steak pie (“I kept it really classic,” he says) and delving into the epic wine list at The Settler’s Tavern.
“It’s really nostalgic for me. Seeing epic bands like Jebediah and Gyroscope playing gigs at the Tav, which was always cool because that band room when it’s pumping is one of the best in the country,” he says.
Maalinup Aboriginal Gallery, Henley Brook
“As I’ve grown up and appreciated the pub for different things, the quality of food is second to none, and now with the appreciation of wine that I have, I look at this list and go ‘far out, this is one of the best lists not just in a pub, but in Australia’. It’s extremely well priced, there’s something for everyone on there and a real mix of classic and natural, they have a really beautiful marriage of both those things.”
Stone then rolled back the years to explore the garden at Leeuwin Estate as he and chef Dan Gedge began to plan an upcoming spring menu hosted by WA Good Food Guide.
“I’d love to use the property in a few different ways,” he says. “I want it to get a bit interactive, maybe light some fires somewhere and cook some whole beasts; maybe look at making some fresh cheeses in front of people; and obviously also focusing on beautiful spring asparagus and peas – all those lovely green vegetables that come from the region as well.”
For the chef, there’s an element of nostalgia that accompanies a trip home, and as this latest visit demonstrated, there’s always something more to discover, whether it’s the scope of First Nations ingredients as shown to him by Wardandi Bibbulmun woman Dale Tilbrook in Swan Valley, or the dedication at Bred Co in Albany.
Si Paradiso, Highgate
"It blew my mind,” says Stone. “They’re milling all their grain, it’s all locally grown and produced, and the product was really yummy. I had a cinnamon scroll and a snag roll and both of them were delicious.”
Stone says that since he was last in WA, he’s noticed more venues enter the fold that are offering even more to scene to go with old favourites.
“I think the quality of restaurants is really coming on. What Paul Bentley is doing is super-cool and exciting – between Si Paradiso and Casa, they’re two of the most exciting two venues in Australia,” he says.
“Lulu La Delizia for me is a real staple restaurant. It’s not just one my favourite restaurants in Perth, but one of my favourite in the country, and it’s somewhere I love to visit. Plus, all of the wine bars. The growth in the scene is pretty exponential and it’s really exciting.”
Casa, Mount Hawthorn
Stone also dropped into Busselton to catch up with Ben Ing and Kirsty Marchant (Noma’s former head chef and head gardener respectively) as they prepared to open their own venue, Alberta’s.
“There’s some really world-class chefs here, and their new place is so exciting” says Stone.
“I think it’s going to put another highlight on the region. The South West has had a really good run, but I think now it’s going to go to the next level.”
The sense of a humming dining scene is already driving Stone to book his ticket back to WA as soon as he can.
“I really enjoyed seeing the growth and the quality of all the hospitality offerings, and seeing how it just keeps getting better and better,” Stone says.
“It just makes it more and more exciting to visit and come home to eat out and be a part of it.”
Lulu La Delizia, Subiaco
MATT STONE'S WA HITLIST
Keen to follow in the footsteps of one of WA hospitality’s favourite sons? Here’s where Stone spends his time when he’s home in the west.
Leeuwin Estate
Stone trained at this storied winery restaurant when he was young. Catch him in spring as he comes back to collaborate with chef Dan Gedge on a seasonal menu. “It’s been renovated really dramatically since I worked there, so I’m really excited to get back in the kitchen.”
Stevens Road, Margaret River
The Settler’s Tavern
A South West landmark sporting top-notch pub fare, live music and one of the state’s broadest and most celebrated wine lists. “It’s just a special place,” says Stone.
114 Bussell Highway, Margaret River
Settlers Tavern, Margaret River
Lulu La Delizia
Stone has known Lulu La Delizia chef Joel Valvasori for years, and loves seeing him in his own restaurant in Subiaco. In fact, he calls the Italian standby his favourite restaurant in Perth. “It’s a real staple restaurant,” says Stone. “I’ve got great memories of eating there with my niece and her eating her first bite of pasta and loving it. It’s just epic.”
5/97 Rokeby Road (Forrest Walk), Subiaco
Bred Co
This Albany bakery is a new discovery for Stone, who was struck by their closed-loop setup and killer cinnamon scrolls. “It blew my mind,” he says.
1/15 Albany Highway, Albany
Alberta’s
Stone was one of the lucky few to get a sneak peek at what’s surely one of the most exciting and anticipated openings in Australia: Alberta’s in Busselton, run by Ben Ing and Kirtsy Marchant, both of whom made their mark at Noma, the world’s best restaurant. It may be more casual than Noma, but as Stone says, having such world-class chefs in the region will take things to another level. “What’s happening in all the South West region as a whole is really exciting,” says Stone.
3/55 Queen Street, Busselton
Margaret River Bakery
A local’s staple, Stone stopped in at Margaret River Bakery for a pick-me-up and was struck by how far it’d come since he’d last been there. “It seems to have lifted its game insanely,” he says. “It’s one of the most beautiful displays of food I’ve seen in a bakery or café in a bloody long time: an abundance of beautiful pies, pasties, sausage rolls, but then also a heap of salads, beautiful wraps and sandwiches. I was super-impressed.”
89 Bussell Highway, Margaret River
Published June 2022.