There’s nothing like a glass of wine to start the flow of ideas when two creatives get together to brainstorm an upcoming event.
Tasmanian chef Massimo Mele and TSO musician Rachel Bullen are brimming with enthusiasm as they plot out a dinner at Launceston’s Grain of the Silos restaurant.
Imagine this: guests arrive to a glass of sparkling wine and delectable morsels like a simple bluefin tuna tartlet – possibly followed by Tassie scallops and seared venison.
Later comes incredible handmade pasta with truffle and a choice of locally caught fish or slow cooked beef before a surprising and utterly delicious dessert.
Throughout the evening a strings and oboe quartet plays music that responds to each course, enveloping diners in a full sensory experience.
‘Now that I’ve heard what the menu might look like I’m thinking a mix of traditional with some lighter pieces should work well,’ says Rachel, who is the orchestra’s acting Principal Oboe.
‘There's a Mozart quartet I’d like us to play and I’m thinking Gabriel’s Oboe by Ennio Morricone, which is a really famous movie tune,’ she muses.
For Massimo, food has always been inextricably linked to music and he’s excited to curate an evening that highlights that connection.
‘Growing up, my mum and dad had a restaurant so Italian music was always playing – that really old- school romantic folk music, which I still listen to that all the time in the kitchen when I’m focusing,’ he says.
‘There was a restaurant in Hobart called Tarantella and when I was a kid, we used to finish at our restaurant and go visit them – that wouldn't happen now – an eight-year-old at 11 o' clock going from Glenorchy to Sandy Bay to have a late-night meal,’ Massimo recalls.
‘The owner of Tarantella, Vince, a good friend of ours, would get out the piano accordion and there’d be a few guests left, and he’d play for them. It’s those moments that I love to recreate – when the songs and everything else just connect.’
This intimate event that Massimo and Rachel are creating will be held at Grain of the Silos on Thursday 9 July.
Each course will be matched by wines chosen by the Grain’s sommelier Calvin Ling.
Orchestrated at Grain is $209 per person and includes four courses with matched wines.
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