Restaurant & Cafe: Meet the Beef + Lamb Ambassador Chef, BJ Sebastian
Food is a memory. The art of cooking or sitting down to a meal with friends and family, or simply that act of taking that first bite has the ability to transport us to another time and place. The food experience that either changed the way they think about food or inspired them to become a chef.
This quote is one of BJ Sebastian’s favourites. As the Executive Head Chef at the Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant and The Archive Bistro on Waiheke Island, he has recently been named as one of four Beef and Lamb Ambassador Chefs for 2022. His cooking draws inspiration from all over the world, travelling and tasting as he goes. He loves to juxtapose traditional methods from different countries in one dish.
Born and bred in India, Sebastian started his career as a chef when he was 19. After completing a Bachelor's Degree in Commerce and Accounting, he set off travelling the world and working in restaurants including those with a Michelin Star from Gordon Ramsey’s group in London. In 2013 he made the move to New Zealand and worked in all kinds of restaurants before settling at Mudbrick.
“I first started cooking when I was young, helping my mother in the kitchen. My grandmother forages and incorporates lots of native ingredients while she cooks, and my mother taught me the basics of how to extract flavours from spices. My father owns a seafood farm and brought home fish and shellfish which I got a chance to experiment with a lot. I decided to become a chef when I fell in love with food as a child. You can be creative with food, have more freedom, trial a lot of techniques and of course, make people happy!"
Sebastian considers becoming a Beef and Lamb Ambassador a lifetime achievement. He loves working to inspire the next generation and is looking forward to highlighting his interest in modern cooking techniques. He sees New Zealand Beef and Lamb as having great flavour compared to that of other countries, with a world-class reputation that is highlighted in restaurants around the world. He notes the great job done by kiwi farmers, nourishing and producing such high-quality beef and lamb.
“ I feel working with beef and lamb is a privilege for me to showcase from a nose to tail on a plate.”
The approach at Mudbrick is to offer guests a sensory culinary immersion - elegantly plated dishes that draw influence from all over the world while using New Zealand's best produce, and elements from Mudbrick's own gardens. Sebastian is passionate about creating dishes that utilise every part of an ingredient, whether that means creating a ferment or garum or curing and pickling to create an unexpected flavour for the diner. Creating a nose to tail dish for a showcase menu, he thinks there is always something exciting and unexpected to be created.
When creating his menu, Sebastian was inspired by the exceptional quality of meat available in New Zealand and wanted to highlight the less commonly used cuts and offal in a new and interesting way. He always aims for a very natural visual when plating, using simple ingredients that compliment the selection of native ones New Zealand has to offer.
The daily challenges are one of Sebastian's favourite things about working in hospitality. No day is ever the same, there is always something new to learn, a new team member to train, new culinary trends, new inspirations and new resources.
The past year or so has been challenging for everyone in hospitality. Sebastian notes that the closed borders, a downturn in guests, lockdowns and staffing shortages all whilst starting a new role has been incredibly difficult at times. But he considers himself to be a naturally positive person, always trying to find new ways to motivate his team. So, a move from Christchurch to Waiheke Island allowed him the chance to find inspiration during a particularly challenging period. Sebastian hopes to see a break in challenges for the hospitality industry in the near future, with the return of international tourism he hopes to be thrown into the challenges he used to embrace pre-pandemic.
With the Mudbrick and Archive menus developing all the time, and a great team behind him, Sebastian is gunning for a hat this year, something that has been a goal of his for a long time.
For someone just beginning in their hospitality journey, Sebastian encourages them to 'Stick with it!!'
“There is so much to learn and others often appear to be breezing through everything whilst you are struggling to remember it all. Once you’ve got your footing it’s like riding a bike and you’ll meet some amazing people, work in some amazing places and make lifelong memories."