3 Michelin Star Maaemo goes bush at Berowra Waters Inn
Norwegian three-Michelin-starred restaurant, Maaemo is bringing its spectacular Nordic cuisine to Australia next month for an exclusive two-day pop-up among native bushland at Sydney’s two-hatted Berowra Waters Inn.
Chef/owner of Maaemo Esben Holmboe Bang’s executive chef Jay Boyle, who has worked with chef Esben since the beginning of Maaemo, will travel from Norway to cook alongside Berowra Waters Inn owner/executive chef Brian Geraghty across the weekend of 15-16 July to deliver an exceptional ten-course menu of Maaemo signatures accented with Australian produce.
Dishes will include heroes of the Maaemo menu, such as Oyster 'Tradition 2010' celebrating a raw oyster in its most natural essence with an emulsion of mussels, cream and dill; Our Caviar, potato and elderflower; and firm favourite Brown butter ice-cream hazelnut and coffee molasses.
Aligning with Maaemo’s (meaning Mother Earth in ancient Norse) focus on wild and organic ingredients, the Berowra Waters Inn team is sourcing local produce to stand in for some Scandinavian staples. Langoustines will be swapped for marron, truffles will come from Tassie, and wild mushrooms will be foraged locally, while Sydney chef and hunter John Ralley will deliver deer’s heart for Jay’s 'Congee' with smoked reindeer heart and black vinegar - a Maaemo dish which also now features on the menu of just-opened EHB in Shanghai, the fifth restaurant for Maaemo owner Esben Holmboe Bang.
Jay will feel right at home in the minimalist, Scandi-style surrounds of Berowra Waters Inn’s dining room, albeit in an open kitchen with a very different outlook to that in Oslo, among the bush overlooking serene Berowra Creek on which the water-access-only restaurant sits.
Originally from Port Stephens just north of Sydney, Jay met Brian in 2010 when they worked together at Sydney’s famed Bilson’s restaurant, Jay as chef de partie and Brian as executive sous chef. Jay moved to Norway to join the Maaemo team in 2011, steering the restaurant to become the first Nordic establishment to be awarded three Michelin stars, together with Danish Geranium in 2016. He later opened one-Michelin-starred Restaurant Kontrast in Oslo, before returning to Maaemo for its 2.0 reopening.
Ahead of Jay’s arrival back in Australia, the Berowra Waters Inn team, including award-winning pastry chef Lauren Eldridge, has already started cooking and testing his highly complex dishes to perfect the menu ahead of the pop-up.
“Bringing Maaemo to Australia for the first time and sharing Jay’s incredible talents with Sydneysiders is such an honour, and gives our team at Berowra Waters Inn the opportunity to step outside our all-Australian sphere to experiment with Scandinavian flavours and ways to highlight the relationship between raw produce and what is presented on the plate,” said Brian.
Reservations are now open via www.berowrawatersinn.com with the ten-course menu for $400 per person with matching wines for $200, with sittings for lunch and dinner Saturday 15 July and Sunday 16 July. Places are limited.
About Berowra Waters Inn
A restaurant with a rich history, two-hatted Berowra Waters Inn delivers a modern all-Australian degustation dining experience in a light-filled minimalist dining room of the iconic Glenn Murcutt-designed sandstone, tin and glass building, perched on a tributary of the Hawkesbury River and surrounded by bush. The menu is a celebration of local produce and native flavours complemented by 100% Australian wines, housemade cocktails and locally-crafted spirits. Just 50 minutes from Sydney city, the restaurant is reachable only by private boat or seaplane.
Address: 1 Calabash Point, Berowra Waters NSW 2082
Opening hours: Friday 12pm-3pm, 6:30pm-8:30pm; Saturday 12pm-3pm, 6:30pm-8:30pm; Sunday 12pm-3pm
About Brian Geraghty
Owner and executive chef of Berowra Waters Inn since 2012, Brian has worked in some of Australia’s leading restaurants, including three-hatted Quay and Bilson’s, and Sean Connolly’s Astral, as well as London’s two-Michelin-starred Pied à Terre with fellow Australian chef Shane Osborn, and New York’s Per Se. In 2018, he was named Gault&Millau Australia Chef of the Year.
