Pastry Chef Rohit Menon

A trained, versatile chef, Rohit Menon has been perfecting his craft with some of the finest players in the international hospitality industry. Rohit’s career has taken him from India to South East Asia, the Middle East and most recently Australia. His multi-faceted career spans five-star luxury properties, state of the art convention centres, business hotels, world class resorts, top of the line heritage properties, and premium event management spaces.

Pavlova

As Pastry Chef at the Australian Turf Club (ATC) currently, Rohit is responsible for the entire pastry operation. What distinguishes this pastry specialist are his passion for perfection, uncompromising eye for detail and relentless drive to keep raising the bar for his team and himself. Over the past five years, Rohit has also been an Industry Assessor and guest speaker at Le Cordon Bleu, Sydney. Starting his career with Taj Hotels, India’s finest chain of luxury hotels, Rohit has since worked with the Marriott, Radisson and Shangri-La hotel groups. In Sydney, prior to ATC, he headed the pastry kitchen at The Westin and thereafter at The Fullerton. 

Deconstructed-Lemon-Tart

Do you have a favourite time of the year or set of ingredients that you look forward to working with?

My favourite time of year is Spring. This is because there is an abundance of produce to choose from, which allows me to be really creative – in terms of flavours, colours and textures. Chocolate is the one ingredient that I would never want to do without!

Sunflower

What would you do if you weren’t a chef?

If I weren’t a chef, I would’ve definitely done something related to professional gaming. I loved playing console and computer games when I was younger.

Strawberry Tart

 Do your personal preferences influence the menu at all?

Absolutely, my philosophy is that any dish I put on a menu is something that I would enjoy eating and be happy to pay for, while dining out myself.

Spring

What do you think is the most over-hyped food trend currently?

I don’t really believe you can call a food trend over-hyped, after all the reason they are called trends is because they come into the spotlight, have a moment of major exposure and before you know it people have moved on to the next big thing. 

Sacher-torte-reimagined

    When are you happiest?

I am happiest when I’m at home, spending time with family and friends. The next best thing is being in the kitchen and going through the process of ideation and creating new desserts.

    When you’re not in the kitchen where can you be found?

You would probably find me at the beach. I love the ocean and everything about it. I feel a sense of calm when at the beach and it’s a great place to unwind. 

Black Forest

 Where is your favourite place to dine?

I don’t have a single favourite restaurant to eat at. However, funnily enough some of the best food I’ve eaten has been at hawker markets and street side vendors in Singapore and India.

What’s your favourite takeaway or comfort food?

Loaded fries! It’s just one of those things that I know isn’t good for me but once in  a way, I still indulge myself.

Carrot Cake

 What makes the local food scene so exciting?

Sydney is a city with a diverse population, with people from all parts of the world calling it home. It has a number of dining establishments from small cake shops to 3 hatted restaurants. There’s something for everybody’s palate.

Miso-Cremeux

Which is the dish you’ve created that you are most proud of and why?

My favourite dish is called Autumn. It is a dessert that emulates the fallen leaves of autumn and incorporates a variety of flavours and textures such as black truffle and chocolate cremeux, cocoa nib nougatine and tonka bean whipped ganache. The black truffle and chocolate cremeux is made to look like a real black truffle, hence playing with the diners imagination and creating a wow moment for them.

Autumn

You’re having friends over for dinner tonight. What’s on the table?

A platter of some charcuterie, cheese and Prosecco to start the night and then leading into a variety of small bites – not necessarily restricted to any one cuisine.

Name your favourite city that has it all: food, culture, and nightlife.

Singapore.

Honey

Can you tell us more about the cuisine at your restaurants?

In my role, I oversee the pastry offering across the entire operation and as such there are desserts made to cater to fine dining, bistro, retail and everything in between.

Coconut Whipped Ganache

Ingredients

Method