Bondi Local | Guy Turlan
Bondi Local | Guy Turland
Guy Turland is a chef who has trained at some of Sydney’s best restaurants (Est and Icebergs Dining Room and Bar) and who now runs his own restaurant (Bondi Harvest in Bondi Junction) and café (the Depot at North Bondi). Mark Alston, his business partner, is a filmmaker with a background in photography, design and making music videos. Together, they are Bondi Harvest, a multi-platform media brand focused around their eponymous restaurant and YouTube Channel.
We met Guy thanks to Jaki Arthur (last week’s Bondi Local Profile).
Melanie chatted with Guy at theDepot.
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Guy, tell us a little bit about your background.
I’m originally from Bowral, so a country boy at heart. When I finished school, I came to Sydney to study cooking and do an apprenticeship. I always knew I loved food so I went straight to the top and approached one of Sydney’s best restaurants – Est under Peter Doyle. I was working 80 hour weeks so we were working really hard. He’s a surfer and a great dude, so I learnt a lot from him. I was there for about 5 years and then to Icebergs [Dining Room and Bar] and to North Bondi Italian Food for a bit. Then we bought this café [the Depot]. So I’ve always loved and had a passion for food. I started out in fine dining but what we do [on the Bondi Harvest YouTube Channel] is what we describe as “elevated simplicity.” Simple, approachable food. A lot of people don’t cook any more because they’re intimidated. There are so many Masterchef shows and all these beautiful shows where the food looks perfect and people think “I can’t do that.” So we sort of take the approach where we do it on a beach or in the back yard and keep it simple with a fun little twist so when you do it for your friends you can impress them!
So when you say “we” you mean Mark?
Yes, my business partner Mark [Alston]. He’s in production. I’m obviously a chef. It all started when Mark had a TV idea that was basically reviewing cookbooks. So we did a test shoot for that, but it didn’t work out. Mark came to me and he goes:
“You know what? I sort of like your life, how ‘bout we film that!”
You two have a nice rapport. You’re the face of it but he’s still very much a part of it, even though he’s not on camera.
Yeah, he’s the inquisitive guy behind the camera asking questions.
The powerful thing for us about starting on YouTube is that there are constant comments and you build a relationship with your followers. And you’re connecting with them, writing back. And as soon as you stop doing that, they leave. That’s something that TV doesn’t have – that connection. You can’t jump on and ask questions. And you can’t have a joke or a laugh so it’s so powerful.
You’ve got a lot of followers on your YouTube channel.
Yes, we do. I think we’ve had over 2 million views in 2 years which is crazy! It’s powerful and it’s satisfying for me to actually get that feedback and build that community, to see the same faces coming back and asking questions.
Why Bondi?
My older brother and sister were living here when I finished school, so it meant I had a support network. But to be honest for the first four years of my Sydney life I was doing 80 hour weeks and that’s a lot of travelling back and forth and sleeping on buses, so I didn’t really enjoy Bondi. I wasn’t really immersed in it. I had two days off a week, so I’d sleep for one and surf the other, you know?
But I’ve always had a connection to the ocean. I’ve always surfed. We used to get up at six in the morning and catch the bus from Bowral down to Kiama and surf just coz we loved the ocean. For me water is second nature.
But Bondi’s great. When we started the café and when I started working at Icebergs I really started to learn about Bondi and connect with the locals and that sort of stuff. It’s an amazing subculture. You have millionaires next to backpackers next to tourists next to nonna who bought her house for $30K, 40 or 50 years ago. And it just works. Everyone sits together in one café and they’re all friends and there’s no prejudice. It’s just a weird and wonderful place that thrives and brings out creativity in everyone. It’s pretty cool. It’s a rare thing.
What’s your beat?
Between Bondi Harvest in Bondi Junction and The Depot, back and forth and running around. And I find balance in the surf, doing soft sand runs and getting out in the ocean. I work seven days a week, but I’m my own boss. It’s a nice thing, a powerful thing. I can choose when I go for my run and when I’ve had enough of work and it’s time to go for a surf. So I can bring balance when I need to bring it.
It’s awesome to have this [pointing to the beach] as a back yard, to have the sand and the ocean. To have it so pristine, it’s a beautiful thing. You can work really hard then you can just switch off and get in there.
Favourite places to eat or drink?
I really like Lox, Stock & Barrel. They do some awesome stuff. I like a sneaky whiskey at The Anchor bar every now and again. That’s sort of cool. And The Corner House [on Bondi Road] is really nice as well. There’s some really cool things happening with food in Sydney at the moment. It’s funny, starting out in fine dining, I can see the scenery has changed to, I suppose, to fun dining. Beautiful food but it’s relaxed. Everyone’s welcome. A friend has just opened his place, Drake Eatery, in the centre of Bondi, and that’s beautiful as well. It’s a really good change in food in Bondi. And I’m excited because a lot of the change is stemming from Noma. It’s foraging and understanding what’s in our own back yard. It involves diving too. I dive and spear fish. It’s awesome getting out there, immersing yourself in that nature. You can see the seasons come and go. You can see the fish come and go. You can see how it’s reacting to pollution. or of it’s clean.
Reading/watching?
I’ve just got Netflix so that’s well and truly taken over my life! I’m watching a series called Shameless which is quite funny. It’s about a dysfunctional family.
Reading? I just started reading Real Food [by Nina Planck]. With all the travelling I’m dong at the moment I just downloaded some books on my phone to read while I’m flying.
I’m about to start studying nutrition, just for myself. I’ve been cooking for so long and I have a basic understanding, but I think healthy food and healthy living is an awesome change and it’s going to bring a lot of good to the world, but there’s also a lot of grey area. And there’s a lot of people selling the wrong thing and jumping on trends because everyone’s doing it. I think it’s my responsibility to learn a lit bit more and make sure I understand it and selling the right thing, coz it can be dangerous the other way. It can actually have some harmful affects. Yeah, so that’s what I’ll be reading in the plane on the way to Japan on Monday!
What are you excited about right now?
Oh I’ve got a lot to be excited about. Obviously the cookbook that has just come out. 125 original recipes, it’s been a year’s worth of hard work. I suppose it’s been 15 years of working in a kitchen honing my craft and identity. So I’m really pumped for that to be out and sharing it with the world. It’s doing well and it’s being sold in the US and UK in April; so international sales which is great. There’s another book coming out next year, so I’m already working on that one.
A lot is happening. We’re planning on doing some TV stuff at the end of the year as well. So the end of the year, into the new year is going to be crazy.
Has the TV stuff segued from the YouTube stuff?
Yeah. YouTube is the place where we have fine-tuned and grown our brand and a following and identity. We’ve always wanted TV to be part of the picture. But for us it’s never been the end goal. It’s a new world now. The power of online. Regular TV for us is just another part of the picture. We’re not willing to sell out for it. We know who we are and what we want. We’re pretty careful about the decisions we do and don’t make. For us we want TV but we want it to be made the right way, to be integral to ourselves and the brand. It’s a part of the circle. These days if you don’t have the whole circle, it’s not sustainable. You need all the elements. And if you do, it’s very powerful. The key though, is to stay true to who you are. It’s a lot of work but it’s quite easy. It’s just us turning up and saying this is who we are and this is what we do. We’re not pretending. We don’t have to put a façade on every day. It’s just roll out of bed and do what you do and people will either like it or, if not, life goes on.
Do you have a motto?
Yeah, I have several. “Eat well.” “Smiles are free.” It’s amazing how far a smile can go; and: “Don’t chase money and fame.” If I’m enjoying what I’m doing it’ll come. Just stick to it. “Hard work is the key to success.” If things fell in our lap, we just wouldn’t appreciate it. It’s human nature. The harder the work the sweeter the success.
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Full interview on SoundCloud below or HERE
