Series 2: Episode 2 — Seafood Escape With Andrew Ettingshausen

The Green family of Townsville has a three generation tradition of professionally fishing the Great Barrier Reef. Each workday sunrise Neil Green, his wife Leanne and daughter Sienna set off from Alva Beach for a two hour trip out to the reef, where they line fish for Coral Trout and Red Throat Emperor from morning until well after darkness. We join them on one of these trips with Richard Ousby, executive chef at Stokehouse Q Restaurant in Brisbane. Richard gets his first taste of fishing the reef with an electric reel while the rest of the crew use the same kind of handlines that Sienna’s grandad used long ago. The difference is that nowadays the catch is carefully measured, documented and reported daily as the Green family strives for the fishery sustainability which they need for their future. Following a big morning of fishing, Neil expertly fillets a Red Throat Emperor for Richard to serve with Cuminatta dressing for a quick onboard lunch. And Richard brings the afternoon/evening fishing session to an exciting close when he lands a beautifully big Large Mouth Nannygai! Then, back in his Stokehouse kitchen on the river in Brisbane’s Southbank Parklands, he presents it magnificently with Smoked Almond, Carrot Reduction, Pickled Raisin and Carrot Salad.

RICHARD OUSBY

Executive Chef, Stokehouse

At just 34 years of age, Richard Ousby already has several major awards under his belt. In 2012 Richard took out the title of the San Pellegrino & Acqua Panna Young Chef of the Year, winning out over a high calibre of contestants from across the globe, at the competition held in Venice. Prior to this, he was also named the 2011 Electrolux Australian Young Chef of the Year. Richard’s career began in Brisbane, where he started his apprenticeship working in a family owned Italian restaurant, which he continued and completed in a small hotel. When the opportunity arose for him to help with the setup and establishment of a fine dining restaurant, he gladly took it, utilizing every bit of knowledge attained to improve and perfect his skills. With a thirst for knowledge, Richard moved to England to work for Michael Roux at the Waterside Inn where he learnt about classical French cuisine and his core cooking skills were honed. In more recent years, Richard worked under Chef Peter Gilmore for 3 years, as junior sous chef at Quay Restaurant in Sydney, where he “discovered that an open-minded, innovative chef can draw on multiple cultural sources for one dish”.

Richard joined Stokehouse Q in late 2012, where he became head chef in early 2013 and quickly rose to the top rank of executive chef for Stokehouse restaurants in 2015. One of Richard’s key ambitions in his time at Stokehouse has been to predominantly source produce from local, sustainable producers. He has long had a deep-seated passion for knowing everything there is to know about where his produce is sourced from, and a strong belief that this story has a huge impact on what ends up on the plate. This viewpoint was borne of an upbringing which involved copious amounts of home gardening, and wholesome cooking. It is not hard to see the positive impact that this philosophy has on not only the accolades that Stokehouse receives, but the culture of Stokehouse kitchens, where it is ingrained in their ethos to use only the best. With the Stokehouse St. Kilda rebuild now complete, Richard splits his time between both Melbourne and Brisbane overseeing both venues.