The Gantry X Black Star

The Gantry’s head chef Chris Irving and the team behind Black Star Pastry have teamed up to host monthly, produce-driven dinners. 

The Gantry, a luxe waterfront restaurant at Pier 1, and beloved inner-west pastry cafe, Black Star, are collaborating to present monthly dinners. 

Chris Irving, The Gantry’s head chef, moved to Sydney from Bangkok last year for the role of head chef at The Gantry. Before that he was a personal chef for the likes of David Beckham and the Queen, and worked alongside Gordon Ramsay in his UK restaurants. 

Just after arriving in October he met the crew from Black Star Pastry. “We hit it off,” Irving says. Irving realised Black Star shared his philosophy: simple, good, local food and respect for the farmers and the people who grow and supply it.

They wanted to find a way to work together. Destination NSW, “jumped straight on board,” with the idea, and they started hosting collaborative dinners earlier this month. 

Irving says keeping things different and innovative is a priority throughout the five-course menus. “The Black Star guys are close with the Archie Rose distillers in Rosebery, so they had an Archie Rose gin jelly in one dessert. It’s not meant to be a wine dinner at The Gantry, it’s more about the collaboration and keeping things fresh and local.” 

As a certified sommelier, however, Irving does know his vino. The first few dinners are scheduled to showcase local wines. “We’re moving through NSW,” Irving says. “We’ve done Mudgee, Shoalhaven and the next one is the Hunter.”

Irving says that so far, the dinners have drawn a younger crowd. “We don’t want it to be wine snobs sitting around,” he says. “We want something more lively, more upbeat.”

Originally published on Broadsheet