Bravos Vic Park
Fletcher Hughes Executive Chef and Tim Jones Head Chef are cooking up a storm out at Bravo’s restaurant in East Victoria Park. Replacing the old Rifo’s at 933 Albany Highway the venue has undergone a significant face lift and offers remarkable modern Italian influenced cuisine. The Foodie Hub sat down with Fletch & Tim to discuss their background, the philosophy of Bravo’s and the scene in general.
Fletch Hughes (left) and Tim Jones executing in the kitchen. Preparing probably their best seller, the Confit Pork Belly.
Fletch started out his culinary career in Cottesloe working at Barchetta and Blue Duck before moving onto Lake Karrinyup Country Club. He has an impressive list, Sodexo Mining Corp & the then Platform restaurant (Woodside Building, Perth) before working at Soda Sun Lounge. With this extended experience he came on board with Crema Cafe in West Perth which is the same owners as Bravo’s.
Tim Jones started out at 20 years of age working in the kitchen at Primo Cucina, Hillarys. After earning his stripes here he moved into Mia Cucina also in Hillarys offering a fine dining authentic Italian experience. Tim moved across to Crema Cafe for a year and then had the opportunity to head up the kitchen at Bravo’s.
How do you describe your menu and where does it draw its inspiration from?
“Our menu is best described as modern Italian.” says Fletch. “We do think we have a European influence, predominately it is Modern Italian however there are elements to it that are of the European nature. We have a great selection of pizzas and pastas yet we also do some fantastic share dishes. We specialise in some finer dishes and offer gluten free options recognising the demand for different culinary options required now in Perth.” For all your Gluten Intolerant out there looking for some devilishly indulgence, Bravo’s do a great Belgian Chocolate Pudding with ice cream.
What are your standout dishes?
Between the lines when I asked the boys this question, you can hear the passion and see their eyes light up. “Our Pork Belly is something we are proud of,” explains Tim. “We soak it in a brine solution and fill it with crushed fennel seeds & pomegrante, then we roll it up and cook it in duck fat.” When The Foodie Hub posted a photo of this dish on its Instagram account it attracted one of the highest like rates of all time. Its not hard to see why when see the presentation put in below. So the pork is sourced from Linley Valley and the dish is served with salardaise potatoes on the base, an apple fritter on the top, pomegranate molasses and crackling to the side.
Confit Pork Belly ($36.50)
Linley valley, Salardaise potatoes, apple fritter, pomegranate molasses.
“Another dish we are particularly proud of is the ‘Food from the Gods'” says Fletch. This dish (pictured below) is Quinoa cakes with poached eggs, spinach, feta and red peppers. I love a Chef that thinks outside the box when it comes to breakfast items of which this is one, as I feel Perth is over saturated with uninspiring breakfast dishes. This certainly doesn’t apply here and this dish is a light, tasty and gluten friendly option to satisfy even the most discerning critique. Finally, would have to say The Donut that we do. It has cinnamon sugar, condensed milk, custard vanilla ice cream and strawberry jam.” Scroll down to the bottom of this page and have a look at it – impressive!
“Food from the Gods” ($19.50)
Talk about East Victoria Park. What is the location like and where can you see it going?
“Certainly can see East Vic Park as an emerging area of Perth.” says Fletch. “I believe it can be the Leederville of the future, it certainly has the potential to be. You have had a lot of activity recently with more buzz happening up this end of Albany Highway and we certainly aim to provide a quality experience for all our customers. Mid week I would say we get a lot of locals coming in and our current special of dine in from $12.50 (Pizza & Pasta) Tuesday to Thursday nights has assisted with that. The weekend we see people coming from farther afield, given the owners are the same for Bravo’s and Crema Cafe in West Perth we do have weekday clientele from there that will bring family & friends here for a great dining experience on the weekends, when they can relax and have a bit more time.”
“Digressing to East Victoria Park and certainly the Perth scene now in general, I think the rise in popularity of Farmer’s Markets and Communal Vegetable Gardens in communities has really raised awareness of produce and sourcing produce to the greater public. Shows like Masterchef and My Kitchen Rules have been positive to an extent as they have really commercialised and brought cooking and dining out as a way of life for many people now. It’s great to see so many people in Perth being passionate about the direction the scene is going and we hope when people come into our restaurant they leave feeling good about their experience and the standard we have delivered.”
Fish aficionado by Tim Jones
Do you have any promotions or special nights happening now or coming up?
“We have the Pizza and Pasta from $12.50 as Fletch touched on,” answers Tim. “Essentially we want to show the locals that although we may appear high end when they walk by, we are very accessible to all budgets and we feel these specials reflect this. There aren’t many places in Perth that offer pizza or pasta from $12.50 dine in & everyone is welcome to take advantage of this. It runs Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday nights & Tuesday to Friday lunches. Come on in and give us a shot! Also, we have established a ‘VIP Club’ which offers everyone a free meal on their birthday. You can sign up for it on our website. And of course, it wouldn’t be a birthday dinner without us bringing out the candles and singing happy birthday. Yes, we do that too.”
