Chef Tom Sarafian at Colenso
Now in our third year on High Street, Kyneton, Colenso continues to offer exciting plans for 2020.
Over dinner and after being completely captivated by the food at Bar Saracen, Chefs and Restaurateurs, Kathryn Russack and Hal Riches asked if Chef Tom Sarafian would bring his high impact flavours to Kyneton. He said ‘yes’ and now it is for you to enjoy at Colenso, for one night only.
On Sunday, March 8, Tom Sarafian from Bar Saracen is preparing his award winning food, full of our locally grown, in-season specialties. Bar Saracen, in the heart of Melbourne, is a star of the Herald Sun’s Delicious 100 Peoples Choice Awards and for good reason.
Tom started his formal apprenticeship at Melbourne’s famous Stokehouse Restaurant in 2005. In 2008, he found Greg Malouf’s cookbooks and was thrilled to see the traditional cuisine of his Armenian-Egyptian grandparents being presented with such modern finesse. Tom went to work alongside Greg at the legendary MoMo, pursuing his passion for middle eastern cooking.
From there, Tom moved to London to work at the Michelin Star restaurant Petersham Nurseries Cafe and then Fergus Henderson’s world-renowned St John restaurant.
At St John, Tom had the privilege of cooking for some of London’s biggest culinary names, including Nigella Lawson and Anthony Bourdain. He then explored Levantine and Spanish cuisines working at the iconic Moro with Sam and Samantha Clark.
Tom came home to Melbourne via a four month research trip through Spain, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Lebanon and Armenia, he applied this new knowledge to his first head chef role at Joseph Abboud’s East Brunswick favourite, Rumi.
After running Rumi for three years Tom opened Bar Saracen in the Melbourne CBD with Joseph in 2018 to critical acclaim and where he continues to cook the city’s favourite middle eastern food; applying innovative technique to traditional recipes using beautiful local produce.
Tom’s mother is a gardener and his father and grandfather are both chefs. If the Sarafian family aren’t planting, growing, cooking or eating food, they’re talking about food. A great fit for Colenso.
