Like a fine wine; the relationship between Café Sydney’s executive chef, Matt Bates, and sommelier, Todd Cummins, only gets better with age.
By Emma-Kate Dobbin
It’s a sparkling autumn’s afternoon and the sun is shining across Sydney Harbour. Perched at eye level, above the tourists and busy city streets, is the ultra-chic Café Sydney located on the fifth floor of Customs House. From the gorgeous wooden tables, cosmopolitan couples and groups sit enjoying their lazy lunches. The synergy of the restaurant’s interior teamed with the view is a breath-taking match, not unlike the food and wine menu prepared by Sydney’s executive chef, Matt Bates, and sommelier, Todd Cummings.
"We’ve been working together for five years. I was here when Matt started," says Cummings. True to the stereotype, first impressions were lasting.
Bates began his time at Café Sydney as Junior Sous Chef in June 2003, having previously done time at Sydney’s Stamford Plaza and the Marriot Hotel. His resume, however, has not been updated since for lack of time, and fails to cite the outrageous success of Café Sydney under his direction.
Cummings returned to Australia from Europe in 1994 to commence a salubrious career in hospitality, and now holds court as both the assistant manger and sommelier. His Australian achievements include a notable stint at Sydney’s highly acclaimed Rockpool Restaurant as well as leading Sydney restaurants, The Merivale Group and Bistro Moncur.
"I don’t remember just my first day, I remember the whole first week," Bates says. "We would sit down while I was doing the ordering and have a coffee, talk about our plans, about how we wanted things to work."
"And I talked about how we would do great things together," says Cummings. Like a well-oiled machine they are in total harmony – essential for an establishment with a turnover of 550 people per day. Together they deliver an unspeakably high volume of fresh, classic seafood teamed with delicious wines on a daily basis. The relationship between them is not one to be underestimated – they each rely heavily on the other to create the Café Sydney experience, and matching the seasonal produce to the wine list is no mean feat.
"We taste and test, and taste and test, and taste and taste," laughs Cummings. According to the pair of them, food, as with life, all comes down to having good taste.
As to keeping the flavour of their relationship fresh, day in day out, the solution is simple.
"Straight up. We are both very honest with each other," reflects Bates. "We also get along outside of work; we socialise not just at work but after hours."
Their common ground, aside from Café Sydney, includes "real estate, home renovations, drinking in bars." Cummings laughs, digressing into his love of home renovations, detailing their latest endeavours and conquests.
On average, the pair admits to speaking "more than twenty times a day."
"Especially during service," agrees Bates.
"Matt will talk to me a lot about new dishes coming up on the menu. I won’t talk to him about what new wines are coming on, I’ll wait till the food is done," says Cummings. "Obviously the food is the most important thing."
A few moments in Café Sydney is all it takes one to realise that it takes more than two to run this affair. So how do Bates and Cummings deal with mistakes that are out of their hands?
"In the kitchen I’m big on training everyone ¬- from the high level chefs to the associate apprentices," says Bates. "It’s my belief in this day and age that chefs don’t get trained enough. They get pushed to the side and that is one of the big problems in our industry. If a chef does make a mistake you have to talk about it; it’s not about getting straight into them and yelling down at them. If they do it a second time, well then it’s time for a bit of yell and a bit of a smack," he laughs.
"Mistakes happen," says Cummings, "it’s part of human nature. It’s how you deal with the mistake after it’s happened that is the secret."
"With 32 chefs here, if you have even two or three chefs running around the kitchen upset it really can ruin the whole day," says Bates.
Cummings believes the characteristics that make a fabulous sommelier all come down to being not just good with wine, but also being good with people. "If you don’t like people, then you couldn’t do the job."
According to Bates, chefs also need "an open personality and also to be able think on their feet at all times."
"If someone was here with a blinkered attitude, it wouldn’t work."
The pair is big on one-on-one time, both with each other and with staff to keep the work place going from strength to strength.
"If you talk to a group, some people won’t listen. You talk one-on-one and people get it. People like different things, some like it fluffed up, some like it direct. Life is about being flexible about the different ways to communicate to staff."
It is clear that in the relationship between food and wine this pair like to get it right, and right they certainly get it. Like a well-greased machine, this winning team watch over every element of Café Sydney – be it service, food, or the wine – to ensure each plays its part perfectly. All this to the stunning backdrop of Sydney Harbour’s skyline; it isn’t any wonder it’s a winning combination for its patrons time and time again.
Cafe Sydney, Fifth Floor, Customs House, 31 Alfred Street, Sydney, 02 9251 8683
