Interview by Elijah Attard. Chef and host of the Roots Hospitality podcast. @roots_hospitality
Photography by Steven Woodburn, Daniel Nadal & Wes Nel
Gabriel Hepworth is pushing customer expectations with a focus on native flavour combos.
Interview by Elijah Attard. Chef and host of the Roots Hospitality podcast. @roots_hospitality
Gabriel Hepworth is the venue manager at Eileen’s Bar – an exciting bar/lab by Four Pillars Gin. Since 2020, Gabriel has led a unique space designed to push the boundaries of customers’ expectations through interesting flavour combinations that showcase truly unique native ingredients. We talk about the importance of innovation with Arancini Martinis, designing bars with AI technology and why using local and Australian ingredients is a must.
How has everything been with you at Eileen’s bar?
A little hectic! We just finished up the collaboration with Fuji Whisky we did for a week to showcase their new single blended whisky, which was awesome. We’re a gin bar here, so it’s cool to highlight other brands doing interesting work too.
I’m sure the appeal for Fuji doing a pop-up at Eileen’s would be the interesting approach you and your team have in the process of developing the cocktails. With that said, where did this dedicated space for innovation spark from?
It was really led by James Irvine who wanted to create an interesting workshop of always flowing ideas. This is where Labrats stemmed from, which is an event that allows guests to come in and experiment with their own ideas. So with the guests contributing their imagination, to the staff here at Eileen’s, it has become a place full of non-stop trial and error. Which is amazing because there’s never a dull day.
What’s the most interesting cocktail idea someone has thought of?
Ooo! Someone recently threw out an Arancini martini. If you think that doesn’t make any sense, that’s what we thought initially too. But that’s exactly the reason we do it. If we aren’t providing a space for the creative bartenders here to push the boundaries, what’s the point? So they got to work with infusing tomatoes into spirits and figuring it out. Even if it doesn’t work for what you initially intended, you can surprise yourself and find a new element that would work better for another idea. One of the perks of research and development!
What’s really exciting to me is your work with Australian ingredients. By being able to highlight these awesome flavours through a variety of techniques, you can potentially open up a world of new ideas that spark more bars into supporting more locally-owned food companies too.
This has always been important to Four Pillars, who made their biggest impact in the spirit world by utilising uniquely grown Aussie citrus for example. Since then, they have been really open to highlighting these flavours like lemon myrtle and Davidson plum where they can. It’s only been recently that we have seen a rise in these ingredients being used in cocktails and hopefully, it continues. We’re finally tapping into a world of knowledge that is defining Australian cuisine.
“Someone recently threw out an Arancini martini. If you think that doesn’t make any sense, that’s what we thought initially too. But that’s exactly the reason we do it. If we aren’t providing a space for the creative bartenders here to push the boundaries, what’s the point? So they got to work with infusing tomatoes into spirits and figuring it out.”
What do you think is the importance of creating a bar that is always thinking forward and experimenting with new flavour combinations?
For me, if this direction kept going, it could almost become the beginning of a Noma for bars in a sense. Don’t put too much pressure on us! Right now we’re focusing on the culture of a team that is supportive of every idea. Making sure your team is equally contributing is an important start. Once you create a system that backs the team, then the team will work harder to think outside the box and workshop the next best idea or research to find more unique ingredients. It starts with small steps that can eventually lead to something really amazing, so you never know.
On a side note, I heard that the bar was designed using an Oculus headset? This sounds insane!
We worked with Behind Bars agency who are based in Oslo. They’ve helped open some of the best bars like Tayer & Elementary in London, and Inside Bar Station in Oslo. It was a virtual experience that allowed the Four Pillars team to know exactly what they wanted and where they wanted it in an almost real-world experience before the construction even began.
You’re a chef, so just imagine working in a restaurant and everything you need for service is within a few steps and you’re not running to the otherside of the kitchen just to grab or cook something that is opposite to your station all the time. Behind Bars Agency is really incredible for developing that software. It’s changed the game.
To finish up, what is something awesome you value about Eileen’s that maybe the customer doesn’t see often?
I really adore how the team communicate and works together behind the scenes. I’m so passionate about allowing the team to constantly push their own personal boundaries as they are learning. Whether it’s travelling to showcase their passion for brand events and pop-ups, or being back behind the bar working on the next cocktail idea. All of these experiences allow everyone to grow and feel respected which you can really feel when they are explaining each step of the process to guests with a gleaming smile.
I can really feel that positive vibe. Just knowing what it’s like as a chef to spend hours developing and perfecting an idea, only to put it up on the pass for the guests to enjoy, is really cool. Kudos for creating that! Thanks for chatting and keep up the amazing work!
Eileen’s Bar at the Four Pillars Laboratory – 410 Crown Street, Surry Hills