Meet Brad

“I grew up with an Italian grandfather and an English grandmother who had a big veggie garden in the backyard and our lives seemed to revolve around food,” Sloane says. “Naturally, that environment, along with the family background, played a large hand in inspiring me to become a chef.”

This rich Italian heritage makes a subtle appearance in some of his dishes at Verandah Bar, such as his signature Nettle Gnocchi which features tantalising taste layers — sautéed mushrooms, potato and pecorino foam, and a tartan crumb — nestled on a bed of stinging nettle-spiked gnocchi.

“The use of nettle is my nod to native Australia which, I feel, should receive more prominence in modern Australian cooking and the gnocchi is a strong Italian family-favourite,” Sloane says. “Both elements create a dish that not only hits all the flavour and texture points that a dish should but one that really showcases my heritage.”

There’s also a strong reverence towards land and produce which is apparent in his waste-not-want-not approach to proteins, and his respectable nod to sustainable eating.

“My family always said that a chef’s technique is shown through the use of secondary cuts complimented by what he can forage off of the land,” he says. “Anyone can make a prime cut taste good but it’s the cuts that make you work for it that can really shine under the hands of a skilled chef.”

With that, Sloane not only strives to deliver modern Australian cuisine at Verandah but hopes to become part of modern Australia’s story itself – someone, who through the use of cooking, is all-embracing, open to new experiences, and tells the story of the people who made it possible to enjoy life’s small pleasures in our sunburnt country.