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MICHAEL MANNERS - 2003
Michael began his career by studying at the Ecole Hoteliere, Lausanne from 1963 to 1966 then returned to England where he met and worked with George Perry-Smith at the ‘Hole in the Wall Restaurant’ in Bath. George was the father of modern British cooking and a continuing influence on Michael’s approach to food ‘Use only the best and freshest produce available and treat it with respect’.
Returning to Australia Michael started ‘Upstairs’, a French inspired bistro offering good French food in a very noisy, very full environment above a Maltese club in Palmer Street, East Sydney. The year was 1970 and the food and wine scene was beginning. The eating out public was eager for new and interesting tastes…they were great years.
In 1974 Michael returned to live in France and England in order to gain more knowledge of the new wave of cooking that was beginning to shake up the ‘old’ style of classical French cooking. It was very like the food we had been doing at the ‘Hole in the Wall’ - simple and tasty.
Back in Australia and wanting out of Sydney Michael found an old guesthouse in Blackheath in the Blue Mountains. It was 1976 and the start of ‘Glenella’. For the next twelve years it became a gourmet weekend retreat and a lot of fun. Food was becoming more and more serious and the diners more demanding. Australians were travelling and becoming more knowledgeable, wines were expanding, the quality of produce improving. Food was at last becoming very important in peoples lives. It was a great time to be part of an ever-increasing industry.
1988 saw the sale of ‘Glenella’ and a move to Wentworth Falls where Michael opened a cooking school with Josephine Jagger. One thing lead to another and by 1991 Michael ventured into the education sector becoming Head of Course for the first year Food and Beverage students at the Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School at Leura. ”That lasted a year. I really missed the cut and thrust of the restaurant life and was not at all cut out for administration”, said Michael.
Michael and Josephine then started ‘Table Manners’ in Katoomba, which they ran for three years. It was a return to the simple bistro style of ‘Upstairs’. The restaurant gained a ‘hat’ in The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide despite the fact that toilets were at the rear of the car park.
In 1996 to 1997 Michael went to work at ‘Silks’ in Leura after selling ‘Table Manners’. Looking to move from the mountains and after many visits Michael and Josephine decided to move to Orange. Michael had been using produce from the region since the ‘Glenella’ days and thought a move towards the produce rather than away from it was the way to go.
‘Selkirks’ named after the Robbie Burns ‘Selkirks Grace’, an ode to food, opened in 1997. Michael uses the local produce in season as much as possible and suggests a glass of local wine with every dish. Says Michael, “It’s very much a case of Orange Regional Cuisine. The restaurant has been doing very well and last year we were awarded two ‘hats’ in The Good Food Guide as well as Best Country Restaurant. We hope to continue introducing customers to the delights of this very beautiful part of the world”.
“Being nominated for this Hall of Fame award is probably my proudest moment”.
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