Chef of the Month
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E'cco Bistro |
Philip Johnson of E'cco Bistro, Brisbane
Meet Philip Johnson, Chef and owner of Brisbane’s E’cco Bistro restaurant. Awarded a host of accolades, the restaurant took out the number one ranking for Brisbane restaurants in the 2007 Gourmet Traveller Awards. In his exclusive interview with American Express Philip talks about the restaurant’s simple, fresh style.
Five Courses with Philip Johnson
- Good service equals satisfied customers. “The people on the floor are such an extension of you that if they go out
there and say something wrong, something smart, something arrogant, just they can basically ruin someone’s
experience as much as bad food. Everyone’s got to get on and that’s what makes it. Of course you’re going to have
issues from time to time, but generally people have got to work as a unit, as one unit.” - What to expect from a meal at E’cco Bistro. “What you see is what you get. It’s simplistic, it’s clean, it’s fresh, it’s
uncluttered. It’s just an honest restaurant and it doesn’t try to pretend to be what it’s not.”” - Signature success: “The signature dish is probably just mushrooms on toast. It’s really just a sourdough toast with
a little bit of olive tapenade and some mushrooms, a drizzle of olive oil, a little bit of parmesan and some fresh
rocket. But people love it, I was in the restaurant the other night eating here and some customers that have come to
us forever had around half a dozen serves of the dish on the table and I thought ‘well, they’re not over it either’.” - It’s what the dining public think that matters: “I think after years of trust with the public you don’t live and die by one
review and you must learn that. People think their doors are going to close if they get criticised, but you
won’t if you have a good product.” - Passion beyond the kitchen: “I was brought up in New Zealand and my parents were third generation motor
garage owners so I’ve always had a big car passion. You need to make sure you have an interest outside of
cooking and restaurants. Too much work makes Jack a dull boy.”
