Executive Chef Jeff Turnbull has had a busy few years – overseeing operations such as the stylish Aqua Restaurant at North Sydney Olympic Pool and the Ripples cafes at Chowder Bay, Milsons Point and Whale Beach.
Now Jeff's added yet another string to his bow, as owner and executive chef of High St Bistro in leafy Willoughby on Sydney's north shore.
"My wife and I live just a few streets away and over the years we've been popping in to the Bistro for coffee – so when my wife phoned to tell me the business was for sale, I could see the potential immediately," is how Jeff explains his decision to buy the bistro.
"We both love the area, it's got a fantastic community feel and the previous owners had built up a good rapport with customers so there was strong support for the business. So it was an easy decision to buy and we then started thinking about what we wanted to do with it."
Under Jeff's management, High St Bistro is open seven days for lunch and dinner with breakfasts on weekends. He describes the new menu as "contemporary bistro food with a French influence – we've got more seafood, lighter-style meals, a few more salads and healthy options on the menu. We've only been open for a fortnight so far so we've been really busy getting everything together!"
The venue seats 70 and is BYO and licensed, with mains at around $30 and entrees starting at about $15-$16.
Jeff and his team decided to keep the existing tables and chairs but gave the interior a makeover – "we've put on a fresh coat of paint and gone from yellow brass and lights to downlights, cloth-covered lights in the walls, and stained the wood dark black. It's changed the ambience to a bit more modern – soft white and black and chrome, a bit more sleek and clean. There's a cheery bistro feel, a bit of a buzz, which is the sort of mood we wanted."
The bistro's new décor has given Jeff an ideal opportunity to try the new CHUX Stainless Steel Wipes, which have been developed to keep the stainless steel surfaces found in modern commercial decor free of smears, smudges, fingerprints and dust.
These new wipes remove grease from stainless steel surfaces while adding a protective coating to prevent markings from any of the agents mentioned above.
"I'm already a dedicated user of other Clorox Commercial products such as CHUX Superwipes and GLAD Bake, so my Clorox rep knew I'd be interested in the new CHUX Stainless Steel Wipes and dropped in a pack for me to try," Jeff explains. "We had been using a protective spray on the stainless steel, but that's much more costly.
"The CHUX Stainless Steel Wipes have already proven their worth. They give great results – the steel comes up shiny, polishes easily. We have an open kitchen here, customers can see us working and the food being plated up, so it's very important that all the surfaces look pristine. There's also a lot of stainless steel in the bar area and we have a big stainless steel drinks fridge – these new CHUX Wipes give all the surfaces a fabulous gleam. It only takes about a minute to do a couple of panels."
New CHUX Stainless Steel Wipes have been developed to be easy to use: just ensure the stainless steel surface is dry before wiping with the grain until clean. Any surface residue can be wiped away with a CHUX Superwipe.
CHUX Stainless Steel Wipes have a non-toxic formulation to ensure they're kind to hands. They're soft and gentle so they won't scratch or mark – leaving a fantastic shine and streak-free finish – and they come with a 100 per cent satisfaction guarantee.
CHUX Stainless Steel Wipes are available from foodservice and hospitality distributors, or register for your free sample now...
