Dec 21, 2017
Morgan McGlone's fried chicken has scored a standing ovation. At an
event run Noma's Rene Redzepi, no less. Feeding the top chefs at
MAD, the famous Copenhagen food symposium, is just one
of many
memorable instances of Morgan's eventful career.
Long before he launched Belles Hot Chicken, Morgy started out
cooking for huge volumes of Japanese tourists at a revolving
restaurant in Sydney as well as working for Luke Mangan and
Merivale. He staged
for Pierre Gagnaire in Paris and assisted fashion photographer Todd
Barry in New York – models apparently turned up to Barry's shoots
because the food was so good.
Morgy returned to Sydney to open up Flinders Inn, which happened to
be located on the worst site in the city. "If
the rent is really cheap, there's a reason why it's really cheap,"
says Morgy. There
were issues with the bathrooms (which may have cost more than the
restaurant) and no one could park near Flinders
Inn.
Despite some highlights – cooking for George Michael, staging Taste
of Young Sydney events – the restaurant sadly had to close. "When
your first restaurant is a failure ... psychologically, it was
a massive
blow," says Morgy.
Morgy rebounded by working for Sean Brock at Husk in America. Morgy
learnt what true farm-to-table dining was (his story of dealing
with the Mennonite farmers, who didn't even use phones, is
fascinating). Morgy's experience cooking in the South would end up
inspiring the launch of Belles Hot Chicken in Australia.