By Vanessa Cavasinni, editor Australian Hotelier
Morgan McGlone, of Belle’s Hot Chicken in Melbourne, will commence his stint as food curator of Hotel Harry on 6 April.
The internationally lauded chef will take over the Sydney hotel’s kitchens for the rest of 2016, focusing on a southern American menu, starting with the Public Bar. He will then begin a more refined focus on the upstairs Dining Room on 20 April.
McGlone has had an extensive career as a chef, starting in the kitchens of Luke Mangan’s CBD and Salt restaurants, before heading to New York and then opening the famed Belle’s Hot Chicken in Melbourne (with a current pop-up, soon to be made permanent, at Barangaroo in Sydney).
McGlone has spent the last few years working in America’s south – at Husk restaurants in Charleston, South Carolina and in Nashville, and that cuisine has inspired his menu at Hotel Harry. The Public Bar offering will include snacks like crisp pork rinds and smoked chicken wings, while more substantial meal offerings include shrimp Po-boys, a lamb rib rack and dry-aged T-bone steak.
But the chef’s purview will be more than just the Public Bar and Dining Room.
“I’m curating everything from the ground-floor Public Bar menu and second-floor Dining Room, through to room service and special event catering. I love the autonomy that the team has given me – it’s a fucking cool project,” McGlone stated.
To complement the food offering, James Hird, Good Food Guide’s Sommelier of the Year for 2015, will be curating a drinks list that will be "fun, accessible and focused on sustainability".
“I spent a lot of time with Morgan in the south. We will list a few of his favourites including Sweet Tea, Moonshine, Grand Ma, ryes and bourbons. Southern food, natural wine, whisky and moonshine just makes sense," said Hird.