Palate Cleanser is a collaboration between the 2024 Canberra Art Biennial, Such and Such Restaurant and Melbourne chef Nagesh Seethiah. Photo: Supplied/Tegan Garnett.
An artful collaboration between the 2024 Canberra Art Biennial, Such and Such restaurant and Melbourne chef Nagesh Seethiah is shaping up to be a thoroughly creative (and delicious!) affair.
Over two nights, Such and Such diners will enjoy Palate Cleanser, a curated experience combining art, sculpture, design and culinary artistry.
The 2024 Canberra Art Biennial will showcase public art installations across the “designed landscape” of Canberra. This is the fifth time the festival has been held, although the first three events were under the Contour 556 banner. This year, there are more artists and a greater variety of events across more locations in the city.
A lot of the art at Such and Such was sourced from co-owners Dash and Ross’s personal collection. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
2024 Creative Producer Tegan Garnett told Region that the Biennial organisers were drawn to Such and Such as a venue because of the way art is already used in the space.
“We really love the way that Dash and Ross [co-owners of Such and Such and Pilot] already showcase art and sculpture in their restaurants … it was a natural fit because of the way they value the arts community in Canberra,” she said.
“We thought it would be really fun to bring a chef to Canberra and have a delicious dinner where we can also celebrate craft and design and art, and it all just came together really organically.”
Manze chef Nagesh Seethiah from Melbourne will return to Canberra for the events. Photo: Manze/Instagram.
Chef Nagesh Seethiah previously worked in Canberra’s hospitality scene while studying Art History at ANU. In 2017 he moved to Melbourne and opened Manze, a restaurant that pays homage to his Mauritian heritage. He is excited to bring the flavours of Manze to Canberra for this Palate Cleanser event.
“This is a really nice opportunity to bring some of the highlights from Manze over the years to Canberra. I never got to cook any of this food when I was working here and I also never had the opportunity to share this food side of myself with the art part of myself,” Nagesh told Region.
“It’s going to be really nice to merge all those things together and work with the team at Such and Such because that restaurant is so intertwined with contemporary art.”
The menu will combine favourites from the Manze menu, as well as some dishes that combine the best of Manze with Such and Such. Nagesh explained that both restaurants have a similar ethos in how they approach food.
“Such and Such doesn’t really have any boundaries on cuisine, but they’re really big on flavour, so I think it will line up really nicely with the Mauritian flavours. The whole duck dish that they do has become pretty iconic in just a couple of years, so we’re going to serve that with Mauritian flavours for this event.”
There will be an exhibition inside the restaurant curated by Grace Blake, featuring Jac Bradley, Tully Moore and Shaun Hayes, with tables displayed with locally designed and handcrafted objects made from glass, bronze and ceramics. A sculpture commissioned for the festival by local glass artist Louis Grant will sit outside.
“Louis Grant is an emerging queer artist who makes sculptural art which is usually quite small. But [this piece is] a public art-sized sculpture which will be platformed on that grassy stage out the front of Such and Such,” said Tegan.
“It will be a seat that you can actually sit on, so it’s a nice, interactive piece.”
The event on Monday will be a more formal event focussed on patrons, participants and sponsors of the Biennial. Guests on Monday will also take home a glass made by local glassblower Katie-Ann Houghton, there will be artist talks from Jac Bradley and Louis Grant during the evening and an art auction will commence after dinner featuring artwork from Glen Hayward.
Tuesday’s sittings are more casual and at a lower price point, and there will be multiple seatings throughout the night.
Palate Cleanser dinners will start from 5:30 pm on Monday, 30 September, and Tuesday, 1 October. Find out more about the 2024 Canberra Art Biennial.
Book a table for Palate Cleanser and find out more about Such and Such, and follow Manze on Instagram.
Loading ...
