Date night cooking with Matt Wilkinson & Sharlee Gibb
Published 16 Apr, 2018Mr and Mrs Wilkinson, in line with their recent book launch, gave the Good Food & Wine Show crowds an insight into date night (when the kids are gone), demonstrating how you can prepare an amazing meal to tantalise your partner’s taste buds.
MATT WILKINSON
What’s your current favourite cafe or restaurant?
I’ll be honest and you can be frank, I get the odd night in or lunch in without Sharlee and the kids my favourite haunts have to be Gerald’s bar for both the amazing vibe and drinks but the tasty food too, Bar liberty for the bread and for the clam dish and let Banjo the owner send what wines he thinks and another favourite would have to be Osteria Ilaria, a new restaurant from the guys at Tipo 00 its brilliant wine list is excellent and cheap and the food again just really tasty.
What’s the ingredient you can’t live without?
Bacon, there is something truly wonderful about the smell of cooking bacon, I’d wear it as a cologne if it was bottled.
What would your last meal be and with who?
Spaghetti Bolognese with garlic bread, lip-smacking messy as all with the two hooligans and me going crazy at the table and the boss lady laughing at us, couldn’t think of anything more special, except for what Sharlee said.
What was your favourite meal as a kid?
Mum use to make a mean bacon and egg roll with a side of Heinz tomato soup…….. luxury.
What’s your favourite family mealtime memory?
A love it when we are up in Mooloolaba in Queensland, the boys in the water, I go get some of the stunning prawns caught from that area with some reef fish and chips and we devour it on the beach, simple yet lovely.
SHARLEE GIBB
Who do you both most enjoy cooking for?
Adults, there is less complaining…we like having friends over for a meal though in reality, it doesn’t happen very much. When we do have people over Matt will cook on the barbie and do a fantastic shared table feast and I’ll do dessert.
What’s your current favourite restaurant or café to go in Melbourne?
Pope Joan is the place I go to the most! Did you know the head chef is the world’s sexiest chef 🙂 We love sneaking a quick lunch at Tahina in Northcote or a date night dinner at Anchovy, Embla or Tipo 00.
What’s the ingredient you can’t do without?
Flour…all the different types, self-raising for pumpkin scones, coconut flour for chocolate cookies, buckwheat for muffins, making bread rolls and pizza dough…I love baking!
What would your last meal be and with who?
All the seafood…scallops in miso butter, prawn dumplings, pan-fried Moreton Bay bugs plus some sushi and sashimi. I would love to have the same beautiful vibe as we had on our wedding day with all our fab family and friends enjoying with us!
What was your favourite meal when you were a kid living at home?
Hard shell tacos with all the trimmings, spinning around the table on the lazy Susan.
What’s your favourite family mealtime memory?
We have some pretty epic Christmas Day lunches up at my mums in Euroa…everyone chips in and we have a cold lunch spread with everyone’s favourites.