Guy Turland – Bondi’s Biggest Food Frother

By Dan Hutton on October 31, 2014 in People

Where are you originally from?
I’m originally from Bowral. I’m fourth generation from the country. Bowral is where I grew up and I still have a house down there; it’s beautiful.

When did you migrate to Sydney?
I moved up to Sydney when I was 17. I finished high school, left Bowral and started a chef’s apprenticeship straight away. I left nice and early, went straight to the city and started cooking. Food was what I wanted to do and I knew that straight after school. I left the country and chased a dream.

Where was your first gig?
My first apprenticeship gig was at Est. Restaurant. I was there for about four years and that was awesome. It was a lot of hard work, a lot of long hours, a lot of sleeping on the bus to work and sleeping on the way home. For that period in my life, I didn’t get to enjoy Bondi at all. It was all work and commuting to work. But the people that I met and the stuff that I learnt working under Peter Doyle, I wouldn’t change a thing.

How old were you when you decided to open Jo & Willy’s Depot and go out on your own?
It was four or five years ago, so I was 24 or 25. It was a big jump. It’s been a complete learning curve from the very get go. I was pretty young when we first jumped in. Originally it was me and a different business partner. He left and my mum bought his half of the business, so it’s a family business now. It’s a constant tussle and a constant learning curve, but it’s awesome. What we’ve got now is not work. The people that come here aren’t customers anymore, they’re friends. They’re family. We’ve seen kids come in and grow up, from being in a pram to now getting their mum and dad’s coffee. It’s really cool. It’s sort of like a country vibe that we’ve brought up from Bowral and plopped into Bondi.

You must be enjoying life much more now that you’re based in Bondi?
Yeah, it’s nice to live around the corner from the café. Literally my days consist of either being in the kitchen, heading to the surf or heading from South Bondi to North Bondi, so I’m well and truly locked in the bubble now and have been for about five years since we’ve had the cafe. I’m probably doing the same hours as I was when I was working in the city, but working for yourself and having the freedom to duck out for an hour or two to surf when you have the time, you just can’t compare anything to it.

Do you and your mum get on well or do you clash occasionally?
We do get along but there’s definitely a lot of clashing. I think it’s only natural. Her background is as a marathon runner so she’s quite driven and stubborn. She is an animal on the floor. She doesn’t sleep. She’s got two gears: she’s either at 100 miles an hour or she’s just dead asleep. I’ve dealt with her my whole life so I know how to tiptoe around her when I need to.

What do you love about living in Bondi?
Everything really. The way that I’ve got my lifestyle set up now, it’s quite chilled. I love the fact that there’s such an influx of different people during summer. In regards to food, every food influence around the world comes in to Bondi. I think it’s just a lifestyle and the fact that everything’s acceptable. I think it’s a weird and wonderful mix of millionaires that live next to tourists that are jammed into one room and bunk beds, and then there are the people that work in the city in suits. It just works. People segregate themselves a lot but I don’t think that segregation is here in Bondi.

Is there anything you don’t like about the local area?
Just the parking; that’s probably about it. It’s impossible to find parking.

Can you tell us a bit about Bondi Harvest, because obviously it’s going gangbusters at the moment?
We started Bondi Harvest about 18 months ago. It’s me and a business partner, Mark, who is in production. He holds the camera, I’m a chef by trade and it’s just as simple as two buddies doing what they’re doing, doing what they love, creating awesome content and it’s just gone nuts. Within an 18 month period, what’s turned from a part time fun thing between two mates has well and truly turned into a full time gig to the point where we’ve got two books coming out with HarperCollins, which will be out next year. The highlight so far was our appearance on the TODAY Show in the US, which was pretty surreal.

How many people watch that?
20 million plus. It’s the largest morning show in the world. To think that 18 months ago we were putting silly videos online and then suddenly we’re standing in the middle of New York at the Rockefeller Centre talking with Carson Daly in front of the whole US, you just would not think it would happen like that.

Do you see the US as the market that you guys want to get into? Would you prefer to be homegrown or do you just want world domination?
World domination would be nice (laughs). The way we’ve set it up is it’s not about chasing fame; it’s not about me. It’s about growing a solid brand. We started that brand with an international audience so we want to keep that. The US and the UK are massive markets for us, only because of the eyeballs over there. One percent of the US is more than Australia could offer. It’s not that we don’t want to be here but I think that starting out online through YouTube has given us a different view of where we want to go. There’s a big world out there.

Did you have any training in front of the camera prior to filming your first YouTube videos?
A little bit when I was really young. We did some Nutella ads. Mum was a marathon runner and we were sponsored by Nutella as a family. When I was about 14, we did two Nutella ads that were aired on television throughout the States, New Zealand and Australia, and that was my career starter.

A big part of the show is going out and finding food, free diving and foraging; how often do you get out for a dive or a forage?
As much as I can. With the cafe it’s tough to find time to do stuff, but whenever the water is flat I get my gear on and go for a dive and get some urchins and lobsters and stuff like that.

Why do you stand out from the other celebrity chefs?
The reason we started what we’re doing wasn’t to chase fame and it wasn’t to be a celebrity or anything like that; it’s about growing a business from scratch. We started from the ground up and it’s grown naturally. It’s not like we’ve used a reality cooking show to launch ourselves; we’ve built a solid base. Things are meant to go wrong in the kitchen. You’re meant to have fun with it. Through a lot of TV shows, it’s been portrayed as being so serious and so hard and so competitive. A lot of people are intimidated to cook. They’re like, “I’m not a master chef; I don’t want to f**king cook.”

What makes a good cook?
A willingness to have fun with it and have a go and make mistakes. You should be having fun and you should be making mistakes. If you’re not making mistakes then you’re not really learning. We are who we are and we make mistakes. We burn things, I eat chilli when I shouldn’t and it blows my head off, and it’s okay. It’s two buddies just doing what they love and there’s no bullshit behind it.

Where do people go to watch Bondi Harvest?
We’ve got a YouTube channel, which is where it all started. We’ve also just launched our website bondiharvest.com with a blog and all of our recipes. We’re in early talks with production companies about creating some TV content as well.

Besides the TODAY Show over in the US, have you made any other high profile appearances?
Yeah, we’ve been on The Morning Show here as well, which was pretty cool. We also got invited by Tourism Australia to a massive dinner in Tassie called ‘Invite the World to Dinner’ with 80 of the world’s top food influencers. Heston Blumenthal will be there, among others, so it’s a pretty big deal. After that we head off to Margaret River for Gourmet Escape, which is awesome. There are going to be some of the world’s best chefs down there and they’ve asked if we want to go down and do a table for 20 on the beach.

Have you been able to travel a fair bit through Bondi Harvest?
Yeah, I’ve done a lot of travelling. I’ve been to the US four or five times, ten days at a time. It’s still surreal to think that 18 months ago we were putting silly videos online and now we’re having multiple trips to the States and going to meetings with the head of HarperCollins in New York.

How big are you hoping Bondi Harvest will go?
The sky’s the limit and the way we look at it is similar to what Jamie Oliver’s built. He launched off TV, but it’s a new world out there. We’re launching off an online platform. I think the most important thing for us is that we’re careful about the decisions we make and that everything grows at the same time. TV is not the end goal for us. Ten years ago that was all people ever wanted. I’d be happy not to have TV and to have everything else.

What plans do you have in the pipeline?
Next year’s looking quite manic. We’ve got two cookbooks coming out, one next year and one the year after, with 120 recipes in each book, which is going to be awesome. They will be published in Australia, US and the UK, which is super exciting. We’re also in early talks to production companies about TV content. The idea is that we’ll probably sell it to the UK and US market, or work together in creating an idea that fits our brand. We don’t want to sell out; it’s got to fit in with what we do, otherwise we just don’t want to do it. It can’t be too polished; it has to be real. We also want to do a couple of pop-up restaurants next year too; it’s going to be awesome.

Your mum, Heather Turland, is a Commonwealth Games marathon gold medallist; do you have any exceptional sporting talents?
I’m okay at running, to tell you the truth. I love doing soft sand runs. I think fitness and all sports are just ingrained in us because that’s how we’ve grown up. Where most kids were sitting at home studying on the weekend, Mum and Dad would actually kick us out of the house and say, “We don’t want you inside.”

Have you ever run against your mum?
I’ve trained with her before, but I was on a pushbike while she was running and she still beat me; that was when she was training.

Have you ever beaten her in a race?
No, and I don’t think it’s ever going to happen until she hits a stage where she’s in a wheelchair.

Is she still running these days?
Yep, she runs all the time; three or four times a week and they’re not short runs. They’re from Bondi to Coogee and back and she’s barely sweating; it’s nuts.

What was it like growing up in Bowral with a celebrity mum?
I think down in Bowral, because we’d been there for so long, it was a shock for a little bit and everyone was like “Oh my god”, and then it all sort of settled back down again. That said, when we came up to Sydney, we’d be walking past a bus shelter and see Mum on a Gatorade ad on the side of it and people would be pointing at us.

How did you originally get an interest in cooking?
My very first job, when I was like 14 or 15, was as a dish pig in a restaurant in Bowral. My dad’s a builder and he hooked me up a job in a restaurant that he built. He was like, “Hey, my son wants some pocket money,” and it went from there. I started washing dishes and then the chef would throw me a few odd jobs here and there and would teach me a few things, and it just sort of started from there.

Do you ever get sick of spending time in the kitchen?
It’s only natural. No matter what job you’re doing, you hate it at some stage in your life. I think that when you push through those little tough periods, that’s when you realise you love it that much more.

Do all your mates hit you up to cook for them?
Completely. You know the call I get the most is, “Hey, we’re having a Mexican night; come around and you don’t have to cook.” And then guess who ends up cooking? It’s okay though – just keep pouring me tequilas and I’ll keep cooking.

Do you have a favourite dish?
I love eating seafood. I love anything light, fresh and well balanced. That’s said, my favourite dish to eat would have to be shepherd’s pie, particularly my mum’s shepherd’s pie. That’s the best thing she used to make.

What’s your favourite restaurant in Sydney?
I used to work at Bondi Icebergs and I love it up there. I really enjoy the new menu they’ve got there too.

You love getting out for a surf; do you have a favourite surf spot?
Probably down towards Bendalong on the South Coast. I’ve travelled and surfed overseas a couple of times, but it’s not just about the surfing. To go camping with a bunch of buddies, and to just to wake up in your own time and surf and get up to shenanigans and dive for lobsters and cook a barbecue on the beach – that is where it’s at.

If there’s one place you could go and surf tomorrow, where would it be?
I’d like to go check out the Mentawais. I haven’t done that yet and I really, really want to.

Do you have a missus or are you living the single life?
I’m living the single life and I love it. Relationships are tough because I work so much, and I’m happy just looking after myself, I suppose. Plus it’s coming into summer…

So you’re not looking for a missus?
I’m looking for the right missus; I’m not holding myself back.

Do people recognise you from the show?
Yeah, it’s still really weird when people do. I’m not quite sure what to say to tell you the truth. I’m like, “Yes, that’s me.”

Is your mum protective of her son?
Not at all. She will let us know her opinion but she’s not protective in any way. After having three sons, I’m pretty sure she’s seen it all before.

Do you have any role models?
In regards to Bondi Harvest, I definitely look up to Jamie Oliver. The way he started what he started and the way he seems to be everywhere at once, and has grown such an epic business, I think that would be nice. Dad is a massive role model too, and Mum as well. I definitely look up to them.

Do you have any advice for youngsters looking to make a career in the kitchen?
Just go for it. Don’t hold back. It’s going to be hard. Cooking as a profession is hard, but it’s also super rewarding. You won’t get that great feeling and you won’t get that reward unless you’re willing to put yourself out there and do the hard yards. If you’re too young to get a job, then start at home. Start cooking and start working on your skills. Don’t be scared to make mistakes or ask questions. Burning yourself and cutting yourself is all part of it. Like I was saying before, don’t take it too seriously. Go out there and have fun with it. It will work for you. And check out bondiharvest.com too, of course!

In an ideal world, what does the future hold for Guy Turland?
I don’t know. As long I’m happy and busy, that’s all I need; that’s all I want. It’s not about money or fame; as long as I’ve got a smile on my face and I get to be next to the ocean, that’s all I need. I’m a simple man who likes simple pleasures.