Food I Photographed Last Month: RAKU
Raku is a restaurant that requires no introduction. Anyone who’s dined here knows how good it is, and anyone who hasn’t is missing out. Hey, even Post Malone is a fan.
Executive Chef Hao Chen is a Canberra icon by this point. The mastermind behind so many of your favourite dishes, he’s also a total legend and one of the easiest people to photograph in the industry. I think he secretly loves it.
I’m here to shoot a few dishes for this year’s Truffle Dinner. The dishes are all bangers – some are simple twists on a few classics, some are more surprising offerings. All are beautiful works of art in their own right.
When it comes to food photography, I’m always looking for ways to make an image engaging and captivating – tying in the environment, pairing dishes and drinks, contextualizing the space. I don’t need to do any of that here, there’s no additional work needed to make Raku’s food captivating.
People are always asking if I get to eat the food I shoot. The answer’s usually yes, but I try not to make a habit of eating food on shoots – it’s not the best for the waistline! That said, how the hell could I not here?
Everything I taste is phenomenal, and if it sounds like I’m flattering the team – to hell with it, I am. This is the kind of food that makes you go ‘wtf, how’d you make this taste so good?’ The textures and flavours all come together in the most perfect way. It makes you remember how good food can really be. And how sad you’ll be to eat food court sushi the next day. I mean, where else can you eat cabbage rolled in cabbage and be blown away by the experience?
My pick? The cubed wagyu. It’s cold, obviously, by the time I get around to eating it, but I genuinely can’t believe how good it tastes. Simply extraordinary, melt-in-your-mouth stuff.
The last dish is a truffle infused ice cream with … is that whole chunk of truffle? Imagine my surprise when I’m told it’s actually a very light mousse shaped in a truffle mould, brushed with charcoal. The visual detail is uncanny, you approach with your spoon expecting it to be firm, or to at least crack when you scoop in. But it just seamlessly cuts through, like a hot knife through truffle butter. Amazing.
I won’t spoil the rest of the dishes, you’ll just have to try and get in next week to taste them yourself. But be quick, truffle season is almost over.