ONE NIGHT, TWO GOOD.

Not often the food at a social enterprise fund-raiser gets a standing ovation. Here's why (and a recipe that will get you one, too).

Every day at the Two Good headquarters in inner urban Sydney, everyone stops working, downs tools in the kitchen, and gathers at a long table for a simple, nourishing lunch. Everyone – the women training in the Work Work program, the trainers, the chefs, the admin and office folk, the heads of departments. I’ve been to a couple of these lunches, and food just doesn’t taste so good anywhere else as it does there.  It’s simple, and shared, and wreathed in sweet carroty smells, as people come together to break bread in a warm and nurturing and safe environment. It’s a place where people can grow together.

That became the inspiration for the Two Good annual fund-raising dinner this year, held at Carriageworks on 21 September. We wanted to take our dinner back to the heartland of what Two Good is all about, and cover the table with beautiful food, made by hand, by people with strong connections to the land, the soil and the sea.

So we invited three chefs to come to our table –  Analiese Gregory, who has worked in three Michelin star restaurants in France but now runs her own farm in Tasmania and stars in SBS TV’s A Girl’s Guide to Hunting, Fishing and Wild Cooking’. Danielle Alvarez, whose garden to table approach shepherded Fred’s in Paddington to greatness and whose cookbook ‘Always Add Lemon’ is a bible for our times.  And direct from Aria in Circular Quay and Chiswick in Woollahra and The Rockley Pub -  Matt Moran, fifth generation farmer, who has built a restaurant empire out of his commitment to farm to table values.

Together, they cooked over fire, and shaped the food into a warm, sharing, nourishing, farmhouse feast (for 220 people!) to celebrate and support the work of Two Good.

Founded by Rob Caslick in 2015, Two Good supports, empowers and employs women with lived experience of homelessness, domestic violence and complex trauma.

It was such a memorable night I wanted to recreate it here, to spread the word a little on the work of Two Good, and to say thank you to all who made it happen – and to finish with a recipe from Two Good Group Chef, the unstoppable Jen Shaw, one of the hits of the night.

THE FOOD, THE FOOD.

Analiese worked with our old Two Good mate Luke Powell of LPs Quality Meats to create fennel saucisson, rabbit and game terrine, and pepper and garlic salami. Berkelo delivered their magnificent bread still warm for the oven, with so many more loaves than we asked for.  Our great supporter, Pepe Saya, made great big pots of their beautiful butter for us, bespoke. Well, you could have stopped there and it would have been the best night ever.

The tables were long, straight and lined up like a Victorian boarding school, set with native flowers by Jardine Botanic, and gorgeous plates designed and donated by In The Roundhouse.

Matt Moran’s fire-roasted porchetta was mighty, and you’re going to want the recipe for the beautiful coal-roasted rainbow trout stuffed with lemon and fennel from Jen Shaw. (And you’re going to get it. Bear with me).

Danielle is famed throughout the land for her hand-made French galettes, and outdid herself with late-season apple tarts with walnut frangipane and jugs of vanilla custard.

AND THERE WAS WINE.

Again, we wanted to bring it home, to find a great regional New South Wales winemaker who did the best and most organic and biodynamic wine in the state, and who could serve it as directly from grape to glass as possible - from the keg and the barrel, without the environmental waste of bottles. And we found him! 

The one and only David Lowe of Lowe Family Wine Co of Mudgee, filled the ute with his 2022 white gold chardonnay, Lulu Rose, and his famous 2021 Zin by Zin Zinfandel - a perfect expression of Mudgee terroir, with its rich fruitiness. All 100% organic and biodynamic, all on tap, and all served by the farmer winemaker himself. He gave of his wine, he gave of himself, cannot do better than that.

And there was cheese, generously supplied by Two Providores, with fresh honeycomb generously supplied by the bees, and deliciously digestif vermouths from Regal Rogue.

Out back, it wasn’t quite as glamorous as out front, as our special chefs and Jen Shaw and Head Chef Pru Basser and Jacqui Imrie, Maria Costa, Chrissy Curtis and Norman Lee, and all the women in the Work Work programme and the Two Good team brought it all together over a flurry of rented ovens and trestle tables. But every time I went out, there were smiles and laughter and people in sync with each other.

THE THANK YOUS, THE THANK YOUS.

Big hugs to Pino’s Dolce Vita Fine Foods who generously donated the porchetta to Two Good, and to Michael and Fab who came along to make sure it was perfect ( it was perfect).  And if you want to cook the best porchetta in town, go directly to Kogarah and buy theirs for the weekend.

So many people went above and beyond, from Two Provs and Sydney Direct Fresh Produce to Taluca Park, and Claudio’s, who butterflied and deboned all our rainbow trout for us, and gladly added an extra 5 dozen oysters to the order.

Big thanks from us all to Tom Gorringe, head chef of Aria, for all his time and his incredibly calm, can-do demeanour, and Matt Moran Group Chef Laura Baratto, for her work on the day and all the wrangling leading up to it – (and Matt for pressing the ‘on’ button for the rental ovens) - you are all awesome.

And to everyone else, from Young Henrys (we love you) and Bare Bones Ice Co to Stedmans Hospitality and the amazing Solotel, and all our amazing vollies, and DJ Levins, and the warm-hearted Emma Donovan & Friends on stage, and genius auctioneer Briannan Davis, and the quietly powerful Deborah Knight and so-funny David Campbell, and Studio Messa and show-runner Janet Lavack and still so many more.

And my fellow committee members, the dream team -  Rob Caslick (CEO), Lizzie Young, Jo Rosenberg, and Jeanine Bribosia and Ryan Rayfield - with massive help from Jen Shaw. As Jeanine says, it’s a privilege to watch this extraordinary social enterprise grow and thrive.

Special thanks to Chrissy for sharing her story on the night; your resilience and strength are inspiring. Thanks to everyone who was there, and also thanks to our patron Judith Nielson, an incredible $500,000 was raised on the night. That’s going to help a lot of women.

The Two Good Work Work program gives women in the refuge centres the chance to be trained in the Two Good Kitchens in Eveleigh – paid employment, part of a team, learning skills, getting back on their feet.

Some of the 52 women who have graduated from that program and now have their own jobs first heard of Two Good when a meal was handed to them. Some have never been able to work before – visa issues, being carers, or having cameras trained on them at home to make sure they never leave the house.

So forgive the ramble today, but I felt empowered to use this platform to speak more about Two Good. I think all of us were left with such a warm glow after the success of the event, but that’s a hollow feeling if it’s really just referencing your own involvement in making it happen. The over-arching theme of ‘growing twogether’ (we do love a pun) was proven on a daily basis with all collaborators. We did grow twogether, although I fear I will never spell the word properly ever again.

I’m involved with Two Good because the kitchen is my happy place. It’s where I do my best work, where I’m at my best.  I find it difficult to imagine a life where the kitchen is an unhappy place, but as we know, it can be. That’s why Two Good uses food, and the kitchen, to change people’s lives. It’s worth supporting, because the people it raises up, like Chrissy, are worth believing in.

HOW CAN YOU HELP, I HEAR YOU ASK?

Two Good exists to change the course of women’s lives for the better, through the production and distribution of good food and good things, and through training and mentoring women towards a happier future.

Check out what they do here. 

Buy the cookbook, stacked with recipes from their own kitchens and from the chefs who work with them, produced by Cru Agency. 

Drop in to the cute little Two Good cafe at Yirranma Place, seen here in Broadsheet, for coffee or lunch.

Have a look at their beautiful products with Christmas gift-giving in mind, or use to say thank you in everyday life.

If you run a business, talk to them about installing Two Good soap and sanitiser dispensers (if it’s good enough for American Express, Lendlease, Charter Hall and Deloitte…)

Next time you hold an event, talk to them about catering.

Order food from their website.

Send money.

Spread the word.

Do what you can.

THE RECIPE! AT LAST, THE RECIPE!

Jen Shaw’s Lemon & Fennel Stuffed Rainbow Trout

• 1 rainbow trout, approx 700g, skin and head left on, butterflied and deboned (ask your fishmonger to do this for you)

• 50 g butter, cut into 1cm cubes, at room temperature

• ¼ large fennel bulb, or half baby fennel, thinly sliced, fronds reserved

• 1 lemon, sliced into about 6 rounds and pips removed

• A few sprigs of dill, leaves picked

• A few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked

• Sea salt and pepper

Prepare a coal BBQ or fire pit for cooking or heat oven to 180C.

Place a large piece of foil diagonally on a bench, approximately 50 x 40cm (you may need to use two overlapping pieces).

Place a sheet of baking paper, approximately the same size, on top of the foil.

Use around 20g of the softened butter to rub a space of the baking paper around the same size as the butterflied fish when opened up.

Season the butter with salt and pepper and place the trout open, cut side up and diagonally on top. Season the inside of the fish well.

Place half of the remaining butter on one side of the fish. Lay the fennel slices on top of the butter, top the fennel with the springs of thyme and the dill then place the lemon slices across the fennel, as well as the last of the butter and close the fish up.

Fold the two vertical sides of the paper in over the head and tail of the fish, then lift the two diagonal sides and fold them down to create a parcel that will trap the steam whilst cooking.

Enclose the whole thing with the foil, making it airtight. You may decide to use an extra layer of foil if your foil is quite thin, or if you are cooking over coals.

Place directly on the coals directly, turning after around 8 minutes and cooking for a further 7 or 8 minutes on the other side.  Alternatively, bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Remove your fish and let it stand for 4 minutes. Carefully open the parcel so as not to burn yourself with the steam, and using the tip of a sharp knife, test to make sure your fish is cooked though. If not, seal it up and let it rest for a few more minutes or return to the oven for 5 minutes if it is quite underdone.

Unwrap and serve immediately, topped with the reserved fennel fronds, with a bowl of steamed new potatoes and a crisp salad.

# Thank you Jen! Sounds to me like a great asparagus opportunity also.

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Thanks also to photographers Nikki and Dexter from Buffet Digital and Two Good’s own Ken Spain for allowing me to share their work here. And to my right hand man, Terry Durack for all the support in the lead-up to the event; your Negroni work is next level. Happy snap below of Terry, me and Two Good’s Rob Caslick - and I do mean happy.

I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to be enshrined in Australia’s Constitution. It’s about time, folks.