Over the years Ann Oliver has developed a reputation for delivering restaurant quality food under the most impossible circumstances. Long-term front of house manager Viveka Dayal sets a very high standard and they both share a passion for matching wine to food.
They have worked closely with the Penfolds winemaking team for several years and Ann continues to help Rockford wines when their staff take leave. Additionally, biannual gigs in Shanghai and Chengdu since 2004. Ann has cooked under some amazing circumstances. An APEC Ministers’ Dinner, a 6 day event for the Hardy Company (now Constellation) cooking for their six day tech conference in the Flinders Ranges. Oliver will site the Hardy Tech Conference as her most challenging, but exhilarating experience – no running water, Oliver with her small crew cooked breakfast, morning and afternoon tea, lunch and dinner, making everything on site from the bread to the puff pastry and orchestrating several performance dinners over the week. Oliver specialises in regional events, delighting in supporting her producers and introducing them to the broader public. She has orchestrated innumerable memorable meals and despite her threat to stop, Ann and Viveka continue to relish the impossible. Each event is treated as unique and menus are always based on seasonal local produce and generally, only written after wines have been supplied.
Oliver can cook confidently in several classical cuisines including Chinese and is widely used to cook for visiting Chinese business contacts.