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Chef profile: Joseph Webb

Joseph Webb's search for quality and flavour leads to meat that's a cut above.

Joseph Webb is head chef at The Cut Bar & Grill in Sydney's The Rocks.
Joseph Webb is head chef at The Cut Bar & Grill in Sydney's The Rocks.Supplied

Joseph Webb and his team spent a rigorous eight weeks cooking, testing and tasting cuts of meat when they overhauled the menu at The Cut Bar & Grill, adding the finest cuts of Australian beef to its repertoire.

As The Cut’s Head Chef, Webb’s fastidiousness for flavour and quality dominated the process. He’s the son of a butcher and it’s an understatement to say he’s passionate about steak. He won’t cook it on anything other than an American Montague broiler.

“Some people find it difficult to use, but I find it easy and fun. I enjoy working on the grill because it’s like a workout: it’s fast and furious,” he says.

“The broiler is like an upside-down char grill. Its heat comes from the top and there’s air circulation through the broiler. There’s no change in temperature and nothing contaminates the flavour of the meat. We use it for the smell, we use it for the crust. We bring the meat to room temperature first, as this brings out the flavour. We want to let the true taste of the meat dominate.”

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Webb grew up in Western Sydney and became a chef after watching Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares and deciding he could do a better job than the chefs on camera. He first rattled the pans at Opera Bar, where he worked as an apprentice in 2005. It was at Mad Cow restaurant in Sydney’s George Street, from 2008 to 2012, that he honed the skill and patience required for the broiler. He also spent time reading butchery books and “researching the enemy” in pursuit of the perfection of his craft.

Webb’s resume includes Xanthi Restaurant in Pitt Street, Cyren Bar and Grill in Darling Harbour and Adria Bar and Restaurant at Sydney’s Cockle Bay Wharf. He was thinking about his next professional move when he saw the Montague broiler in the Urban Purveyor Group’s The Cut Bar & Grill. He sent in his resume immediately.

He has been given the opportunity to build the team around him since he joined the group 12 months ago. He now has a team of nine devoted chefs working with him.

“I look for people who are passionate and hard-working, who cope in a high-pressure environment, but who ultimately want to have fun and enjoy what they are doing,” he says.

Webb has added a diverse range of steaks including rumps, flat iron and cote de beouf to the menu at The Cut as he delivers an American-style steakhouse experience to customers. He is eyeing the likes of David Blackmore’s 9+ chuck tender, house-smoked brisket and rib eye on the bone for the menu and is planning to source meat from different areas, including Cape Grim in Tasmania. “It’s about keeping it exciting and always having something else to try,” he says.

The spring menu at The Cut will likely include a carpaccio of mushrooms and perhaps a tuna or kingfish tartare, says Webb. “We have regular customers who like to work their way through the whole menu, so we want to offer some dishes that are cold and refreshing to complement the steak menu,” he says.

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