INTERVIEW WITH MAURICE TERZINI

As the founder of Icebergs Dining Room and Bar & Da Orazio Pizza + Porchetta—some of the most hype eateries in Australia, How involved are you with the menu development and overall design?

 I 100% involved in every aspects of the business. I didn’t decide the design but I was into the briefing and the concept delivered based on my idea. I chose who would be the designer that perfectly matched with the concept. For the menu itself, it concerns on what food I want to eat and serve. I usually give specific briefs about the standard and parameters that I’ve created to the chef and let them create something innovatively from it.

Tell us about your management style; how do you insure the quality of your dishes?

 It’s really a working progress. It changes every time you open up a new venue. As you get older, you change and your management style has to change too. I am not a dictator, but I’m very clear with what I want and what I’m doing.

Share with us 3 things that you consider to be your strength, and 2 of your biggest weaknesses.

 I’m clear in vision, product knowledge and great service. I am able to put product knowledge into a great service. My weakness is I probably work too much so I don’t give myself enough time. My other weakness is, I love night; it’s a weakness for people like me who are running businesses.

When did you first decide to become a Chef? Share with us a bit about your career path?

 I actually worked in a kitchen when I was 15 years old and decided that I wouldn’t become an incredible chef, so I never wanted to be in a cooking line and followed someone else’s recipe. My career started from the love for eating and drinking wine, then I decided to develop and run a restaurant business without me being in the kitchen. So I bring my own chef and we create the menu together.

Who has inspired you the most in life and why?

All things, music, fashion, architecture and book inspire me.  One of my greatest inspirations in music is Rowland Howard from The Boys Next Door, a Melbourne punk musician. Another one is a book written by one of the great chefs, Marco Pierre White.

Seeing your accomplishment so far in the world of culinary, what did you want to achieve from your next establishment in Bali?

I always had a passion to work something in Bali but I wasn’t ready to work overseas until now. Bali for me is a stepping-stone to the world in which I think Bali is more international and it’s my goal to expand my work globally.

If you’re not restauranteur, what career choice would you pick and why?

An architect because I love it and I also love landscapes. I think an architect has put many roles in society.

What was the philosophy behind the ‘ICEBERG’ name?

Iceberg is actually the name of a pool below the icebergs. And this swimming pool has a club named Iceberg Winter Swimming Club; one of the oldest winter swimming clubs in the world. So it actually has no philosophy but it is just a name of the location.

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