Top Shelf
Top Shelf: Bing Lee cooks quintessential Thai street food
You will not find a Thermomix, sous vide cooker nor flash foam maker here. No powders, espumas, crumb nor slow-cooked food in a plastic bag. You will not find sanitary…
Top Shelf: Kermit’s àpres sorbet show
Top Shelf: by Chef Tim McDonald Often overlooked by charter chefs is the “easy money” period post main course. More often than not, overstuffed punters regretting that second helping of…
Top Shelf: Chop’s Trifle Show
Top Shelf: by Chef Tim McDonald No crewmate previously encountered in my 10 years of floating around has been more dramatic, theatrical and over-the-top than Chop under charter pump, on…
Top Shelf: Smoke-and-mirrors performance never fails to impress
Top Shelf: by Chef Timothy MacDonald Nothing more than a disassembled pot noodle snack, this Porega (remember that “poor man’s Porsche” of the 1980s?) has all the razzle dazzle of a…
Top Shelf: Mod Oz cuisine, à la Andrew Blake
Top Shelf: by Chef Tim MacDonald The single greatest influence on my career was undoubtedly Andrew Blake. It goes far beyond the pressed salad. Back in the day, returning to…
Top Shelf: Out of the Box
Top Shelf: by Chef Tim MacDonald 4:30 p.m. … middle of nowhere … Tortola … late December … I am on my fifth coffee and trying to hack through 10…
Top Shelf: The Birth of Aki-Maki
Top Shelf: by Chef Tim MacDonald Many years ago on Huntress, I was taught about the theory of “POP”’ on a yacht. The owner insisted that at least once a day…
Top Shelf: Big Alvin’s Antiguan Mahi Ceviche
Top Shelf: by Chef Timothy MacDonald With our yacht about to cross to the Caribbean, visions of hot sauce, barbecue ribs, jerked chicken, mac ‘n cheese and slaw served on paper…
Top Shelf: Bugs Bunny Death Row Dinner Box
Top Shelf: by Chef Tim McDonald I am a disciple of Anthony Bourdain’s loves and fascinations – simple pasta cacio e pepe, Italian women with “arrabbiata” personalities, Persol sunglasses, Negronis,…
Top Shelf: Thai Crab Salad with Lime, Hot Mint and Peanuts
Top Shelf: by Chef Tim McDonald I was a restaurant chef in Sydney and Melbourne in a former life, but greed and lust attracted me to yachting and Eastern Europe.…
