Image credit: Julian Kingma
Aaron Turner is chef of the moment. His Geelong restaurant Igni was named Regional Restaurant of the Year by Gourmet Traveller last month and this week Fairfax’s Good Food Guide anointed him the prestigious Chef of the Year – as well as also awarding the gong for Victoria’s best regional restaurant to his 30-seater in a nondescript laneway.
Hardie Grant, publisher of Cooked, is stoked to reveal it is producing Turner’s first book, out in 2017. Igni, The First Year, follows Turner from the very beginning at Igni, where he has picked up where he left off after walking away from the much-acclaimed Loam at Drysdale in 2013 – and a subsequent sabbatical in Nashville, Tennessee.
The book begins with The End of Loam. And tells the tale of what it means to start again. With words, pictures, and food. There's commonality in the produce-driven menu with Loam, sure, but at Igni Turner is working in an open kitchen with a charcoal grill.
Documenting it alongside Turner is respected photographer Julian Kingma, shooting with a combination of large-format film and out-of-date peel polaroids. Kingma’s brief, over 12 months, is to capture the highs, the lows, and the bits in between. Together, they’re a formidable team.
Igni, The First Year, is out in September next year and will be available for Cooked members to access from mid-August.