HE'S the first chef in Melbourne to put Hereford Prime on the menu, but Henry Honner is hardly uninitiated when it comes to top-quality red meat.
The head chef at Ivanhoe restaurant, Barrio, grew up on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula where his family still run their Minlacowie Poll Hereford stud.
"We used to kill a steer twice a year for consumption on the farm. I've grown up with Poll Hereford and the quality of the meat," Mr Honner said.
It's this experience that has led the chef to select Hereford Prime - grass-fed beef backed up by Meat Standards Australia - to feature on the Barrio menu.
"Different breeds are branding themselves differently, but you're not going to know the difference between Hereford and Angus - both are great quality British-bred cattle and are the backbone of the Australian cattle industry," he said.
But while Hereford Prime provided the restaurant with a point of difference, the brand alone doesn't pull the diners in, he said.
"The market wants a great meal without all the molecular gastronomy. Where the benefit is derived is that the customer knows that if I'm using branded beef, I care about it and I have a passion."
Barrio serves about 70 Prime Hereford eye fillet and T-bone steaks (at $34 and $38 respectively) a week but, given the popularity of the dishes, that figure is likely to soar and attract attention from other chefs.
"A lot of people have jumped on the Angus bandwagon, but the benefit of Hereford Prime is that it's a smaller brand in proportion to the number of cattle out there in the yards. It means I'm always going to get the cream of the crop from a guaranteed supply."
