• Ben Foss in his funked-up warehouse/restaurant. Photo by Jenny D’Anger.
BEING a dishwasher is hardly a sought after job, even on Rottnest Island, but for Ben Foss it was the start of a love affair with food.
“I loved the excitement of the kitchen,” the Fremantle local tells the Herald.
Foss is best known as the owner of popular food van Eat No Evil, but his latest venture is Eating Amplified, a degustation dinner in a tszujed-up warehouse, featuring live music from local artists.
“We wanted to create an event, with energy and vibe, not just food,” Foss says.
“People arrive as strangers and leave as friends.”
The Beaconsfield warehouse has been funked-up with bespoke jarrah trestle tables, a massive port-inspired mural, a funky timber bar and a kitchen inside a bright-blue sea container.
Eating Amplified kicked off last Saturday with singer-songwriter Freya and a “light, fruity and zesty” menu.
“She is a solo singer and quite young and to me has a lighter style of music,” Moss says.
Tempura seaweed tacos and West Coast tuna featured on the six-course menu, along with agave roasted pumpkin, burnt habanero salsa and worm salt.
The slightly smoky salt (sal de gusano) is made from the worms you find in bottles of mezcal, a tequila-like spirit made from agave.
South Beach Brewery is creating beer to match the menus, including a salt bush lager and a coriander pale ale, and there’s wine from Wise Child in North Fremantle.
Moss and mate Ben French launched their Eat No Evil van in Fremantle four years ago and it was an instant hit, thanks to an innovative menu and their use of fresh ingredients.
They flew to Thailand earlier this year to cater for a wedding, but tragedy struck when French was seriously injured in a motorbike accident the following day and later died.
The van was in hiatus for a while, as Foss and the Eat No Evil team came to terms with the loss.
But they’re back now and Eating Amplified is on every Saturday night in September.
“This series is a way to get back into it and honour Ben,” Foss says.
To book go to http://www.eatnoevil.com.au
By JENNY D’ANGER