Our Chef

Hello! I’m Chris

Chris Bond, owner and chef at Pomodoras Fine Foods sheds a little light on his not-so-secret ingredient.

“As a kid growing up in Dorset, England, I always ate my fish and chips with vinegar, and I would come home from school and make myself a vinegar sandwich.

As an 18-year-old commis chef at the exclusive Goring Hotel, London, directly behind Buckingham Palace, I was introduced to exquisite, 25-year-old aged balsamic vinegar – smooth, delicate, yet dark and rich in flavour  with a syrupy density that meant you could drizzle it over salads, roasted vegetables, lamb or pork.

A far cry from the Sarsons vinegar I splashed over my food as a child, the aged vinegar was a world apart and turned a normal salad into a dish fit for Royalty.

In my mid-twenties, and now a sous chef in a hotel in Cornwall, I began experimenting with my own dressings as I didn’t have access to the stunning aged balsamics I had at the Goring Hotel. Not quite the same budget.

One of my first creations was a straight caramelised balsamic, sweet and rich, the acidity and sweetness enhancing the flavour of a slice of tomato or grilled eggplant, making the simple, sublime.

Moving to Australia in 2005,  I continued chefing and exploring the wealth of new ingredients available. When my wife and I began working for ourselves, running our own café, I explored how to make Mediterranean cuisine even more interesting through my love of Balsamics.

My orange Vincotto balsamic creation makes strawberries pop with flavour. It’s orange zest and port base adding long sweet notes to a rocket and parmesan salad or making a risotto exciting to the last mouthful.”