LOT TWO at Seagulls Club is fast becoming one of the hottest dining experiences at Tweed Heads thanks to the passionate approach to fresh food led by head chef Juan Hernandez (pictured right) and his dedicated team.
Juan is drawing from 20 years of fine dining training and experience in some of Sydney’s most exclusive restaurants to create a range of outstanding flavours for Lot Two that utilise only the freshest local produce.
The Weekly recently caught up with Juan to find out more about his vision and passion for fresh food as well as his hopes for the future of Lot Two, which is celebrating its first birthday this year.
Juan has been the head chef at Lot Two for only six months, but the flavours are already speaking for themselves with a range of original-style dishes done extraordinarily well.
“I wanted to bring my passion and love for fresh food to the Lot Two customers,” he said.
“While I’ve only been with Lot Two for the past six months, I really wanted to change it around and cater for all kinds of tastes.”
Each morning Juan is up early to meet with local trawlers and fish mongers to source only the best range of fresh fish, prawns as well as sorting through the local fruit and vegetable markets for the best produce.
“Finding the freshest produce is my daily routine,” he said.
“I want to also keep it local, so I’m always on the lookout for new sources including the Murwillumbah Markets, which I’m visiting on Wednesday.”
Juan said his vision for Lot Two is to create basic and original food with his own twist which is always fresh.
“The locals and members are such lovely people and I want to use my years of experience to make basic food extremely well, using only the freshest local produce,” he said.
Juan spent many years as a chef in some of the finest restaurants in Sydney including GPO Sydney, Aqua Dining and Wild Fire.
“It’s here I learnt the value of sourcing fresh food every day, to make those flavours the best I can for our locals and visitors,” he said.
Among some of Juan’s fish selections include snapper, flame tail, red emperor, cod, king fish, Barramundi and much more.
“It’s always dependant on the fish mongers and what’s the freshest fish of the day,” he said.
“They will call me as they’re coming in with a catch and I will meet them at the docks to pick up the best fish available.”
Some of the incredible menu offerings include the breakfast (eggs benedict) in which Juan smokes his own salmon as well as lunch and dinner options that cater for a range of tastes.
“The feedback from customers has been amazing,” he said.
“The team at Lot Two are also extremely talented and committed and have really embraced the fresh food approach every day.”
Juan said his hopes for Lot Two are that locals and visitors will come and enjoy the flavours.
“I just want to encourage locals and visitors to come down to Lot Two and give our flavours a try,” he said.
“I think we can show them how amazing basic original food can be done extremely well and with pride, at great prices.”
To find out more about Lot Two visit 54-68 Gollan Drive, Tweed Heads West, visit: http://lottwo.com.au/ or phone (07) 5587 9000.