Despite the imposing Gothic-style façade, walking into the light- and peoplefilled kitchen, Hemmes centrestage with youngest daughter Saachi on one hip and beautiful dog Thunder at his feet, it’s clear from the outset this is home.

“I do so much entertaining at work and have such a choice of wonderful places to go, I get a lot of it out of my system in that environment,” he begins. “But if I do put a party on for friends, it would be like what we’re doing today. Go all out – it’s got to be special, and celebrating life, friendship and food. I think all those things are important when you are entertaining,” he says.

“We go diving and spear fishing, pretty much every weekend. We decide what we want on the menu, then we go hunting for it and catch it! We’ll bring it back and maybe it’ll go on the barbecue. We catch abalone, lobster, whiting, flathead, flounder,” he explains. “For me, entertaining is about the guests, and whether it’s 12 people for lunch or 100 in a restaurant, it’s about every one of them having a great time. It’s not about me saying, ‘this is it’.

“When I have a party, I spend the whole time making sure everyone is having a good time. If I have 100 guests at a party at home and a couple aren’t having a good time, I’m heartbroken! I want everyone to be happy, so I spend the whole night making sure everyone’s happy. I’m having a good time if they’re having a good time.”

Cheers to that.

Set the scene

Style
“It’s always very casual and a lot of the time just standing up and eating, not a formal sit-down,” says Hemmes. “Very often it’s just standing around the kitchen table or out in the garden. You have to have a beautiful setting; it has to be aesthetically beautiful and appealing to the eye.”

Menu
“We knew that this was a beautiful outdoor lunch vibe, so we wanted to do stuff that’s light and fresh,” explains Dan Hong. “And the thing about this seafood boil is, it looks amazing, but it’s also really simple. It’s quite interactive.”

“Justin never wants to make anything too formal,” adds Jordan Toft. “We have south coast Sydney rock oysters, which are good with a few bubbles and cocktails while people get talking and loosen up. We decided even though it’s summer, a fire adds to the occasion, and cooking over it gives context, so we did an Australian-style boil.” Says Hong: “The corn is grilled over the fire, then I brush it with a mixture of sour cream, bit of mayo, lime zest and parmesan cheese, sprinkle it with togarashi and serve it with lime wedges.”

And dessert? “I’m a bit of a nostalgic person, and the pine-lime splice was big when I was a kid. I think we could just break out a few of those at the end and that would be okay. So this [dessert] is a take on that,”

Toft finishes.

See here for Merivale’s perfect spring garden party menu.

Guests
Jordan Toft of Bert’s and the hotly anticipated middle level at Coogee Pavilion (“It’s going to be fabulous… something really special for the group”); Dan Hong of Mr Wong and Ms. G’s; group bars manager Sam Egerton; group sommelier Franck Moreau; Danielle Alvarez of Fred’s; head of guest relations Cat Picker; GM at Hotel Centennial Megan Sullivan; Paddington precinct GM Julie Davaine; Ms. G’s and The Fish Shop bar manager Natasha Capol; Uccello head sommelier Daniella Lauricella; chief food and beverage officer Frank Roberts; and Hemmesphere and Sushi E assistant venue manager Chiara Esber.

Playlist
“I have Sade on at the moment. I feel like you just put it together, but actually a lot of thought goes into it! Everyone is so good now with Spotify and things, you can actually palm it off. You can give people a try and tell them to do their best!”

Drinks
“I think drinks have to reflect the weather and the time of day. Often it’ll be some sort of refreshing cocktail and a great selection of wines. But it depends on the occasion; it might just be some great beers. I think it should just flow naturally.”