A LEADING Queensland seedstock producer has launched a branded beef line, with hopes of creating a new industry for the far north akin to the famous King Island Beef.
Telpara Hills Brangus and Charolais, Atherton Tablelands, is highly regarded in the Australian beef industry for its elite beef genetics, with its bull and cow sales smashing industry records.
Now the Pearce family – Trevor and Maureen, son Stephen and his wife Brittany, and daughter Fiona – has entered a new chapter on their beef journey, courtesy of a unique partnership with new upmarket restaurant, Tenderhooks and Tableland meat wholesaler, Morganbury Meats.
Telpara Hills Brangus grass-fed beef is being supplied exclusively to the new restaurant at the Yorkeys Knob Boating Club, Cairns, with raving reviews.
It shares the menu with a Tenderhooks Rare range, also sourced exclusively from a boutique producer on the Tablelands, Wagyu supplied by Darling Downs producer, Cabassi Farms and seafood.
But its the potential new industry for Telpara Hills clients that has the family most excited.
“We’ve always bred genetics to improve the industry but we weren’t necessarily tied directly into seeing that,” Stephen Pearce said.
“We’ve always seen the Tablelands as a region with huge potential like a King Island type product and always thought there was an opportunity here to pull those cattle together and create more value within that whole chain.”
Telpara Hills is offering a buy-back program on calves sired by its bulls, provided they meet specifications.
“We are creating an industry and capturing more value for our clients,” Mr Pearce said. “The only reason we are here today is because somebody is eating steak.”
Morganbury Meats owner Chris Greenwood, who brokered the partnership between Telpara Hills and Tenderhooks, said carcase traits such as weight range and fat coverage needed to be right to achieve the level of consistency required.
“We had to have consistent breeding and the only way we could guarantee eating quality and all of the carcase traits we needed to deliver portion size consistently we had to go to the best in the game and that led us down the track to the Pearces. As seedstock producers they are producing the article that needs to be on that table.”
Yorkeys Knob Boating Club general manager Stuart Vella said the partnership was about letting the product speak for itself. “I felt that there was a serious lack of good quality food being served where the ingredients sing out and speak,” Mr Vella said. “Luckily we have the best grass-fed product in Australia.”
Boating Club Launches New Take on Steak
The new $1 million upmarket Tenderhooks restaurant overlooking the Coral Sea off Cairns is set to turn the region’s fine dining trade on its head.
It opened its doors to the public in late February and already has solid bookings until the end of March.
No stone has been left unturned in delivering a new dining experience to the region from the hand-crafted steak knives, ceiling to floor photograph of the inspiration behind Telpara Hills beef and tablets for ordering and information about the story behind the dish.
Yorkeys Knob Boating Club general manager Stuart Vella said response from the public had been “beyond expectations”.
He said the venue was not possible without the support of club Commodore Andrew Tulloch and the committee.
The club dipped its toes into the steak market with a weekly T-rex night eight years ago.
“I then realised the club was at the point for development. I developed a business plan and the underlying concept was to showcase ingredients. Every aspect is about the ingredient; it’s not about the froth and the foam, it’s about letting the meat speak for what it is and showcasing our local guys and getting back to supporting our farmers.
“We are supporting our producers at a grass-roots level and working with them and letting them bring their expertise to help us and using our expertise to deliver that to the population, the customer.”
An integral part of the chain is an American-made broiler, believed to be one of only two in use in Australia, which cooks steaks via infra-red ceramic tiles, locking in flavour and juices.
“Everyone uses a chargrill but the problem with cooking on chargrill is that if you load it up with steaks, it takes all the temperature out of it so you get an inconsistent product,” Mr Vella explained.
“The best steak houses in the world are in America and they all use a broiler.
“The broiler gets to 873 degrees celcius and there’s no contact with meat. It works by infra-red ceramic tiles, so its still gas but it super-heats everything. Everyone doubted it until the saw it. It’s so hot it seals flesh instantly and all your juices stay inside and its consistent every time.”
