Harry Mangat runs Biji Dining, a roaming restaurant that pops up everywhere from Tasmania to Belgium. Photo: Supplied.
Biji Dining’s Harry Mangat returns to Canberra for a follow-up to his successful 2024 residency at Braddon wine bar Rizla, owned by Andy Day. Harry and Andy met as young chefs working together in Canberra restaurants and are excited to reunite once again.
Rizla, of course, focuses almost exclusively on riesling: one of the most versatile and dynamic wine varietals in terms of the range of styles that can come from the single grape.
Andy told Region that he’s adapted the wine list to suit the menu.
“Harry’s food has a lot of powerful spice combinations and warmth. We found last year that styles of riesling with more texture and a little more residual sugar worked really well and added to the experience,” he said.
“Young Australian rieslings tend to be quite sharp and go really well with things like raw seafood, so we’ve put in a few special orders for some aged Australian rieslings, which are a bit softer. And also some rieslings from Austria, which are a bit more textured, have a bit more residual sugar or have been barrel fermented.”
Trout with melons is on the menu for the collaboration. Photo: Supplied.
Rather than a traditional bricks-and-mortar restaurant, Biji Dining is a business that travels and will pop-up at multiple locations across the year. Harry often collaborates with award-winning chefs and restaurants in his home state of Victoria, such as Good Food Guide Restaurant of the Year Winner O.My, and Etta’s Rosheen Kaul. He’s been found in kitchens all the way from Tasmania to Belgium, and has most recently been cooking in Indonesia at the Ubud Food Festival.
“I’ve just never been the kind of person who could stay in one place: I love travelling! My wife is the same. So we’re always heading off somewhere new. We love to visit friends, try new produce, and it’s a great way to cook as well. Otherwise, I get bored.”
The collaboration event will see Harry bring his blend of Indian dishes and native Australian ingredients to the Rizla menu. Favourite dishes like the tuna tartare – which Andy says has been on the menu “since day dot” – will get the Biji treatment with the additions of finger lime, coconut and makrut lime oil. Rizla’s braised fennel dish was featured in Chris Hansen’s Chefs Eat Canberra cookbook, but Harry will replace stracciatella with whipped paneer cheese and dial up the heat with chilli and orange zest.
The collaboration menu in 2024 was a highlight of the year for me – my dining companion still reminisces fondly about the Dr Loosen wine that ‘tasted like sherbet’ – and every single dish was a winner in creativity, flavour and presentation, so I’m very much looking forward to seeing what Harry and Andy will come up with this year!
Spiced lamb kebab with zingy zucchini pickles. Photo: Supplied.
The regular menu at Rizla is already very good, but Andy says he’s not allowed to change too many of the dishes as they’ve become customer favourites.
“If I took the snapper and pearl couscous off the menu, I think there’d be a riot!” he laughed.
Harry’s chicken skewers with banana ketchup have become a Rizla staple since they featured on last year’s collaboration menu, so there’s a chance more dishes will stick around beyond the dates of the collaboration. The menu will also likely change over the week, with different dishes coming and going based on customer feedback. Harry promises to bring a few flavours from his recent experience in Ubud.
“My wife is Indonesian, so we love to make Indian-Indonesian food, and we’re going to experiment with some of those flavours in Canberra.”
Since Harry and Andy met all those years ago as young chefs in the city, Harry says he’s really pleased to see Canberra grow into a world-class food city.
High praise indeed from a globe-trotting chef!
Rizla is located at U146/24 Lonsdale Street, Braddon. The Rizla-Biji collaboration will run from Tuesday, 10 June, to Saturday, 14 June. Dinner from 5:30 pm. Lunch and afternoon snacks are available from 12 pm on Friday and Saturday, 13 and 14 June. Bookings advised. Follow Rizla on Facebook or Instagram.
