Ellie Bouhadana’s family is from Haifa, an Israeli city on the skinny stretch of coast between Tel Aviv and Beirut. When she was growing up, there was always streams of family and friends filing into her household to eat dinner on a Friday night. Later on, she would discover the same mode of eating in Italy, where a whole village would gather together at restaurants in search of good food and good company.

‘I would say my take on food is influenced by a mix of my Moroccan, Jewish and Israeli heritage; I call my style Italo-Mediterranean,’ she says. ‘When I lived in Haifa, I would watch my aunty make beautiful Friday night family Shabbat feasts from her tiny apartment – I would ask her questions, take notes on recipes. I really want to preserve their style of cooking which is so innate and relaxed.’

When she returned to Melbourne, she was so inspired by this philosophy of communal eating that she launched Ellie’s Table – a place for her to work through all her ideas and inspiration for food-oriented projects. It hit a culinary nerve. Beginning with the enormously successful ‘Doorstep Deliveries’ during lockdown, and expanding to a pop-up trattoria in Ripponlea late last year, Ellie has come a long way from a makeshift kitchen in a semi-demolished church (the first dining event she ever hosted for her friends!).

Without any formal training, she is now a cook, producer, art director and event manager all rolled into one! What does such an indefinable job description mean for her day-to-day life? Funny you should ask…

First Thing…

I usually wake up around 7am because of the light that streams directly into my room. In saying that, when I have the time I can wake up much later, and love spending part of the morning relaxing in bed.

A ritual I’ve always stuck by in the morning is making my bed – it makes me feel like I’ve already accomplished something in my day! I then put a podcast on and go for a walk, ending the walk most days at my local coffee shop in Balaclava. Or I skip the walk for morning yoga.

No matter the weather I love sitting outside the cafe, it feels fresh and is always nice to have a bit of sun on my face while I have a coffee, read or check emails/write a to-do list for the day. I’m usually not really hungry in the mornings, but if I am it’s hunger for a pastry of some sort.

Morning…

My work schedule isn’t super regular, as my weeks often look quite different. On a week where I have a pop-up, I start working at around 8.30am. I’m not the most efficient person, so I try to start early so I can get a lot done.

When I am planning a pop-up I usually sit at my dining table and untangle the inspiration I have messily collected in my ‘Notes’ folder on my phone, writing/drawing my ideas down properly. Embedded throughout my morning is doing research in cookbooks, or sometimes speaking to my mum and grandmother to chat through food ideas.

One morning a week I’ll speak to my fruit and veg supplier to see what he recommends at that moment, based on the season. I’ll then buy a few ingredients and test recipes in my kitchen at home.

Lunchtime…

I know it seems weird but I don’t often take a proper break for lunch. I snack all day during recipe testing, so I don’t really have proper meals unless my partner is home and forces me to sit down with him. It’s the nature of my work because I’m testing food/creating new dishes all the time. Especially when I am cooking for a Saturday pop-up, I am constantly on my feet, tasting food, which makes it hard to take a moment to sit down and make myself a whole meal.

Some days I will tell a couple of friends or my sisters to come by for lunch and try the dishes I’ve been working on. Other days I will slice off a chunk of bread and eat it with butter and an anchovy – that satisfies me for a while.

Afternoon…

After testing recipes I sit down and break the dishes down and create a menu for that weekend’s pop-up (often the dishes aren’t where I want them to be and I’ll need to do more testing the following days). Once I have a menu I am happy with, I begin on all the admin side of the pop-up. There is a huge amount to work through. I begin contacting my suppliers, create the budgets and online booking forms, and organise the overall running of the event.

I actually feel energised at this time! I do a lot of my best work in the afternoons and into the evening.

Evening…

I don’t have a consistent time that I finish work, I always feel like I could do more. If I’m having friends over for dinner I close my laptop between 6 and 7pm and start cooking.

After testing and thinking about food all day, I like to finish the night with simple food. Recently I’ve been enjoying lentils cooked slowly in a sofrito base glistening with extra virgin olive oil. I sear it off with cured meat like pancetta/salami, herbs and wine. I also find myself craving steamed mussels with crusty bread.

I’ve always loved having people over for dinner as a way to unwind. I know that sounds like a lot of effort after a big day but for me throwing a little “casual” dinner party with my partner gives me a way to do something other than think about my projects. I can just immerse myself in the food I’m making for dinner, drink a glass of wine with friends, and relax.

If I’m not in the mood to cook I love going out to eat at either of my two favourite local restaurants (Claypots or Cicciolina) to have a bowl of pasta, or our favourite cajun flathead, and finish with ice cream down the road.

Last Thing…

Depending on the night I usually get into bed between 10.30 and 11pm.

I would say I normally get a lot of sleep just because I love my bed, but at the same time I have learnt that I can function on almost no sleep when I am doing pop-ups. The adrenaline gets to me, and even if I’ve been up cooking until the early hours I somehow still manage to get up at 5am, bake off 15 trays of focaccia in my small oven and throw a super fun pop-up trattoria party that evening!

Ellie Bouhadana of Ellie’s Table lives in Balaclava with her partner. Even without lockdown restrictions, this is where she gets all her work done! Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

She spends the start of her day collating off-the-cuff ideas stored in the ‘Notes’ app on her phone into a cohesive recipe plans. Then she tackles the daily admin of a small business: emails, budgets and contacting suppliers! Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

A trip to local fruit and veg store to gather supplies is essential for a day of recipe testing. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Researching dishes consists of reading lots and lots of cookbooks -the dream! Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Selecting produce at the local fruit and veg store in Balaclava, just down the road from Ellie’s house. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

On days when she hosts her pop-up trattoria, Ellie contacts her local supplier to talk through the best seasonal produce and order large quantities for service. But for recipe testing days, the local shop will definitely do! Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Inside her light-filled, dreamy kitchen. The kitchen overlooks her garage and driveway, which was the location for her summer crostini bar. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

The open pantry is filled with Mediterranean pantry staples. Aperol Spritz, anyone? Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Ellie has Israeli, Moroccan and Jewish heritage, and her cooking is a fusion of them all, with a healthy dose of Italian thrown in! She calls it Italo-Mediterranean, which also captures the way she wants her food to be eaten (communally!) as well as the cuisine itself. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Though pasta is traditionally associated with Italy, dough is a central part of Jewish cuisine. Ellie’s grandmother used to watch her mother hang sheets of pasta between two broom handles, and has now taught Ellie how to make Jewish dumplings (kreplach) out of dough and drop them in soup. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

‘The women in my family don’t really work with recipes so much, they cook with instinct (and a lot of cumin). This is how I love to cook. I really want to preserve their style of cooking which is so innate and relaxed. It really is based on feeling.’ Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

A light and bright corner of the large kitchen. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Preparing homemade spaghetti alla chitarra with vongole. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Fresh pasta alongside ripe peaches and uncooked prawns. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Ellie doesn’t generally take a lunch break because she’s tasting food all day as she tests her recipes. Sometimes a chunk of bread with butter and an anchovy will do! Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Art direction and styling is as much a part of Ellie’s business as her food. Her eye is impeccable! Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

One luscious spread! Pictured is grilled sardines, salsa verde and chilli; fresh focaccia; heirloom tomatoes with marinated figs, local basil and extra virgin olive oil; buffalo mozzarella with thinly shaved melon; Wagyu bresaola with guindilla peppers and parmigiano; fennel and baby pea salad, anchovy, olives and lemon. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

Even though she’s been cooking all day, sometimes Ellie’s favourite way to unwind is to cook for friends. Being surrounded by people and food is the best way to relax.  Photo – Amelia Stanwix.

‘I know that sounds like a lot of effort after a big day but for me throwing a little “casual” dinner party with my partner gives me a way to do something other than think about my projects,’ she says. Photo – Amelia Stanwix.