Until April, Jarrod Di Blasi was cooking at 14-year-old subterranean Japanese bar Izakaya Den. Now the chef is preparing for the opening of Springrock, a late-night venue from the Fancy Hank’s and Good Heavens team in the former Grand Trailer Park Taverna space, where he’s taken on the role as head chef.

We took five minutes with the chef – who was also the head chef at Ezard – to talk about the final services at Izakaya Den, the “mad” kitchen set-up at Springrock, and the lamb shoulder dish he’s excited to put on the menu.

What was it like working the final few services at Izakaya Den?
In one word: emotional. In the last few services we cooked our arses off for an overwhelming amount of guests that genuinely loved the restaurant and were devastated by its closure. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate with them and give it the send-off it thoroughly deserved.

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What did you learn at Izakaya Den that you’ll take with you to this new role?
How to completely pare back my food style and focus on a “less is more” approach to menu writing and dish development. This ties in perfectly to the new role at Springrock, where we are elevating classic dishes that everyone knows and loves.

How would you describe the food at Springrock?
It’s all about elevating those crowd-pleasing pub classics and with plenty of nods to dishes from the past. It’s definitely designed to inspire a sense of nostalgia in our guests. The dishes are also made a little bit more exciting by being cooked over fire or in our smoker.

What is the kitchen set-up like?
It’s mad! The kitchen itself is located inside Fancy Hank’s, but it has recently been renovated as it will be catering for Good Heavens and Springrock as well. As you can imagine, it’s enormous. The set-up includes a two-tonne smoker – which has been really fun working with – plus a woodfired grill that means we can cook over open fire.

Any dishes you’re excited to bring to the menu?
I’m currently working on a dish inspired by one of my late mother’s classics: three-year-old master stock braised lamb shoulder nuggets served with jalapeno and mint jelly.

We’re also excited to be serving up oysters kilpatrick! I’ve been playing around with it and looking to do a very slow-smoked bacon and Fancy Hank’s barbeque sauce.

What are your ambitions for Springrock?
To create a community driven by good food and drinks in a fun and casual public bar setting. It’s going to be stuff you recognise when you read the menu, but you will be absolutely blown away when it arrives at your table.