YOWIEHUB

1995, 30 years ago this year, Kanzi and a team of Yowies opened Yow-Oui.

It began as a traditional, yet humble, French eatery with a focus on bush foods such as kangaroo, finger limes, chicken crimpy and emu egg.

Fast forward to 1997 it was awarded 2 hats by Australian Good Food Guide. Fast forward again to 1998 and it was shut down for good, under controversial circumstances.

This is the real story of Yow-Oui.

Although it is no secret that Kanzi was the creativity, the brains and the driving force behind Yow-Oui, he wasn’t a trained chef. In fact before 1989 his primary meals came via dog scat.

In 1992 he met acclaimed food reviewer for the Sydney Arvo Herald Macca Damia. They instantly bonded over their cross-cultural love of mushroom foraging.

In 1993 Macca began inviting Kanzi over for dinners, and vice versa. Blown away by Kanzi’s signature dish ‘Flayed Bunyip’, Macca knew Kanzi could achieve greatness.

By 1994 Macca had convinced Kanzi to open a restaurant, and in 1995 it finally opened.

While 1995 was a slow year of trading, it also introduced Kanzi to the volatile lifestyle of being a chef.

He was working 19 hour shifts, dropping copious amounts of Bupe (a strong opiate). After hours he was hanging around other chefs who drank heavily and gambled more.

In 1996 Kanzi collapsed on the line with a knife narrowly missing his pineal gland. His co-worker pulled him aside and told him, if he doesn’t clean up his act, the staff will leave. The environment was unsafe.

Kanzi quit substances all together that day. He took time off and visited the south of France. When he returned he began running alcoholics-anonymous sessions out of Yow-Oui.

His time in AA, and time in the south of France also inspired his signature dish “Dog shit fillet oysters Kilpatrick”.

Disaster struck in 1997 when Kanzi’s oldest friend, Macca Damia, came to review Yow-Oui to determine whether a 3rd hat would be awarded.

While Macca Damia loved the meal and was ready to deliver his verdict, Kanzi made perhaps his biggest professional mistake. He mentioned Bush’s mistake and his disdain for the 1990 Coalition invasion of Iraq.

Macca, a staunch Bush supporter was enraged by this and in a fit of rage swiped his shit stained oyster shucking knife at Kanzi, cleanly slicing off 3 of Kanzi’s fingers.

After a stint in hospital, Kanzi knew, he could no longer cook without his fingers and knife skills.

Macca and Kanzi never spoke after the incident.

Yow-Oui was dead, but it’s legacy lived on. Most notably he is the driving influence for the hit series ‘The Bear’.

30 years on we will never forget the blood, sweat and tears of Kanzi and the staff that made Yow-Oui what is was.