It also goes very well as a side dish for red meat. Personally, I recommend a rib eye on the bone cooked medium rare with a glass of Hunter Valley Shiraz. Use organic broccoli and good quality red wine vinegar for greater flavour.

Serves 8

Almond cream

500ml milk

100g almonds

50gm Dijon mustard

20ml red wine vinegar

Salt

White pepper

2 bunches broccoli

2 cloves of garlic (cut julienne)

2 long red chilli (cut julienne)

1 lemon

Almond cream

1. Roast almonds at 180 degrees for about 3 minutes.

2. Simmer roasted almonds in milk until tender.

3. Blend milk and almonds with Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar and seasoning until smooth.

4. Place a frying pan in the stove until hot, drizzle some vegetable oil and place broccoli in. Don’t stir the pan or move the broccoli. 

5. Once it has some colour, turn it upside down, add chilli and garlic, cook for 1 minute and then take off the pan into a bowl.

To serve

Make a wheel of almond cream in the middle of the plate, place broccoli in the middle, garnish with garlic, chilli and lemon.

Born in Brazil with Italian lineage, Rafael Tonon was destined to bring the rich culinary experience of his heritage to the rest of the world through his own take on the incredible cuisine of his childhood.

Growing up in a family of restaurateurs and chefs, Rafael’s culinary career began early on with the sounds and smells of being in the kitchen with his Nonna and working alongside her as a boy making traditional pasta from scratch.

The Italian and Brazilian way of coming together with family and friends to prepare large feasts and share meals is in his blood – his family life is always centered around eating and talking about food.

Rafael has called Australia home for the past 16 years. He was the executive chef at the Publica Group in Sydney, has worked under Pete Evans at Hugo’s, for well-known Italian chef Massimo Mele cooking across Sydney as part of Massimo’s catering business, and he’s also had brief stints at Sydney restaurants Fei Jei (Cantonese) and Barrio Chino (Mexican).

At MEET, a range of Australia's finest meats, poultry and sausages is spit-roasted over natural wood and charcoal on a custom-made barbecue. 

Also on offer are delicious house-smoked meats from the restaurant's Texan-style pit smoker. 

All meats are carved and served at your table in front of you, Brazilian churrasco style. House-made seasonal sides accompany each dish. 

Even the sauces are made in-house, including a mint relish with cashew and a Mexican pepper sauce. 

While the focus of MEET's menu is on meat, vegetarians can also enjoy the churrasco experience. 

The menu includes a range of grilled vegetables, cheeses, bread and delicious salads, along with all the traditional vegetarian Brazilian sides. 

The vegetarian range on offer varies in accordance with what's in season.

MEET can be found a Shop 1, Lee Wharf Building, 2 Honeysuckle Drive. It is open Wednesday to Friday from 6pm; and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3pm, and again from 6pm.

Weekender is giving away a full churrasco dining experience for two people at MEET in Honeysuckle. 

To enter, send the word "MEET" to weekenderfreebies@theherald.com.au or text "MEET" to 0427 369 610, including your name, address and phone number. Entries close at 9am on Wednesday (6/3/19).