Lunch with Lynagh
Welcome to the BBQ Tri-Nations. RUPERT BATES talks to the Lynagh family about food, fire and rugby across Australia, Italy and England.
Take the caveman carnivore out of Australia, infuse him with the dolce vita of Italy and season – or drizzle – with the best of British barbecue.
It may seem an unlikely fusion of live-fire cultures, but the Lynagh family embraces all culinary influences, which makes them great hosts and terrific company.
Michael Lynagh is one of the finest rugby players of all time, captaining Australia, winning 72 caps and lifting the World Cup in 1991, beating England in the final at Twickenham. His career took him to Treviso in northern Italy where he met his wife Isabella, and they now live in Richmond, England, just a couple of miles from where he won rugby’s greatest prize.
When it comes to conversation, these days Lynagh is a foodie first, fly-half second, although there is still plenty of rugby to chat about with sons Louis, Tom and Nick all making great strides in the game.
We met at Gaucho restaurant beside the river in Richmond. Great slabs of Argentinian beef a must, as are glasses of Malbec. Six hours later, the steaks had been devoured, but the red wine lived on. I told you there was a lot to talk about.
Growing up in Queensland, the Brisbane-born Lynagh remembers many barbecues as a child. “It was invariably sunny. We’d run around playing, and from time to time get called in for a snag (sausage) wrapped in bread, dripping in tomato sauce, with onions the token vegetable! Stereotypical Aussie backyard barbecues, but we’ve seen much evolution since.”
Seafood is a particular favourite of Lynagh’s – mud crabs over fire at Moreton Bay and nothing more alluring than going fishing, before throwing the catch on a beach barbecue – while a New Year’s Eve BBQ, whatever the country and whatever the weather, remains an immutable family tradition.
“Australia has benefited from great global cuisines and the availability of international ingredients, particularly adding Asian spices to our cooking.”
Covering the Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019, Lynagh loved the street food markets and found nothing better than crab legs cooked over the flames, with just salt and oil to season. “That was as close as I’ve come to the perfect barbecued food.”
At home in Richmond, an Outback grill was followed by a Weber and there is also a fire bowl in the garden armoury. But when it comes to fashioning the ultimate outdoor kitchen, Michael is transported to wife Isabella’s homeland and the hills of Treviso, Prosecco country, 20 miles from Venice.
The Treviso family home is la dolce vita, overlooking its own vineyard and with a bountiful vegetable garden to feed the fires and accompany the meats. The plan is for an outdoor pod to provide suitable decking, shade and shelter and a range of barbecues, including a gas grill, a charcoal kamado and a wood-fired oven to go alongside the fire bowl.
“Gas for convenience, but wood and coal options for low and slow cooking and for long afternoons and evenings entertaining, with plenty of time to drink our own wine.”
Despite being surrounded by Prosecco vines, the vineyard grapes are Merlot and Cabernet Franc – Bordeaux-style blends – with the wines, chemical-free, tended by Isabella’s father, Giuliano, and uncle, Franco.
There is even a firepit inside the renovated old farmhouse in what was once the kitchen, with the food cooked in the hearth. “We love cooking over it in winter.”
The vegetable garden is the healthiest and freshest of al fresco pantries – radicchio (a staple of Treviso), tomatoes, aubergines, courgettes, peppers and lettuces, picked daily, the shortest of journeys from fork to fire.
“I love eating and I love cooking, and Michael fell in love with Italian food when he moved to Treviso. Growing up, I remember heading to the hills behind the town to eat grilled meats on barbecues – a typically rustic, easy, way of eating,” says Isabella Lynagh.
Italian food is very regional and, says Isabella, can change, like the accents, from town to town, different flavour profiles and specialties. Treviso cooking is forged from the area’s agricultural heritage, with plenty of wild meats such as pigeon, rabbit and duck, as well as fresh fish coming in from the Venetian markets, with eels, fried on the barbecue, a popular local delicacy.
“And so many seasonal vegetables, such as radicchio, mushrooms and asparagus, with Cimadolmo, near Treviso, the home of white asparagus.”
It is a marriage made in food heaven. While Michael tends the fires, Isabella, a certified health and wellness coach, ensures the diet is balanced and the food wholesome, which informs her blog and business, Isa’s Healthy Kitchen.
“You can absolutely have a really nutritious barbecue. Growing up, I intuitively linked a healthy lifestyle with eating well and it is great to now channel that passion professionally, coaching clients.”
It is all too good not to share and the Lynaghs are looking at the idea of hosting tours of the region, supplemented by fine food and wine, visiting the markets, learning the essence of Italian cooking, indoors and out, and healthy eating. Take in the city sights of Venice too, but then escape to the Treviso hills and rural authenticity, with a meat feast at Da Bosa restaurant a must.
“I ride past it on my bike, supposedly doing exercise, and am lured in by the smoke. You’ll often find the bike parked there!” says Michael.
And there is great local rugby to watch too. After leaving Queensland, Michael spent five years playing for Benetton Treviso in the 1990s, before joining Saracens in the English Premiership.
ldest son Louis Lynagh, 23, was born in Treviso, and is joining Benetton from London club Harlequins, where he won the Premiership title in 2021 at Twickenham, scoring two tries.
This year, the wing scored on his Test debut for Italy in Rome, in front of his proud parents, with victory over Scotland in the Six Nations Championship. And yes, Louis is a foodie too and is already planning his Treviso barbecues in the courtyard, when he moves out there this summer, with far more space to play in than his current Richmond flat. Younger brother Tom Lynagh, outside-half for Queensland Reds in Brisbane, is another hugely talented player, while youngest Nick is in the Harlequins Academy.
“I love a barbecue and am looking to up my game. I’ve hopefully got the cooking gene from mum and the BBQ gene from dad. At Harlequins we often have barbecues after training and also in international camp with Italy. There is a lot of competition among the players, of different nationalities, as to who cooks the best barbecue!” says Louis Lynagh.
His girlfriend, Sophia, is half-Italian and shares his love of food and cooking and last year they celebrated Louis’s birthday at Mountain, Tomos Parry’s live-fire restaurant in London’s Soho.
“The food was epic, with great steak and an amazing spider crab omelette. It is fantastic to see so many great restaurants with live fire as their signatures.”
A Treviso farmhouse sounds like it might be a BBQ place worth visiting in future. Watch this outdoor space. Booking a lunch with the Lynaghs, however long, is well worth it.
