Conversation with a chef

Le Yeahllow is a happy place. It’s bright and light and the display cases, like a jeweller’s, are full of gleaming treasures. Owner Samsky Yeung who also founded White Mojo coffee shops, opened Le Yeahllow in 2021 when he took over the former Adriano Zumbo Patisserie space in South Yarra and started baking and delivering cakes around Melbourne. Sam says, “Le Yeahllow was born from a simple idea: t...

This is a bonus episode in the truffles series with Julian Hills with Navi, who kindly had a second attempt at a chat with me after my equipment failed the first time through. In 2023, Julian was named Good Food Guide's Chef of the Year, and Navi has maintained its Two Hat-status as of 2024. Julian is a creative and passionate chef; a lovely man and he has an enduring fascination with truffles. I...

It is always lovely to catch up with chefs and see what they are up to. I first met Salvatore Giorgio when he was at Bar Bambi and then I had my 300th chef chat with him out at Marnong Estate. Salvatore has been working in kitchens since he was 11 years old. He loves the adrenaline rush of service and appreciates a well organised kitchen and he is certainly always up for a challenge. Since startin...

#238 Gabriele Coniglio On Truffles | Officina Gastronomica Italiana by Jo Rittey

Originally from Nelson in Aotearoa, New Zealand, head chef Ryan Lynch is doing creative things out in the Yarra Valley at Locavore Studio. I was lucky enough to be invited to dinner out there and the way he treats local produce is glorious. I was sure Ryan would have some things to say about truffles and I was not disappointed.

I spoke to Mark Ebbels a while ago when he was head chef at TarraWarra in the Yarra Valley. He’s still out in that beautiful area, and most recently has been working on menu creation and set up at Re’Em part of the Helen and Joey estate. Mark is a passionate and creative chef with a real heart for local Yarra Valley produce and it was such a pleasure catching up with him again and talking truffles...

This is the fourth instalment of my truffle series. In this episode, I talk to Jason Staudt at Stokehouse. I spoke to Jason quite recently and so when I turned up again on a Friday afternoon, I felt like I was catching up with an old friend. We drank wine and talked truffles and laughed a lot. It was wonderful.

This is the third instalment of my truffle series. In this episode, I talk to Jordan Clay from Pipi's Kiosk. Pipi's is one of my absolute favourite restaurants and it is always a pleasure to talk to Jordan. I am fairly certain I have secured some kind of homage to Jo Rittey vanilla and truffle ice cream, but I might be wrong. Whatever they do down there, it is always good and whether that is pouti...

#233 Annie Smithers On Truffles by Jo Rittey

I recently saw an Instagram post from Robert at GGs Gourmet Food where he was heralding truffle season. It got me thinking. I don’t know much about truffles but they do seem to cause a stir in certain circles. Some refer to them as black gold, others as a culinary treasure. I wanted to find out what makes them so special, so I had a chat to Dion Range at Stonebarn Truffles in WA. He gave me the ve...

Dingo Ate My Taco are the team responsible for bringing birria tacos to Melbourne back in 2020 lock-down. And thank goodness they did. Since then, the Dingo kitchen has been pumping out authentic, and an entirely made-from-scratch menu of traditional Mexican and Texan dishes including their iconic birria, breakfast tacos (set to be the next big thing for Melbournians) plus so many other true-to-st...

When you enter Mill Place Merchants, you enter another world. For a start, it’s one of those delicious hidden bars we can’t get enough of in Melbourne. Entering through a red door at the end of a laneway you find yourself in a sewing room complete with machine, mannequin and rolls of fabric and once through the full-length mirror at the end of the room, you are in the golden age of the thirties an...

#229 Tom Jones-Davies | DOC St Kilda by Jo Rittey

The Kitchen of Somewhere is a deeply personal story of how food shapes our connection to place, the environment and most importantly our understanding of who we are. It weaves a narrative inspired by a plum-velvet, covered notebook found by Anna shortly after her mother's passing by suicide. The notebook was bursting with stories of her mother's travels, and the recipes she collected along the way...

#227 Winston Zhang | Akaiito by Jo Rittey

The S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition is an annual event to support a personal vision for the world of food, demonstrating how food can have a positive impact on society at large through ethical and sustainable food practices. When it comes to choosing the judges for this prestigious award, the Academy looks for chefs who hold sustainable and ethical food sourcing as a central to their c...

Partners in life and love, Patrick Kwong and Cindy Pan opened Ronin almost two years ago in the space that was previously occupied by Massi and for a millisecond, Cucina Povera. The high-ceilinged industrial slab feel of the room serves as the perfect backdrop for Patrick to shine and shine he does. Patrick learned Japanese cuisine and, more specifically sushi from two Japanese masters. His techni...

Tommaso Bartoli is a passionate chef who learned to cook in Florence but felt a love for food and cooking much earlier on when he watched his mother and other family members cook. He talked about coming in from soccer training, smelling his mother’s cooking and running up the stairs. After working for a few years in restaurants in Florence, Tommaso was ready to try something else and 12 years ago...

#223 Greg Feck | Marnong Estate by Jo Rittey

I drove to Sorrento on a sunny autumn day just as owners Nika, Stefano and Valentino were moving things from their original venue, Bardo a few doors down to their recently opened Sardo. I immediately felt like one of the family as Nika made me espresso and I sat down to chat with her and Valentino. Sardo is the nickname given to people from Sardinia, the same way we might call an Australian an Aus...

I went in to Flour Child as day was turning to night. Through the huge windows upstairs on Acland Street, the panorama of palm trees, the Luna Park rollercoaster and the setting sun is perfect. Where else would you want to be? As I waited to talk with executive chef, Alessandro Bellomunno, I chatted to co-owner Simon and had delicious and quite theatrical cocktails made by Michael; think, Purified...

Larry Xie is here for a good time and that’s what he wants for guests to Bansho as well. He is the epitome of hospitality and is constantly seeking ways to learn more about food and wine and to welcome his guests with warmth and conviviality. No stranger to hospitality, Larry grew up with a family who ran coffee shops and motels in Melbourne and, as a teenager, he worked for his parents, before mo...

I was lucky enough to be invited to The Westin Melbourne’s nod to Wicked, the Musical, a glorious High Tea with a very prominent green focus. High Tea at The Westin is an impressive affair. The team goes all out on theme, creativity and flavour and the Wicked High Tea was no exception. I was keen to talk to Executive Chef, Apoorva Kunte about the approach behind a themed High Tea. I was also keen...

#218 Sam Hopkinson | Botanical Hotel by Jo Rittey

I have a special place in my heart for Bar Carolina in South Yarra because I wrote about it for Concrete Playground when it opened in 2017 and I also had a Conversation with a chef with the chef at the time, Paolo Masciopinto. But I hadn’t been out the back before and when new head chef Pieter Buijsse suggested going out through the kitchen to his office, I was thrilled. Walking out through the ac...