Conversation with a chef

Today I’m talking to Sarah Bonoma from Dancing Sands Gin in Golden Bay, Aotearoa, New Zealand. This is the second in a series of special edition features showcasing New Zealand suppliers and producers to celebrate the launch of New Zealand Trade & Enterprise’s 2022 Made with Care campaign in Australia. A global initiative designed to raise awareness of New Zealand’s superlative produce, Made with...

Today I’m talking to Huw Kinch, Winemaker and Estate Manager at Pyramid Valley, a biodynamic winery in beautiful Waikari, North Canterbury in the South Island of New Zealand. I usually speak to chefs but I’m doing a series of special edition features showcasing New Zealand suppliers and producers to celebrate the launch of New Zealand Trade & Enterprise’s 2022 Made with Care campaign in Australia....

I first met Hugh Sanderson when I was writing about Bar Savarin, a very lovely wine bar which he recently opened with a gun hospo crew in Cheltenham. I loved the way Hugh talked then about the idea behind Savarin, which comes from French writer of gastronomy, Jean Brillat-Savarin who said, ‘To invite people to dine with us is to make ourselves responsible for their wellbeing for as long as they ar...

Matt Lambert is a breath of fresh air. For all his accolades, awards and success, he’s very down to earth and open. It helps that he has retained an excellent kiwi accent. At least, it helps for me. Matt is one of those chefs who always knew that’s what he wanted to do. At 11 years old, he asked a chef if he could start his apprenticeship then and there. Once he did get started, there was no holdi...

Ned’s Bake had me at their “local European” branding. I think it is the French teacher in me. So then I was flicking through their Instagram and saw a lovely photo of Ned with head chef, Remya creating the week’s dinner menu together at Middle Park. They have their arms around each other’s shoulders and they’re smiling widely. I really loved the idea of the teamwork and mutual respect the photo sh...

Given that I love all things French and that I am particularly enamoured with the south of France, having lived there for a year, you can imagine my excitement at going to Tapenade to talk to Laurie Faget. Laurie and her fiancé, Kevin Chassagne opened Tapenade in July last year having created a very provençal-feeling restaurant and French products boutique. I am always desperately wanting to be te...

Today I’m chatting to Roger Lu at Laurus in Carlton. I first met Roger last November when I wrote about Laurus for Broadsheet. Laurus is a sleek and sophisticated modern Chinese restaurant which was just about to open. I went down to Carlton after teaching all day at school to meet owner Boyang Fu and chef, Roger, and hear all about it. They brought out beautiful cocktails and a selection of delic...

Today I’m chatting to Jo Corrigan and Matt Donnelly out on the five acres they farm at Romsey. Romsey is 60 kilometres north of Melbourne and near Mt Macedon. The earth is a rich chocolate colour as a result of basaltic and volcanic lava flows and was the perfect place for Jo and Matt to come when they hung up their chef’s aprons and stepped over to the supply side of the food industry. Having wor...

Today I’m chatting to Melbourne Cake Couturier, Aidan Robinson, from Chic de Partie. And what an absolute pleasure it was. Aidan got in touch with me through Instagram and I am so happy he did. He is one of those chefs who so love what they do that it almost shines out of them. Aidan always knew he wanted to be a chef, and more specifically, a pastry chef. He started his career aged 15 in Manchest...

What started as a blog and a way to connect to her family, friends and home country, Argentina, has become a thriving business for Paula Delapenna. Paula makes the famous Argentinian sweet treat, alfajores, and sells them online through her site, En Casa Cooking Space, and in markets around Melbourne. She also makes beautiful, rustic cakes based on recipes from her baker grandmother. I sat down wi...

Esca Khoo is a rising star, although he doesn’t really know what to do with such accolades and the press coverage he has been receiving since he stepped into the head chef role at Miss Mi in the Mövenpick Hotel. Esca is humble and self-aware and never imagined that he would be where he is now. He just really loves cooking and wants to share through his food happiness as well as memories and the th...

Funny story. I actually met Ha in the spa pool in my apartment building. He was talking to some other neighbours in the pool about restaurants and about his cooking school, Otao Kitchen, which obviously piqued my interest. I told him about Conversation with a Chef and very happily for me, he agreed to talk to me. I had walked past his original cooking school venue on Victoria Street so many times...

When I went to Taxi Kitchen to speak to Tony Twitchett, there was a lot going on in Federation Square. There were people ziplining across the Yarra, Harry Potter fans dressed as wizards, primed for the 20th anniversary free outdoor screening of Harry Potter, The Philosopher’s Stone, children running towards the 16-metre-tall Christmas tree in Christmas Square and the annual firies Christmas drinks...

Today I’m chatting to Vincent Uso from Canelé Alain, a pastry business in Richmond making the unique little cakes from Bordeaux, the canelé. Vincent does a great job describing what these special little treats are in the conversation, so I’ll leave that to him. If you have never tried a canelé, you absolutely must. They are crispy and caramelised on the outside with a molten centre and they are de...

Hi and welcome to another episode of conversation with a chef. I’m Jo Rittey and I love sharing with you the conversations I get to have with talented and passionate chefs. It’s the back story, if you will, to the food they are putting up. I begin today by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, traditional custodians of the land where this conversation takes place and I pay my re...

Telina Menzies came to my attention through her Instagram stories and posts. She posts photos and stories about food and the great people who surround her and her two French bulldogs. You can tell from her posts that she loves what she does and has a heart for the hospitality industry and the mental health of those who work within it. You can also tell from her posts that she is a down to earth no...

Alan Chong made the news last year when he gave meals away to struggling Melburnians negatively impacted by the fallout from Covid-19 lockdowns. Over the course of a few months, Chong and his team at Tian 38 cooked and gave away hundreds of meals to people who weren’t eligible for JobKeeper or JobSeeker, people who were vulnerable and struggling in the pandemic. But that’s not the only reason Alan...

I must admit to being slightly starstruck when talking to Diana Chan today. And when I say slightly, please read, enormously. Diana is the 2017 MasterChef Australia winner and beams a sunny and positive presence out through her socials. So, you can imagine my excitement when PR company, Harvey Taylor got in touch to see if I would like a chat. Of course I would! I asked Diana what her greatest suc...

Babylonia Fitzroy, on their website and at their entrance on Smith Street, invites you to “enter into enchantment”. Owners Prawin John Peter and Geoffrey Sage have created their own little oasis down in Fitzroy, complete with a lush outdoor garden courtyard and waterfall wall feature and a cosy front dining room with green leather banquettes, cream-painted brick walls and antique Turkish lampshade...

I was so excited to be able to talk to Guillaume Brahimi in the month his Melbourne restaurant, Bistro Guillaume celebrates its 10 year anniversary. I knew all about Guillaume having watched with delight, his five minute Plat du Tour episodes which aired on SBS during the Tour de France and featured famous dishes from the regions the cyclists were passing through. Guillaume’s love of cooking and h...

I often have to pinch myself that all these incredible chefs are happy to sit down and chat to me. I’m very lucky. Sometimes I contact a chef I’d like to talk to and then on the way to the chat, I have that whole imposter syndrome thing where I think, hang on a minute, this person is actually a really big deal, who do I think I am? That’s what happened on the tram on my way into the Melbourne CBD...

When I got in touch with Dylan Kemp, he was just about to leave Melbourne for Queensland where he has relocated to open a new venue in Kings Beach. We resolved to chat once he was settled, and I was impressed when he got in touch just a couple of days after arriving to make a time with me. This was one of those conversations where I was absolutely hanging off Dylan’s every word. Dylan’s understand...

I was surprised to learn that it has been four or five years since I last spoke to Gabriel Alonso at Juliet Melbourne. Time certainly flies when you’re having fun. I loved talking to Gabs back then and hearing about his love for hospitality and it was so lovely to be able to talk to him again. Gabs has done the 2020 pivot, but still speaks with absolute passion about what he is doing, which is bak...

David Dellai and I have honestly been trying for weeks to sit down together for a chat and all sorts of lockdowns and other things got in the way. But it was absolutely worth the wait to sit down with David and talk about his love of food and cooking, which stems back to when he was four years old, actually, and to find out more about Venetian food and how to choose the best white truffle. David s...

Prior is a huge pastel cathedral ceilinged wonder of a café on High Street. It has a log burner in the middle for cosy winter days, a courtyard out the back for the warmer weather and a delicious menu every day of the week. Nick Korceba has been in the game for 20 years, but still speaks with passion about the food he is preparing. His former boss, Shane Delia, has spoken highly of Nick’s work as...