Conversation with a chef

Congress has been around for just over a year, gracing the corner of Peel and Wellington Streets in Collingwood. Jack Stuart stepped in as head chef from the start and has been plating up delicious food ever since. Jack is a stickler for quality and has chosen suppliers who favour one thing and do it well. If it’s not in season, Jack’s not using it and he gets huge amounts of joy from seasonal pro...

I sat down in the opulent Silks restaurant at Crown Melbourne with Chef Jack Aw Yong, renowned as the global godfather of Chinese cuisine. This month he is sharing with the lucky Melbourne dining public, his passion and talent garnered from years of hard work, determination and creativity. Chef Jack is a storyteller and I was treated to incredible tales from his culinary journey, interwoven with s...

When I was doing some reading about Elliott before going to chat to him, I discovered that, not only is he from Christchurch, but he went to school in the same part of town as me, albeit years after me…! I mention age, only because Elliott might be young in years, but he has had quite the trajectory, starting off his career cooking in one of New Zealand’s best restaurants, Pescatore, in the George...

When I walked through the door of The Hardware Club, Nicola greeted me like an old friend and revealed that he’s a big fan of my podcast and knew that he was the 202nd conversation I’d had. That made me happy and I felt happier still, perched up at the bar and hearing all Nicola’s stories of growing up in Verona, doing a stint in a hotel restaurant in Mykonos and coming to Melbourne. A year ago, h...

Nathan Scarfo is set to open his first solo venture, Risi in Moonee Ponds in March next year. Full of personality, it's clear from the moment you meet him that Nathan loves life, hospitality, and cooking Italian food. This is one of those conversations that would definitely have been great as a video because of the animated way Nathan talks about his passion. I learned a lot about risotto, reality...

Today’s chat is with Sandy Melgalvis at Common Ground Project, a not for profit café just out of Geelong. Sandy and I sat outside surrounded by chooks, raised garden beds and children running around in the sun. I had been wanting to talk to Sandy for a while because her name kept coming up in very favourable terms when I spoke to other chefs. Note to self: do not listen to Russell Brand in convers...

When I went into Gatherings, Alex apologised for the mess, saying it had been a big night the night before. It wasn’t messy and I loved the way Alex’s eyes lit up as he described giving over his space to Mitchell Teirney and Josh Hunter for their dinner: Know the whakapapa (origin/story) of your kai (food); a celebration of traditional Maori food, storytelling and wisdom. Alex, himself, is all abo...

Flip Grater is an impressive woman. She is an incredible singer-songwriter who has toured the world several times, she has produced four albums and an EP, with one of those albums produced in Paris, she has two cookbooks under her belt and with husband, Youssef has, perhaps most importantly created a beautiful little daughter, but also vegan deli and wine bar, Grater Goods by day and Pinot Cave by...

When I arrive at Prince Dining to chat to Executive chef Dan Hawkins, the dulcet tones of a jackhammer greet me and I’m pretty sure my face said it all. Sensing my alarm at competing with construction for a conversation, the lovely Prince Hotel staff took Dan and I up to one of their beautiful hotel rooms so that we could chat in peace. Dan is a gentle giant; tall and with a really lovely approach...

Hamed Allahyari is a Persian chef with a heart for others and a soul-warming laugh. I went out to Sunshine Café in Sunshine the other day and spoke to the café’s other founder, Jen Morillac. Jen and Hamed wanted to run a place that could employ refugees and asylum seekers who have had difficult time finding employment in Australia. In addition to that loveliness, they are making everything except...

Eileen and I sit down to chat by the open sash window in Napier Quarter, the cute blue stone wine bar on the corner of Napier and Kerr Street. Afternoon sun is glowing on the buildings opposite and deliciousness wafts out from the kitchen. After the chat, owner Daniel Lewis helps style my portrait taking, brushing away any stray dust from the outside wall…and from Eileen…This feels like family and...

Maureen Andrews is one half along with Gary of the mother and son team behind Ostrich and the Egg, a South African eatery and bar in St Kilda. When you step through the door off Inkerman Street, you feel as though you are stepping into their home. Not surprising really, Maureen has always welcomed and cooked for family, friends, the community and once for 500 people at a volleyball club event. She...

Mandacaru is a little bit of a different business model to the usual restaurants I visit. Chef and owner, Carla, is making delicious Brazilian dishes from a commercial kitchen just a little bit bigger than a shipping container out the back of an industrial-feeling complex in Port Melbourne. She feeds people through Menulog, Deliveroo, festivals and larger catering events. Carla’s eyes dance when s...

I first met Dave a couple of years ago when I went into Embla for a chat. It would have been one of the first conversations I did and I loved every minute of it. Back then, Dave was running between Town Mouse and Embla and doing an excellent job at both. Now he is solely overseeing Embla. I still asked the same dumb question about his cooking style and I love that Dave has now put me in my place t...

Nicola Romano | Oster Eatery by Jo Rittey

This was such a great chat. They are ALL great chats and I can’t even tell you how lucky I feel to be able to sit down with these chefs and just ask them anything I want to about their craft and things that occur to me mid-flight. Dan was so accommodating and really went with the flow and answered all of my questions in such a delicious way. All this, while the end-of-winter sun slanted in through...

When you walk into Curly Whiskers in Brighton, it feels as though you are walking into someone’s house; someone who is an amazing cook. It smells divine and Silas and owner, Rosalin are working in the ‘kitchen’ which is very much part of the dining room. A large island bench divides the back workspace from the tables and chairs; everything is on display and they like it like that. So do the diners...

When Cristian Folletti talks about pasta, his eyes light up and he gesticulates even more animatedly than ever. A relative newcomer to the chef scene, Cristian had already learned a lot from his aunt in Italy, who is also a chef, so that when he went to culinary school, what he was learning was really the ‘why’ behind the ‘how’. I sat down with Cristian, his girlfriend, Olivia and his Executive Ch...

Jessi is eating a bowl of dahl when I go in and asks if I mind him eating. Having seen how crazy busy it gets at Daughter in law from the minute the doors open at 5 o’clock, he should definitely be having that dahl. There won’t be a moment to breathe until much later in the evening. We have the chat and then I’m about to leave when Jessi insists I have a cocktail. It’s a new one they’ve been exper...

Joe Grbac was my first Conversation with a Chef four or five years ago when he was at Saint Crispin and had the idea that talking to chefs would be a great thing to do. Today I went in to the city to have a chat with him about his solo venture, Saxe, which has been running for two years and Saxe Kitchen, the more casual downstairs sharing-plate type iteration. We really got straight to the meaty s...

I drove to Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula on a wet and wild winter’s day to talk to Michael Cole, Chef of the Year Australia 2019 and 2017, and finalist in the international Finale of the Bocuse d’Or in Lyon earlier this year. I imagined I’d hear about his journey as a chef from the beginnings of a life on the pans through to such spectacular results, and I certainly did. I also heard about...

Akad, or AK, as he is known, always loved cooking as a child and couldn’t wait to leave school to become a chef. Having learned the ropes at Rockpool, he went on to Il Bacaro in Little Collins Street and then tried his hand at Chinese Fusion. He’s now happily cooking Middle Eastern street food at Balagan Kitchen and, reading over out chat again, I laughed at my reactions of obvious surprise and pl...

I’m a big fan of Scott Pickett’s restaurants and, in fact, my very first Conversation with a chef was with Joe Grbac who, at the time, was co-owner of Saint Crispin With Scott. Having had a chat to two of Scott’s chefs already, Tim from Matilda and Valentin from Estelle, I was not about to miss out on talking to Charlie at newly opened, Lupo, especially having tasted some of Charlie’s food at the...

My friend, Alycia put me on to Savannah, the junior sous chef at Stokehouse Q. Savannah sounds like an incredibly driven young chef on paper and it is even better talking to her in person. As much as I love talking to people passionate about what they do, I am a terrible phone conversationalist. Lucky for me, Savannah pulls me through with her irrepressible energy and ways of seeing things. Mark m...

Pierrick Boyer has worked with some of the top chefs in the world, the likes of Alain Ducasse, Christophe Michalak, Pierre Marcolini and Stephane Leroux. Pierrick himself, has won many awards and most recently was acknowledged as the Gault and Millau Pastry Chef of the Year in 2017. What’s even more impressive is that having closed his business last year due to loss of business following ongoing c...