Conversation with a chef

On the day I chatted to Tom, it was his 32nd birthday. He has plenty to celebrate. Co-owning three popular restaurants in Melbourne with your brother and best mate is not something to downplay. And Cheek is super cool. It spaces the fun out over three levels. The first floor I knew about and boasts a restaurant with a backlit wall of wine bottles and a dry ageing fridge sporting a lot of meat. Tom...

I visit James Kummrow on the coldest day in Melbourne so far this year. Dodging hail showers, I’m happy just to get through the doors of Fatto Bar & Cantina relatively unscathed. The I meet James, a man who exudes contentment. This is a man who loves what he does. Talking to him, I am treated (as I so often am talking to chefs) to moments of rapture as he articulates his passion for hospitality an...

When I step into Etta on a grey and bitter day, the first thing that strikes me is how delicious it smells in there. The open kitchen is a hive of industry and whatever it is they are preparing, I wish I was staying for dinner. The second thing I notice is how great the music is, and the third, how lovely it always is to talk to a fellow New Zealander. Charlie is softly spoken and perhaps not some...

I’d been trying to talk to Matti Fallon for a while and it just didn’t happen. Timing is everything and when I sat down with Matti, it all becomes clear, as you’ll read further down in the chat. When I was trying to catch up with him in January, he was working on his Broadsheet Kitchen suburban Chinese takeaway from the nineties offer AND becoming a father. He was so lovely about wanting to be par...

When I announced to Daniele that I would be recording our conversation so that I could type it up later AND that I would need a photo of him, he looked like someone who had been told I would be stealing his soul. I like to think that Daniele’s enjoyment of the conversation steadily improved as we went on and that there was no soul-stealing involved. For my part, I relished every minute and learned...

My chat started somewhat unconventionally with Almay asking me some questions. Turns out we have a lot in common. We both love French, history and academia, we both knit in what spare time we have, and we both arrived in Melbourne eight years ago. From there our paths diverge. Almay co-owns and runs highly successful Neighbourhood Wine Bar with her husband, Simon, and I have the pleasure of gettin...

In a very six degrees of separation moment, as I wait to talk to John Rivera at Lûmé, his sous chef, Michael comes out to say hello. Michael is Jodie Odrowaz’s (last conversation) boyfriend and when I talk to John about that, he tells me Valentin (conversation before Jodie) is coming in for dinner that night. My mind is blown and I love it. It feels right that all worlds should collide here. John...

I learned so much from chatting to Kirra. Actually, my mind was completely blown about 12 minutes into the conversation as Kirra patiently tried to explain Le Petit Chef interactive dining. But Kirra, herself, even without the fancy eating adventure that goes on upstairs from the wine cellar, is a super impressive chef, who soaked up everything she could in the kitchens of The Royal Mail and is no...

Martin and his wife, Melissa, are living the dream. They own and run Red Gum BBQ in Red Hill, a burgeoning foodie destination on the Mornington Peninsula. Martin wasn’t always the pit master he is today. He worked for local government, but a visit to a barbecue joint just out of Miami sealed his fate. From the first bite, he was hooked. He is now completely obsessed, constantly seeking more inform...

Sushil is the kind of person you talk to and come away feeling better for it. He has an infectious happiness and enjoyment of life and his chosen path that is soul filling. Having worked in an impressive line-up of restaurants with excellent chefs, Sushil has recently taken over the wheel at Tokyo Tina and he is having a really great time.

Talking to James Wilkinson made me hungry. He talks about food, dining and cooking with such relish. I was completely enchanted by his tales of lunches in Paris, learning to cook with his grandmother on a farm in Kaikoura, and the griddle scones his grandfather would make when his grandmother went to Bridge.

I could have happily sat and talked to Ryan Dolan all day. I’m not entirely convinced that Ryan felt the same way. He had prep to do and a booked-out restaurant to cater for, but I was absolutely on the edge of my seat in a kind of over the top, slightly nerdy way getting to talk about my two great loves; French culture and cooking. This man is a thinker and a doer. He has a larger vision of hospi...

Chacho’s is a new place in Windsor touting Mexican pizzas. Intriguing. We all love a bit of fusion, right? One Dan [Xerri] came up with the idea and brought another Dan in to execute it. Described by other writers as a pizza guru, Dan Pegg himself is much more self-effacing and certainly acknowledges the input he has had to get him where he is, which I have to say, is a pretty awesome place.

Elichi is a beautiful Indian restaurant in Black Rock. Through the window I can see the sea. Punit jokes that he will be able to go over there in summer on his breaks. Punit’s eyes light up talking about his journey as a chef and all the things he has learned and continues to learn. He is the epitome of the life-long learner, embracing every new opportunity and always pushing himself to do better.

Eitan Doron is in at Half Acre 24/7 at the moment. Even when its closed. Such is his desire to get everything right and create the kind of hospitality we all dream of where food, service and ambiance blend together to create harmony. Eitan gave me a lot to think about. I love it when that happens.

The sun streams in through the huge windows where I’m seated at The Atlantic on Southbank. Queen of all I survey, and despite fantastic views of the Yarra and Melbourne city, I’m distracted by the array of fish and seafood dishes coming out of Nick Mahlook’s kitchen. Tasmanian oysters with red wine vinaigrette, raw and cured fish of various types and various preparations, split grilled leader praw...

When I arrive at the farm in Cardinia, Blayne is out on the rotary hoe. Blayne is the head chef at O.MY, the restaurant he runs with his brother, Chase, in Beaconsfield, and he is absolutely the poster guy for living life like it’s golden. He exudes joy, satisfaction and vision and I hang off his every word. O.MY has two hats but flies relatively under the radar in terms of publicity. For six year...

As soon as I walked into Citrico Daniel started talking and enthusiastically showing me around the restaurant. This beautiful two storied space in Fitzroy North is absolutely worth the tour. Daniel generously gave me an hour of his time as he talked about his love of cooking, his desire to share the Peruvian food of his youth, depression amongst chefs and the beautiful cycle he feels part of where...

17. John Paul Twomey | The Carlton Wine Room by Jo Rittey

16. Khanh Nguyen | Sunda by Jo Rittey

Richard and Suzanne Pavlov have realised a long-held dream to open a Lebanese restaurant and they have done it with great success with Bekka in Moonee Ponds. Inspired by a recent trip to the Beqqa Valley, a fertile valley known for its wineries and good food, and by their own heritage, they want to transport their guests to a Middle Eastern paradise.

Julian Hills thinks about food 24/7. That might seem like a prerequisite for a chef, but Julian takes it to a whole new level. Having dreamed for years of opening his own limited seating degustation venue, his newly opened Navi in Yarraville is allowing him to really stretch his imagination and his skill to explore and discover and surprise his diners and is an absolute delight for all concerned.

I drove out to TarraWarra Estate to talk to Mark Ebbels on one of those intermittently stormy/sunny days where the sky was sort of darkly menacing but at the same time beautiful and cloud cascaded down the valleys of the foothills forming the backdrop to the Yarra Valley. Mark grew up amongst all this beauty before venturing overseas to work in some of the world’s top restaurants including The Fat...

Reuben Davis is a magician. Seriously. I loved sitting down to talk to Reuben about the food he’s putting up at The Press Club but eating his food was a whole other dimension. I don’t often get to eat the food. Sometimes I talk to chefs because I have eaten the food. But often I go in and talk to chefs and really want to go back and eat the food but life gets in the way. To have been able to talk...

Tim Young is the epitome of the creative and passionate chef who loves what he does but is very aware of having to do the hard yards and push yourself to succeed. His journey has taken him from Hamilton to Melbourne to Holland and now back to South Yarra where he’s running the beautiful Matilda alongside an excellent team.