Conversation with a chef

Atta in Albert Park has quietly and confidently become one of Melbourne’s most enduring modern Indian restaurants. It’s been ten years since it opened, which is no small feat in this city, and behind it all is chef and owner Harry Dhanjal. Harry has spent that decade redefining how we think about Indian cuisine, balancing innovation and tradition, respecting the roots of each dish while bringing t...

When I walked into Aegli in South Melbourne, the first thing I noticed was the light: soft, golden, everywhere. Then I met Ioannis Kasidokostas, and it makes even more sense. Aegli was a goddess, Yanni tells me: elegant, dazzling, radiant, and that’s exactly what he’s built here. The space, the food, the feeling. Yanni doesn’t see hospitality as a job. He calls it a culture. It’s about philoxenia,...

Today I’m chatting with Rachel Miyazaki from Niji Sweets. If you’ve walked through Queen Vic Market lately, you might have stopped in your tracks at a stall that looks more like a jewellery counter than a lolly stand: trays of shimmering kohakutou, those jewel-like Japanese sweets that catch the light and your imagination all at once. Rachel trained as a pastry chef, working everywhere from LuxBit...

When Luke’s Bánh Mì opened in the CBD, the response was extraordinary. Queues ran down Little Bourke Street, and more than 1,200 bánh mì were sold that first day. In fact, customers were averaging two or three each, so the real number was far higher. I went to the preview and then couldn’t resist coming back the very next day just to see it all unfold. I even filmed the line, and for the first tim...

Collingwood has no shortage of bars, but Babines stands out, thanks to the two Juliens behind it, Julien Pascal and Julien Wurtlin. When I first ducked in not long after they opened a year and a half ago (on the recommendation of a French friend, naturally), I was hooked: the cocktails, the anchovy toasts, the way the place already felt like it belonged. Since then, the pair have kept shaping and...

I’ve spoken to Sunny Gilbert at Melbourne’s Hofbrauhaus before and it was such a delight to catch up with him again, especially at this time of year. He’d just flown back from Munich, where Oktoberfest really is as big, loud and joyful as everyone says: ten beer tents, each crammed with 10,000 people, steins thudding on tables, bands lifting whole crowds onto benches. Back in Melbourne, at Hofbrau...

Lorcán Kan has one of those reputations that precedes him, not in the loud, headline-grabbing way, but in the quiet way that matters more. Mention his name to other chefs and their response is usually the same: “He’s such a lovely guy.” Kan, now head chef at Etta in Brunswick East, carries that reputation with the same understated composure he brings to food. Born in Donegal to an Irish-Malaysian...

I’m upstairs at Eleni’s Kitchen in Yarraville with Eleftheria Amanatidis. The room feels like a taverna: a criss cross of dark beams, low light, and the sense that food is at the centre of everything. Eleftheria has captured not just the dishes of her Yiayias and Papous, but the atmosphere too: the smells, the rituals, the family gathered around a table. Hospitality runs in Eleftheria’s blood: her...

When I first spoke to Kyle Nicol back in late 2020, he was head chef at Rascal, and Melbourne was lurching in and out of lockdown. He was already thinking deeply about sustainability in kitchens, not just in terms of produce, but of chefs themselves. Five years on, Kyle’s covered a lot of ground: Lilac, Hazel, a string of pop-ups, consulting, foraging, and even a side project in charcuterie. He’s...

Brooke is a pastry chef with a flair for precision and a competitive streak that’s taken her from Sydney kitchens to the World Food Championships in Indianapolis, where her buttermilk cheesecake earned her third place in the world for dessert. She’s now preparing to return in October to take out the top spot all while juggling recipe testing, private chef gigs, and her educational platform Capture...

The name Odette House came to Jojo Parkinson at 4.30 in the morning. Later, she discovered it meant “prosperous,” which felt right for a venue with three distinct levels: an all-day café downstairs, Uday restaurant upstairs, and a rooftop bar with a view of the city. Uday means “sunrise” in Sanskrit, a nod to new beginnings. Over her ceremonial-grade Matcha on a Cloud, Jojo spoke about building a...

Joe Vargetto has turned his restaurant into a truffle wonderland. Step inside Mr Bianco’s little bar, Bianchetto right now and you’ll find moss, fairy lights, oak leaves, and, if you’re lucky, a truffle-hunting spaniel on duty. Some chefs talk about truffles as a luxury. Joe talks about them as if they’re alive, creatures that seduce trees, steal nutrients and transform the soil they grow in, but...

In Carnegie, there’s a little patisserie turning out some of the most beautiful cakes in Melbourne. Tommy Er’s T6 Patisserie has been open just over a year and already has a loyal following, very definitely including me. Tommy’s pastries are French in style but layered with the flavours he grew up with in Southeast Asia. There’s pandan sponge with custard inspired by his great-grandmother’s onde-o...

The drive into The Dining Room At Lancemore Lindenderry in Red Hill takes you past rows of vines and manicured gardens that open out to 38 acres of rolling lawns, a tennis court, wood-fired hot tubs and 41 elegant rooms. It’s the sort of place you can settle into for the weekend or drive down for lunch and wish you’d booked a room. In the kitchen is executive chef Nick McGonigal. He started cookin...

I had dinner at The George Hotel in South Melbourne the night before this conversation, and I’m still thinking about that prawn toast. The parma came on the bone, the romesco on the pumpkin was deeply smoky, and the vibe was spot on. Fire crackling, carpet slightly retro, and classic pub food done with care, generosity, and just the right amount of zhuzh. Usually on this podcast I speak to chefs,...

Two years after our first conversation, Pawan Dutta has made the kitchen at The Royce Hotel entirely his own. The Showroom Bar still gleams. The menu is bolder, with flavours that travel from Peru to France and back again, yet nothing feels forced. He’s as hands-on as ever, still on the pans, still chasing that perfect balance of craft and instinct. We talk about how the team has evolved, the trus...

Stéphane Nguyen is the founder of the French Cooking Academy alongside his wife, Kate. Stephane has built a global following by teaching classic French techniques in a way that actually makes sense: clear, methodical, and with a real focus on understanding the why behind each step. But it didn’t start there. Stéphane moved to Australia, missed French food, tried to make a Boeuf Bourguignon and rea...

If Pepe’s Italian & Liquor is all swagger and spectacle: snow machines, themed decor, and a big personality, then Pepe’s Parlour offers something quieter and more composed. The original venue opened in 2019 in a former synagogue on Exhibition Street, serving Italian American classics in a space that leans into old-school New York glamour. Next door, Pepe’s Parlour channels the elegance of a London...

It’s not every day you get to have a chat in a former ship’s chandlery from the 1860s, but that’s exactly where I found myself with Dan Livingstone, chef, self-taught cook, ex-pop songwriter, and co-owner of The Chandlery in Port Melbourne. I first met Dan at one of his collaborative events a few weeks ago, a night of incredible wine, thoughtful food, and genuine connection. In this episode, we ta...

Mike McEnearney doesn’t follow trends. He follows his gut, his growers, and the seasons. He’s worked in some of the world’s toughest kitchens, cooked for Damien Hirst, and lived off the land in rural Wales. He opened Kitchen by Mike in a converted factory canteen in Sydney’s CBD, another Kitchen by Mike at the International Airport and will soon open one in the National Gallery of Australia in Can...

You can tell a lot about a chef by how they talk about repetition. For Aaron, it’s not tedious, it’s essential. He grew up in Perth, found his culinary footing in a small seafood kitchen, and went on to cook in some of London’s most intense and celebrated restaurants. Now heading up the kitchen at O’Connell’s Hotel in South Melbourne, Aaron brings with him the calm authority of someone who’s done...

II.II.VI is freshly open and in soft launch mode at the time of recording, which means the team is still getting into the rhythm of service and the full menu isn’t live yet. The grills haven’t yet been installed, which is significant, because open flame cooking is central to what head chef Haitham Richani has planned. I sat down with Haitham and executive chef Kerry Lam to talk about the thinking...

This week I sat down with Alberto Borghi of Del Bocia Butter, although calling it “butter” barely covers it. This is butter with soul, butter with story. I first came across Alberto’s work at DOC in St Kilda, where a seaweed butter and a very memorable Alfredo pasta got me hooked. I imagined the maker must be an old Italian man with a wooden churn…and then I found Alberto on Instagram. Not an old...

Giorgio Linguanti arrived in Australia from Sicily with no English, no cheese-making experience, and no plans to start a dairy empire, and yet, here we are. That’s Amore Cheese, the company he founded, is now beloved across the country and beyond our shores for its fresh, authentic Italian cheeses, from silky ricotta to smoky scamorza, and of course, the show-stealing burrata. Giorgio introduced b...

Dario Di Clerico’s culinary story began at just 14, when he first stepped into a professional kitchen in his native Italy. Since then, he’s forged a path defined by talent, grit and unshakeable passion. He trained under the youngest (at the time) Michelin-starred chef in the UK, refining his skills in high-pressure kitchens and learning what it takes to lead with precision and creativity. When he...