Conversation with a chef

Pamella Tomio is head chef at Ovolo Hotel’s Lona Misa, the incredible plant-based restaurant brought about by hospitality legends, Shannon Martinez and Ian Curley. Pamella was such a joy to talk to. She was so generous in what she shared with me about growing up in hospitality in Brazil, coming to Australia and what she loves about working at Lona Misa. Pamella is cooking veggie dishes on the Josp...

#172 Andrew Ballard | Simmer Culinary by Jo Rittey

I love Pipi’s Kiosk. It’s in Albert Park, but right on the beach. As in, literally on the beach. You sit at a table where the sea is pretty much lapping at your ankles but you are drinking beautiful wine and eating glorious food. With the floor to ceiling windows, you get to see all the theatrics, whether it is glorious sunny weather or dramatic storms, it is all beautiful and at Pipi’s you are ce...

#170 Christian Graebner | Dolly at Le Meridien by Jo Rittey

I sat down with head chef and owner, Aseem Sood and his business partner, Kunal Bhardwaj at Kahaani in Lygon Street. Kahaani means story in Hindi and Aseem wants to tell the story of India’s regions and history through his food, which he describes as “unreasonably authentic”. The pair looked for a while for a venue, originally imagining that South Yarra would be the place until they came across th...

Paul Kasten previously worked in fine dining but wanted to ‘put down the tweezers’ and bring rarely found authentic regional American pizza styles to Australia. He opened Deep End Pizza last March in the space formerly occupied by Hammer and Tong just off Brunswick Street and it has been gloriously popular ever since he first opened the doors. Deep End’s Detroit, Chicago and New York style pizzas...

Alan Tompkins is an ambassador for the Burnt Chef Project, an organisation that seeks to highlight mental health within the hospitality industry. This is a huge topic and timely to talk about. Four out of five hospo workers say they have encountered mental health challenges while working in the industry, but a whopping 47 % say they would not speak up about it. This gulf is something Alan and his...

Nornie Bero is from the Meriam People of Mer Island in the Torres Strait and is the executive chef, CEO and owner of Mabu Mabu. Nornie has been a professional chef for more than twenty-five years and draws inspiration from her cultural heritage and from the abundance of natural resources she grew up with and now champions. Nornie’s cooking style reflects her passion for using local, sustainable in...

I cannot tell you how excited I was to meet Gabriel Gate and talk to him. Before we talked, I imagined the conversation would be about cooking, food and being a chef, and it was, but we also talked about life and the things that are important. When I told people that I was going to talk to Gabriel, the universal reaction, was, “Ah Gabriel Gate, what a lovely man.” Everyone has heard of Gabriel. Th...

Pawan Dutta is the Executive chef at Melbourne’s newest luxury hotel, The Royce. Channelling all the golden glamour of the roaring twenties, entering The Royce feels as though you are gliding onto the set of Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby. It is beautiful. No stranger to cooking in glorious and luxurious settings, Pawan has had an enviable career, travelling to and working in over 80 different cou...

Francesco Crifo is a passionate advocate of pizza. He describes himself as a pizza chef and not a pizza maker and says that despite the abundance of pizza restaurants in Melbourne, there is still a real lack of knowledge about pizza, their bases, flours, toppings, and potential. To this end he has established his pizza academy where he offers a masterclass and an e-book to share the knowledge gain...

Stephen Nairn is the epitome of the passionate chef. His love for food, the industry, his team and for always learning more is palpable. I had spoken to Stephen over the phone for Broadsheet when Yugen Dining opened and quite frankly I was grinning like a lunatic on the other end of the line because I was just lapping up the way he described the dishes. He pointed out that when he says the menu is...

When I was asked if I’d like to have a chat to camp oven guru, Ranger Nick, I leapt at the chance. How could I not? Ranger Nick is a celebrity TV cook on Channel 7 Mates ‘Step Outside with Paul Burt’, he is a Guinness Book world record holder for the longest damper, and the creator of Curry Kits, and he has recently been recognised as a Finalist in the Environmental Business category of the 2023 A...

Jake Furst is head chef of Cinder, the elegant fire-driven restaurant in Fitzroy North’s 150-year-old pub The Terminus Hotel, and also executive chef of the Kickon Group, a hospitality group that runs large scale, high-end venues in Melbourne, Sorrento, and Queensland. Since the Group took over the Terminus, they have completely renovated it, creating a casual pub feel out the front, extensive bee...

Lewis Bryce has had a fairly cinematic life so far, at least I think he has. Picture this: Cornwall, a small town on the coast, a young guy, spurred on by stories told by Australians on their big OE in the UK, dreams of adventure on the other side of the world and sets off to Byron Bay for a working holiday. Young guy meets young Melburnian girl, in Byron Bay for schoolies, romance and life-changi...

What an absolute pleasure to speak to Steven Nelson at The Recreation Bistro and Bottleshop. I mean, anyone who describes their zucchini as gorgeous and affectionately describes the way they are left to run free in a field as they grow has to be a good person by definition. Certainly a thoughtful person, and the way Steve described his career and the things he has learned along the way is certainl...

If I had had to choose a chef to talk to, if not on International Women’s Day, but around that time Jane Low is it. Jane is a passionate chef. One of those chefs who always knew this is what she wanted to do. Jane incorporates her Chinese background and Malaysian upbringing, mixing that in to her experiences as a pastry chef and recent time in London and travels in Europe. Jane has distilled her s...

Mark Krueger is Group head chef of restaurants Mejico and Indu in the city. Mark has an extensive background in the culinary field, having worked under and alongside, some of the world’s most renowned chefs at several iconic restaurants and hotels. From Melbourne to the Maldives, Thailand and the Yarra Valley, Mark has continued to foster a passion for food and also for life-long learning with thi...

Yesterday I rode 89 floors in an elevator to Eureka 89, the restaurant one floor above the Melbourne Skydeck to talk to the glorious Renee Martillano, who Is the Executive chef there. The Skydeck is the Southern Hemisphere’s highest observation deck and the tower itself is 297.3 metres tall with 91 floors. So the 89th floor is a long way up. It is beautiful up there and I loved sitting up there wi...

KIN is the glorious sounding restaurant housed in All Saints Estate’s 1864 heritage-listed castle in Rutherglen, and is an ode to family by siblings Eliza, Nick and Angela Brown. Kin offers modern destination dining with a menu inspired by family recipes and childhood memories, plus the best local and Estate produce and it is helmed by the very lovely chef Jack Cassidy. While Rutherglen is very fi...

In November last year, Hamish Vaccari started selling family recipe Italian subs out the back of an unassuming house on Nicholson Street. It went viral. Nonna’s House was the obvious choice of name for the venture, given it is, in fact, his Nonna's house. Having lost his job at the start of Covid, Hamish was thinking about his next move and when his Nonna passed away at the impressive age of 98 la...

Nabil Ansari is the loveliest man. I have been following him for a while on Instagram and of course I had heard about him when he did Ansari at Home, a pop up over lockdown where he cooked Indian food for his neighbours and then it went gangbusters. As always, it was such a pleasure to talk to someone who is so passionate about what he does. From deciding he wanted to cook, leaving Dubai and comin...

In 2017, chef and owner Lucas Parkinson established Ode Conscious Dining in Wanaka, Aotearoa, after spending over a decade developing his skill and passion for food in Aotearoa & overseas. Lucas quickly gained recognition after Ode was named one of New Zealand’s Top 100 restaurants at both the 2018 & 2019 Cuisine Good Food Awards, receiving ‘the one to watch’ & ‘1 Hat’ accolades - the southern hem...

I cannot think of a better way to start the Conversation with a chef year than to chat to Bocuse d’Or finalist, Alex McIntosh. Originally from Canada, long-time fan of Bocuse d’Or, Alex was a finalist in the Bocuse d’Or Australia 2015, a judge for the fish dish in the Bocuse d’Or Australia 2017, and among the crowd cheering on Team Australia in Lyon in 2017. Over his career, Alex has worked at Mel...

My friend Morgan Williams is an absolute star. He does a lot. So much. An absolute ideas man and entrepreneur, and if you follow him on the socials, which you absolutely should, it is one great idea after the next. Morgan was the co-producer for many years on the wildly successful New Zealand children’s program, What Now, and also had a principal role in what I think is one of the best zombie movi...