Deep in the Weeds - A Food Podcast with Anthony Huckstep

Just before COVID-19 hit, Willa Arantz (Racine, Orange) and her husband Shaun had over 40 staff, a flat out bakery, busy restaurant, two weddings a week and sometimes up to 4 functions a week too. The next week, everything came to a stand still. But being forced to close made her re-evaluate what they were doing, and why they’re in hospitality, cut out what wasn’t working and get back a work life...

After starting a restaurant just a few months before the pandemic landed Shaun Christie-David (Colombo Social, PlateitForward) quickly realised how many people in his community needed support. It become a huge turning point and he started a movement called PlateitForward - a meal donation program of 1,000 meals per week to vulnerable community members, a training school for people from vulnerable...

After years in an absorbing role running three huge venues Tom Walton (Dolphin hotel, Bondi Beach Public bar, and Hotel Harrys) needed to re-energise creatively, emotionally and physically. With time away from his busy hospitality life, he’s spent more time with family and realised that hospitality is not a career, but a lifestyle and your family are along for all the bumps in the road. The break...

After working in restaurants to earn a living while studying architecture, Ameer El-Issa (The Bearded Bakers, Knafeh Bakery), realised the energy and passion of the hospitality industry was too much to ignore. Combining his two passions he bought a shipping container, decked it out and launched a food offering based around one single offering - Knafeh, and its not only been a resounding success bu...

With a lack of domestic tourism and a heavy reliance on international tourists, Singapore’s hospitality industry had to remodel itself. With different types of licensing introduced Emmanuel Benardos (Fairmont Singapore and The Swisshotel the Stamford) had to find new opportunities for the huge food and beverage offering over multiple sites with off premise wine sales and afternoon tea booming. htt...

Leaving Sydney in early 2020 to settle into coastal life on the Tweed Coast just as the lockdown landed proved serendipitous for Australian culinary icon Christine Manfield. Having the time to settle into her new lifestyle gave her time to reflect and focus on how to move forward, to be grounded, to connect with her new community in a more meaningful way, finding what’s most important and how she...

]The bushfires during the summer of 2020 not only saw a dramatic drop in tourism to the Hunter Valley, but smoke taint ruined most of the vintage too. Then the pandemic hit, and while the initial lockdown was hard, Lisa Margan (Margan, Hunter Valley) and many in the region experienced a huge uplift in tourism to the area. She believes that while international travel off the cards that it’s the per...

After the 2020 AFL Season went into hiatus due to Covid-19, Mirinda Boaz-Cole lost her job as the Sydney Swans chef. Feeling a bit disillusioned with life in Sydney and with no employment she decided to head back to the town she grew up in, Byron, and get a closer connection to produce and enjoy a more peaceful, less chaotic lifestyle and she’s reaping the benefits already. https://www.instagram.c...

After carving out a career at some of Sydney’s best restaurants Colin Selwood (The Cottage Restaurant, Scone) was at the end of his tether and the desire to regularly breathe the country air was too strong. When an opportunity to open a restaurant of his own in a beautifully restored 1860’s cottage nestled in the main street of a country town he jumped at the chance and the move not only restored...

Fearing a serious outbreak of Covid-19 in Hong Kong Ambrose Chiang (Project Ambrose Consultancy) decided to move back to Sydney in March 2020. After just three weeks where he opened bank accounts and found an apartment he ventured back to Hong Kong for a Three-day trip to celebrate his mother's birthday the same weekend Australia went into lockdown and he became stuck in Hong Kong. With uncertaint...

When it comes to food the sophistication and celebration in simplicity means there is no place to hide. To find produce at its optimum, then let it shine on the plate without too much interference takes bravery, knowledge and years of dedication to master. As the right hand man to one of Australia’s most celebrated chefs Neil Perry, Corey Costelloe is an unsung, talented chef with an uncanny abili...

After becoming a father at a very young age Cuong Nguyen (Hello Auntie, Banh Meats + Co) fell into the industry out of the necessity of a full time job and a means to put food on the table. But after years playing his trade in some of Australia’s best restaurants, he’s now one of the leading purveyors of Vietnamese cuisine down under and is on a mission to change perceptions of it being ‘cheap eat...

To mark the 200th episode of Deep in the Weeds Australian culinary legend Mark Best shares kitchen tales from the pinnacle dining at Marque over 17 years, why degustations are off the menu, the eternal dissatisfaction of creative minds, and how hard it is to balance perfection, push the realms of gastronomy and ensure profitability in the hospitality game. An extraordinary chat with one of Austral...

At the age of 45 Will Mahusay (Sydney Cebu Lechon Native Filipino Eatery) left the corporate world and took over the Cebu Lechon family business that was started in 1991 by his father. Serving arguably the best Filipino food down under he’s undertaken a mission to bring Filipino cuisine, culture & community to the hearts and taste buds of Australians. https://linktr.ee/sydneycebulechon Follow Deep...

After working in the family Thai restaurant to get through university, Becky Khanthavongsa (Zaab Street Food) found work with a large restaurant franchise group, and, even opened her own franchise restaurant too. Buoyed by the skills she obtained from both she set about opening her very own restaurant to pay homage to Thai and Lao food, in a fun and vibrant atmosphere. When the pandemic hit the sy...

After traveling four hours a day trying to run a restaurant, award-winning chef and restaurateur Matt Dempsey started to burn out. With a yearning to be closer to family, a heritage-listed building in Port Fairy became available and he knew he could create something special closer to home. Six years later and he’s not only running two successful restaurants, but evidence that a tree change can off...

Sustainability has become one of the most pressing issues of our generation. While many in the industry are only just now looking at new ways to change, ethically sourced food and sustainability practises are nothing new to WA chef Melissa Palinkas. having grown up in a household where nose-to-tail cooking and eating where everyday practises, she has made sustainability the backbone of everything...

After opening a successful restaurant in Liverpool, England during 2019 Anthony Power (The Fitzroy Feast) returned home to Melbourne in early March 2020 to host a series of pop-up dinners and see family. Then the lockdown hit and he not only got stuck in Australia, but as lock down after lock down hit the UK he had to let go of and walk away from his restaurant and life in the UK. He decided to se...

After a stellar career running some of Australia’s best restaurants Naomi Lowry (Banksia Hotel) discovered she had breast cancer. While dealing with the trauma and sickness of chemotherapy, the industry rallied around her and guided her towards the light on the other side of the tunnel. As she got back on her feet she scored a job as food producer on TV show Plate of Origin, and it’s lead to a new...

With the pandemic sending most of Europe into lockdown Isobel Little (LP’s Quality Meats) set her sights on heading back home to Australia to be closer to family and to take up an opportunity at one of Sydney’s best restaurants. But with flight after flight cancelled it took 6 months to finally make it back home. She’s not only realized the importance of family, and how lucky it is to live in Aust...

After building a successful restaurant group, with four very different restaurants, Nick Hildebrandt (The Bentley Restaurant Group) took the opportunity to move award winning wine bar Monopole to the city and launch Ria Pizza and Wine - a local pizza bar in the small Potts Point site. After one of the toughest years on record, he’s discovered that ‘relevance’, no matter what level your offering, i...

After learning the art of Japanese cookery from his father, Chase Kojima (Sokyo, Kiyomi, Chuuka) had an opportunity to open a Japanese restaurant in Australia. He knew nothing about Australia and knew no one down under, but he jumped on a plane and got swept of his feet by not only in our food landscape, but the culture too. After almost a decade he’s become one of our most influential proponents...

For many that grow up on the land, it’s hard to let go of the deep connection with the land and the great outdoors. After working as a builder and personal trainer Frank and Anne Marie Vigilante (Talucca Park) found themselves heading to their south coast farm every weekend to escape the big smoke. Two days turned to 3, then 4 until finally they bit the bullet and made a tree change to become full...

Last time we caught up with Lauren Murdoch (Bullo River Station) she had left Sydney, spent time in quarantine and was starting to work as a chef on a cattle station in the Northern Territory. Well, she’s still working there, but currently stuck in WA in a lockdown on Voyager Estate. In one of the funniest Quick Bites, she shares tales of milking bulls, confrontations with buffalos and breaking do...

After carving out a career at a landmark restaurant in Bondi Andy Davies (Chef Andy Davies) yearned for a quieter life and moved to Noosa to join a quality restaurant group and embed himself in the local community. After the pandemic hit he turned his hand to cooking extravagant dinners for people at home and its set him off on a new path that has not only re-invigorated his passion a for cooking,...