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 late last year, it came to him. He'd make and sell the food he grew up with; the food he discovered at...
Feb 01, 2023•19 min
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 coming to Australia where he knew no one, but wanted to go to William Angliss, it feels as though Nabil h...
Jan 17, 2023•35 min
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 hemisphere equivalent of 1 Michelin star. Committed to influencing ethical food decisions w...
Jan 16, 2023•1 hr 14 min
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 Melbourne icon Cecconi’s, with Neil Perry at Rockpool Bar & Grill, with Jamie Oliver at Fifteen Mel...
Jan 12, 2023•21 min
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 movies to come out of Otautahi Christchurch, Last of the Living. He is currently studying Nursing, as we...
Dec 18, 2022•21 min
Inspired by his father’s cooking and baking and by the food his grandmother made, Diego Cossio started his journey to become a chef in South Africa where his family had moved from Peru, and made sure he did part of his internship at the top restaurant in Johannesburg. Throughout his career, ambition and a drive to be better and better has propelled him from one elevated dining venue to another both overseas and in Australia and he is now at The Dining Room at Lancemore Lindenderry Red Hill on th...
Dec 13, 2022•24 min
Srishti Godbole is the third contestant I have spoken to from the recent Pacific Region San Pellegrino Young Chef Competition, and I was excited to hear about her dish and to hear more about her journey as a chef. Srishti grew up in Mumbai and credits her Great Grandmother and her mother for her love, and in fact awe and wonder for food and cooking, having a particular moment of epiphany as she watched her mother bake a souffle. From there, she has pursued excellence, embarking on cooking degree...
Dec 07, 2022•19 min
What an absolute delight to have my 300th Conversation with a chef with Salvatore Giorgio at La Vetta at Marnong Estate. I have been wanting to chat to Salvatore for a while now, ever since I met him at Bar Bambi in the city and this conversation was even better than I had hoped. Salvatore is a passionate chef who has been cooking since he was 11 years old. He grew up in a family of chefs with his father a pizza maker in Naples, a mother who prepared three to four courses every night for dinner ...
Dec 03, 2022•24 min
Josh Niland described the dish Robin Wagner presented at the S. Pellegrino Young Chef competition as, “the best dish” he had tasted this year. Another judge wanted to lick the plate clean. The dish was simply called “Smoked Celeriac with Granny Smith Apple and Crispy Taro,” and it won him the Regional Finalist title. And when they say regional, they mean the Pacific region. Next year Robin will fly to Milan to join the finalists from other regions around the world competing for the overall award...
Nov 30, 2022•27 min
Jackson Mehlhopt is head chef at Christchurch’s Tussock Hill Cellar Door and Winery and this year he was a regional finalist in the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition. The Competition is a global annual event to support young chefs and their personal vision for the world of food, demonstrating how food can have a positive impact on society at large. Ten chefs under 30 each cooked one dish for the Pacific region competition. Jackson’s dish, “The Southern Kiwi Deer and Its Surroundings,” ...
Nov 29, 2022•22 min
Joel Alderdice grew up in Badger Creek in the Yarra Ranges and completed his apprenticeship at TarraWarra Estate under chef Robin Sutcliffe. Having completed his training and won Best Apprenticeship of the Year, Robin encouraged him to broaden his horizons and move to the city to check out some other venues. He certainly did that, working with friend of the podcast and legend chef, Nicky Riemer at Union Dining, sous cheffing at Ebenezer Restaurant and The Healesville Hotel before taking on the r...
Nov 25, 2022•21 min
Scott is mates with two of my favourite chefs, Scott Pickett and Dan Hunter. Scott told me that he has always loved eating and cooking and once he had decided to pursue cooking as a career and was accepted as an apprentice, he felt super excited and as though everything was going the way it should go. He has never looked back. Scott has worked in different parts of Australia and the world and has been at Magill Estate since 2014. This year he took on the role of Director as well as chef of the A...
Nov 19, 2022•25 min
Bossa Nova is a colourful café in Carlton where owners Gabriel and Gabriela Gebaile are serving up food that will remind people of the food back home in Brazil or introduce people to Brazilian flavours if they haven’t tried them before. I wrote about them for Broadsheet when Bossa Nova first opened, and I was happy to hear from Gabriel again telling me about his Friday and Saturday steak nights. I of course talk the opportunity to ask to talk to his chefs, Thays and Suzan. And I am so glad I did...
Nov 10, 2022•40 min
Luke Farrell loves being a baker. I find it intoxicating to talk to people who are so passionate about what they do. Luke is the Product Development and Bakery Support Manager at Bakers Delight. My favourite bread ever (apart from a baguette bought from a boulangerie IN France) is the Cape seed loaf from Bakers Delight. It actually is. So I was thrilled to get to talk to the guy behind the new version of this, the prebiotic Cape seed loaf. It’s delicious AND good for me. I love that. Luke said a...
Oct 28, 2022•15 min
I was lucky enough to be invited to Luci a few weeks ago for a five-course degustation showcasing new head chef Jason Lear’s spring menu. Jason is all about seasonality and not mucking around too much with the produce. Highlights of the night for me were the oysters with fennel mignonette, the tortellini with roast duck and cured pork cheek and the grilled lamb fillet which I loved was served with rhubarb, silverbeet, macadamia and date jus but also came with this little mouthful of crispy lamb ...
Oct 24, 2022•31 min
I have just had the loveliest time at Cambodia's Kitchen in the CBD. I went in to have a chat to brother and sister team, Ivanra and Linna about how things have been going since they opened in May and why they saw a need for Cambodian food in the city. Ivanra told me that he reckons the noodle soup Linna makes is in the top five noodle soups in Melbourne and he says he should know, because he loves eating. He is also a co-owner of a couple of the Shujinko Ramen shops, so Iam pretty sure he knows...
Oct 21, 2022•18 min
Barry drove in to the city from his home on the Mornington Peninsula to talk to me and we sat outside in the sun at Frankie Says in Abbotsford. Talking to Barry was such a good time. He pretty much started talking as soon as he arrived and at some point I thought to push record. Barry has been a chef for a number of years and speaks highly of the chefs he has worked with along the way, especially his mentor and colleague, Philippe Mouchel. Barry is perhaps best known for the long stint he did at...
Oct 11, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Ronnie's is a casual eatery in the Intercontinental on Collins Street and it is ALL about the fun there. Owner Matthew Butcher has worked alongside the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Shannon Bennett. Matthew grew up watching his dad Ronnie cook in the family takeaway shop and because of that experience loves to bring people together over a good meal and a few beers. Apparently, Matthew also hasa penchant for all things American and wants diners to come into Ronnie's and feel as though they are actua...
Oct 07, 2022•38 min
Oko recently opened in Fitzroy in the heritage listed building that was Hell of the North for a few years. Headed by mother and son team, Luciana and Sebastian Pasinetti, with head chef Kim Maree Moore, Oko is a celebration of all the best things you might imagine about Mediterranean dining and the team draw on their experience, heritage and the passion they have for food and hospitality. The other great thing about Oko is the importance Sebastian, Luciana and Kim place on staff wellbeing and me...
Sep 29, 2022•44 min
Originally from Delhi, Vaishali recently graduated from Le Cordon Bleu with an Advance Diploma in Hospitality Management. She has a particular interest in patisserie and when she used to work as an auditor, she would bake to relax. What started as a hobby became a dream to own and make pastries and cakes for her own café and she decided to come to Melbourne to make that happen. We met at Nikos Café in Oakleigh on a Friday afternoon and the ambiance was at a premium. I loved it. I think people we...
Sep 10, 2022•20 min
Dan Briggs is the loveliest guy, a gentle giant with two great passions; his family (including a brand new and super cute puppy he got for Father’s Day) and his job as Executive chef at Chin Chin. Dan has been part of the Chin Chin family for his whole career, which says a lot about the kind of environment the Lucas Group creates, and also about Dan’s loyalty. I went in to Chin Chin on Flinder’s Lane on a Wednesday afternoon and it was pumping. I think it is always pumping. We talked about the p...
Aug 31, 2022•17 min
Eleven years ago, Tim McDonald and his business partner, Dave Youl, saw a gap in the market and opened Fonda, the bright, happy home of Mexican street food in Melbourne. From the flagship venue in Swan Street, the business has grown to nine venues across Melbourne and now also, Sydney, but the pair ensure that the original concept of the Mexican fonda, a welcoming home that serves food to the community, remains at the heart of all they do. Tim and I talked authenticity when it comes to street fo...
Aug 31, 2022•19 min
Apoorva Kunte is the Executive Chef at The Westin Melbourne. Apoorva loves food and knew from an early age that he wanted to be a chef. He worked in hotels in India and the Middle East before coming to Sydney and now, luckily for us, he is here in Melbourne. Wherever he goes, he likes to discover and then showcase regional local produce. So it is no surprise that he has an extensive knowledge of the world’s finest delicacies and that he and his team have distilled this for us in The Westin’s Hig...
Aug 21, 2022•25 min
Soon Lim is originally from Kuching, on the Borneo island of East Malaysia, but went to Christchurch, New Zealand at 15 years old to study at high school and then on to Canterbury University. After giving Civil Engineering a red hot go for two years, enter a plot twist and explanations to his parents because he had actually always wanted to be a chef. Fast forward to now and Soon is head chef at Vaporetto in Hawthorn. I have a special place in my heart for Vaporetto because I have spoken to chef...
Aug 03, 2022•22 min
I went over to Yarraville to chat to Ollie on a sunny Saturday morning. I arrived near the end of his 9.00 – 10.30am bakery pop-up and the queue did not get any smaller until just after 10.30am. I had seen a video of Ollie talking about this patisserie, Motte, at the Bastille Day French festival in July. He spoke with such passion about following in his father’s and grandfather’s baker footsteps and it filled me with such joy that I knew absolutely wanted to talk to him. We pretty much just laun...
Jul 30, 2022•23 min
I was lucky enough to chat to Gareth and his partner Catherine for Broadsheet right before their Cremorne shop opened for dine-in customers. I probably picked the worst time to hit up Gareth for my own chef chat, given they have only just opened a second shop in Collingwood and they have a baby due any second. Gareth was just finishing up something when I arrived so he set me up with a delicious savoury tart; maple glazed bacon in a leek and almond base, topped with Swiss Gruyère custard. Far be...
Jul 29, 2022•34 min
I'm a big fan of La Madonna in the Next Hotel on Little Collins Street. I love the glorious golden chandelier hanging in the spiral stairwell. I love the dining room that manages to feel cosy and enveloping despite its size and I love the story behind the name. When Danny Natoli first walked into the space while it was being built, he was so impressed by the scale of the room and the possibilities of it that he let out a "La Madonna!" and the name stuck. I spoke to Danny and Adrian for Broadshee...
Jul 23, 2022•37 min
Today I’m chatting to Neil Rocke at The Commons Collective in Ormond Hall, a beautiful art deco complex with various venues like the Moubray Bar, Rose Garden, Conservatory, Chapel and more. I actually felt as though I had stepped back in time in the hall which has the most beautiful wooden panelling and paintings of the hunt and an intriguing collection of old leather boxing gloves plus Christmas wreaths and stars and fairy lights, so a ye olde English pub at Christmas time. I wanted to be in th...
Jul 08, 2022•29 min
When I spoke to Michael Smith for a Broadsheet article about Hubert Estate in the Yarra Valley, I knew I needed to hear more. Michael has worked at a number of excellent places over the years, including Jacques Reymond, Tonka, Mamsita, and the way he talks about the food he is putting up at Quarters at Hubert Estate is wonderful. I haven't had a chat to a chef in a while and the thing I love about these conversations is that they really are conversations and I am genuinely fascinated about how t...
Jul 06, 2022•42 min
Khristina Mulyono didn’t always want to be a chef but when she moved to Melbourne from Indonesia, studying was a way in. She already had a degree in English Literature and a teaching career under her belt so she thought, why not try something else, and embarked on a career as a pastry chef. From talking to Khristina, I get the feeling that she would be incredible at anything she turned her hand to, but luckily for the Melbourne dining public, it is desserts and cakes, and we get to reap the deli...
Jun 06, 2022•19 min
