Scott Lord was born in Dunedin in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and knew from a young age that he wanted to pursue hospitality as a career. After a few years of working under various chefs, he joined the multi-award-winning restaurant Pier 24 as Chef de Partie, working alongside Michael Coughlin at the St Clair eatery. When Scott and his wife moved to Melbourne in 2015, he secured the role of chef de partie at Cumulus Inc. before joining Commune Group’s modern Japanese restaurant Tokyo Tina as head che...
Jul 06, 2023•21 min
What an absolute treat to talk to Tom Sarafian. Often described as the unofficial king of hummus, the best hummus maker in Australia, hummus expert, Tom certainly has a passion for hummus and he has put a lot of time and thought into perfecting his product. At one point in the conversation, he waxed lyrical about each of the ingredients and I loved it! At another point in the chat, we went on a Lebanese pine nut tangent and it was the absolute best. Obviously Tom isn’t just the hummus king, he h...
Jul 04, 2023•31 min
Everyone calls Chanon Boriharnvanakhet Chachi, so I am just going along with that too. Chachi is head chef at Tonka, having taken over the reins three and a half months ago. It’s his first head chef role, having never really set out to climb the ranks, and so he is feeling his way carefully, talking to staff, feeling the room and making the role his own. Chachi is a thoughtful chef; thoughtful about the Australian ingredients he wants to bring in to dishes and thoughtful about the way he works w...
Jul 01, 2023•30 min
I met Hendri Budiman when I was writing an article for Broadsheet about the new direction of Coda and Tonka now that co-owner and executive chef, Adam D’Sylva has moved on. I really loved the way he talked about food as well as all the different restaurant experiences he has had and the fact that ultimately he keeps coming back to Coda. Coda will always be one of my favourite Melbourne restaurants because it was the first restaurant I went to when I moved here in 2011. I went in by myself and wa...
Jun 30, 2023•33 min
Anthony Thalassinos is the head chef of George Calombaris’ new restaurant, The Hellenic House Project in Highett, a bayside suburb about 35 minutes from Melbourne’s CBD. I think you would have to have been under a rock if you didn’t know that George Calombaris had opened a new restaurant and I, like many was following the lead up and opening as well as the star-studded diners, such as Nigella Lawson and Gordon Ramsay who have been sharing their love of this new venue on social media. What I love...
Jun 26, 2023•32 min
Georgios Smyrnios got in touch with me to ask whether I’d like to have a chat about what he was doing at Raph’s Deli in Abbotsford ,and I am so glad I did. I live in Abbotsford, but the opposite side and unbelievably this cute little deli and sandwich shop had escaped my notice. In April Urban List rated Raph’s Deli’s sandwiches as some of the best in Melbourne and that is saying a lot for a city obsessed with sangas. George came to Melbourne from Greece 11 years ago and has worked extremely har...
Jun 16, 2023•31 min
McKay Wilday is a fascinating guy. He gives off a calm, unflappable and very assured vibe and he comes out with the most unexpected things. I knew I was going to enjoy talking more to him, having spoken briefly to him when I was writing about Alta Trattoria, the restaurant he owns with Carlo Grossi, James Tait and Luke Drum for Broadsheet. I knew he was Grossi alumnus and I knew he had worked at Geranium in Copenhagen (one of last year’s top 50 restaurants). I did not know, and how would I, that...
Jun 14, 2023•30 min
I was excited to speak to Brad Cunningham at Waygood for a number of reasons. He is an ex-pat chef from Aotearoa New Zealand and he has worked in numerous places around the world, including my home town of Otautahi, Christchurch, as well as in Paris and London. I particularly loved that in his LinkedIn profile, Brad says he has lived and worked in some of the world’s greatest cities and he lists those as London, Paris, Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Melbourne. Anyone who includes...
Jun 10, 2023•34 min
For me, eating seafood while looking out to sea is what it’s all about and so Audrey’s at the iconic Continental in Sorrento is my dream come true. The dining room is divine. Art Deco curves, coastal pallet, sunshine streaming in and a view of the sea. Plus Audrey’s is part of Scott Pickett’s repertoire of incredible restaurants and I am a long-time fan of Scott and his restaurants. While I have not yet sat down and chatted to Scott for Conversation with a Chef, I have spoken to a lot of his hea...
Jun 07, 2023•37 min
Japan-born Soichi Kawabata brings 26 years of traditional and hyper-focused knife-wielding skills to South Yarra's Yakikami in its Wagyu Omakase offering. Growing up in Fukuako – a coastal city known for its seafood culture, Soichi spent his younger years on fishing trips with his father. Here, the pair would catch different types of fish and bring them back to the family to share, and create something special. To respect and identify quality produce was something he was taught on these trips, i...
Jun 07, 2023•26 min
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 Josper grill and is passionate about flavour and bringing people together over food. If you haven’t chec...
Jun 03, 2023•23 min
#172 Andrew Ballard | Simmer Culinary by Jo Rittey
May 17, 2023•46 min
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 centre stage. Plus, you are in the hands of an incredible team led by Jordan Clay and Tom Hunter who a...
May 14, 2023•32 min
#170 Christian Graebner | Dolly at Le Meridien by Jo Rittey
May 10, 2023•21 min
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 the space in Carlton. Aseem and Kunal did all the renovations themselves over five months, using as mu...
May 09, 2023•32 min
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 are each made with a different dough, a different oven, and different care. The bases are meticulous...
May 04, 2023•45 min
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 colleagues at the Burnt Chef Project want to address. You can hear Alan in person when he speaks on ...
Apr 25, 2023•40 min
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 ingredients and traditional and modern techniques to create contemporary, creative dishes that tell a ...
Apr 23, 2023•28 min
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. They know him as a chef with an international reputation as a cookery author, a television presenter a...
Apr 18, 2023•32 min
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 countries in five-star hotels, resorts and on luxury yachts. This glamourous world has by no means gone...
Apr 17, 2023•34 min
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 gained from growing up and working in pizza restaurants in Catania and Milan before coming to Melbourne....
Apr 11, 2023•40 min
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 ‘led by the five senses’, that’s not just a fluff statement. I doubt Stephen ever makes fluff state...
Mar 30, 2023•53 min
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 Australian Small Business Champion Awards. While he doesn’t reckon he’ll make it to the Sydney Star C...
Mar 27, 2023•39 min
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 beer garden and marquee seating, a private dining room upstairs and Cinder, which really is breathtakin...
Mar 22, 2023•34 min
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-changing scenes ensue. Jump forward 14 years and fresh from a role as sous chef at Supernormal, Lewis is n...
Mar 21, 2023•25 min
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 certainly thoughtful; from his early days in Canberra to working in one of Gordon Ramsay’s venues in London,...
Mar 16, 2023•26 min
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 style into delicious, fun food that reflects her life, her adventures and her thirst for knowledge. I...
Mar 10, 2023•19 min
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 this latest role sending him on another learning curve within Mexican cuisine. I had come in to Pink Al...
Mar 09, 2023•40 min
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 with Renee, hearing her story with such an incredible backdrop. I think it says a lot about a chef and...
Mar 02, 2023•27 min
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 firmly on my list of places to visit, the three-hour twenty-minute drive was a bit far at this point, ...
Feb 07, 2023•31 min
