Born: Melbourne, VIC
History: All started at the
Burleigh Heads Hotel Gold Coast and then the Surfers Paradise Tavern, Heron
Island Resort, Hotel le Derion France,
El Questro, Lizard
Island and now Tannin at
Corinna Wilderness Experience as General Manager and Chef. Still learning every
day.
Have you
always wanted to be a Chef?
No but I have been involved in Hotel management where I learnt pretty quickly
that a good, well run kitchen is one of the biggest strength any hotel has, if
not run correctly it quickly becomes the weakest link. It also becomes clear
pretty quickly that if you don’t understand what’s being used in a kitchen, why
and what it costs, you won’t have a hotel to run for very long. The old saying,
“if you can’t beat them, join them,” also played a major role, (I had also
become sick of chefs with bad attitudes and habits trying to dictate terms).
How
would you define your style?
Casual, simple food cooked with love.
Obsessive
compulsive about?
Cleanliness, presentation, kitchen team members attitudes and most importantly
customer satisfaction, whether it is a bowl of fries late at night or some
pancakes at 6 o’clock in the morning.
Your
greatest culinary inspirations?
All my customers and Mum’s ability to create something amazing out of nothing.
Most 'eyebrow
raising’ menu item?
A Sri Lanka
inspired garlic prawn stack. Can’t get any better than real good, fresh,
impulsive and simple cart food.
Signature
dish:
Every dish that’s served in a restaurant, cafe or bbq , I have been involved
with.
The mere old
saying, if you cook it, cook it with love, if you wouldn’t eat it don’t expect
others to, and your last meal could be just that, so treat it as such.