Conversations
-
Dougie Thompson at Dinner at Dougie’s House
I reckon Dougie Thompson is the nicest guy in hospitality. He has been in the game for 15 years, working his way up from kitchen hand to head chef in a few venues around Melbourne before he and his wife went on a two-year adventure around the world in search of street food. When he…
-
Elisa Hill
Elisa Hill comes from regional Sao Paolo in Brazil and has worked in the kitchens of Paris and London, including two Michelin star restaurants, and a venue that cooked for the Queen and Prime Ministers. She also had her own restaurant in Sao Paulo before coming to Melbourne not long before we went into lockdown.…
-
Chris Orr at Wee Man’s Kitchen
Chris Orr is a Glaswegian chef with an infectious lust for life and passion for hospitality. Widely travelled and having worked in many different kitchens with a range of cuisines, Chris has lots of great stories and ever-evolving ideas for food. He now has his own kitchen, Wee Mans Kitchen, which runs out of the…
-
Michael Craig at Red Sparrow Pizza
I always love stories about chefs from other countries who have heard about Melbourne and are drawn to its reputation for diversity and excellence in food. I like it even more when they get here, love it, stay and become part of the Melbourne community. Thats what Michael Craig and his partner Shelley Scott did…
-
Meni Valle
Meni Valle is an Australian-Greek food educator, cookbook author and glorious cook. While she has always been an advocate for Mediterranean food and its benefits, in her latest cookbook, Ikaria, she not only extols the food, but also the way people are eating that food and living together. As the title might suggest, this book…
-
Raph Rashid at Beatbox Kitchen
Raph Rashid is the tonic Melbourne needs right now with his weekly instalments of favourite homecooked meals from his childhood in Raph’s Mean Cuisine on IGTV and YouTube. He cooks up a storm in his Brunswick home kitchen and every week invites a friend along for the ride. It’s uplifting and wholesome and you can’t help but…
-
Iain Alexander at Hazel Private Dining
I’ve never actually met Iain Alexander in person. He reached out on Instagram just to say that he had been inspired by the chats on Conversation with a chef. At the time he was living in Melbourne and working for Scott Pickett, which is always going to go in someone’s favour, as far as I’m…
-
Matthew Bentley at Hotel Lindrum
I had planned to speak to Matt Bentley in March. Then we went into lockdown. Over the isolation period, photos of the incredible food he was making at home would pop up on Instagram and his love for cooking and exploring new food ideas jumps out of the shots. I knew this already from all…
-
Rotem Papo at Golda
I first spoke to Rotem Papo three years ago when he was head chef at L’Hotel Gitan. Since then he has been head chef at Bar Lourinha and now he is at Golda which he co-owns with Adam Faigen of Gramercy Social fame. As on the previous occasion, Rotem showed his absolute love of hospitality…
-
Charlie Cheng at Shinbashi Yakiniku
Charlie Cheng…great name…owns Shinbashi Yakiniku in Brisbane and in Melbourne. I went in to the Lygon Street venue back in November 2018 when the restaurant reopened and I wrote about it for Broadsheet. It had actually opened a year prior but due to damage from a fire in a neighbouring restaurant had to be closed…