Thomas Johns

Pello owner/chef, Thomas Johns, has come a long way from his first cooking experience - baking with his mother at the tender age of six. Recently awarded two chef’s hats for the second year running in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, Johns has gone from strength to strength on Sydney’s food scene. Since moving here from London in 1993, he worked with the likes of Matthew Moran at Aria before moving on to Pello. Departing from the Italian theme of Stanley Street, Johns delights the punters with his exquisite modern European cuisine, whereas at home he prefers a simpler style of cooking: fresh fish or roast meat with vegetables.

These days Johns looks to other owner/chefs for inspiration now that he knows what it’s like to “balance food on the plate while running a business”. He counts Pier among his favourite restaurants for freshness and variety of fish and its calm water location, and Bentley Restaurant and Bar “for pushing boundaries in a way that all works together”. For chefs at home he suggests the secret ingredient is love. “Whether roasting meat, cooking fish or baking a cake, give it your full attention… Treat the ingredients correctly and everything will turn out fine.”