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Growing up in Kuala Lumpur, Cheong Liew’s life was filled with the aromas and spices of Malay, Indian and Chinese cooking. At the heart of his love of food were the days spent in his grandmother’s kitchen. When he arrived in Australia in 1969, he supported himself working in Melbourne in pubs and railway cafes and ended up cooking for most of his housemates. He then moved to Adelaide, in the early 70’s, to be near his brother and found himself working as a grill cook, from here he was headhunted by a Greek restaurant, where he swiftly mastered Greek cooking. It was during this time that Cheong bought an Elizabeth David cookbook and began to teach himself French cooking, which led in turn to a job in a French restaurant. He had no formal training, but his enthusiasm, his desire to experiment and his uncanny ability to blend cuisines with his Malaysian heritage made every chef, and every diner around him sit up and take notice.
In 1975, “Neddy’s” opened, a wine bar and restaurant that would for the first two years have the freshest smartest chalkboard menu in Adelaide. On the Queen's birthday in 1999, he was bestowed the Medal of the Order of Australia "for service to the food and restaurant industry through involvement in developing and influencing the style of contemporary Australian cuisine." His exquisite Edible Harmony menu brings together the world’s cuisines in a transcendental union that is surprising, artistic, heartfelt and wholesome. US Food and Wine named him in the top 10 “hottest chefs alive”.
Read Cheong Liew's Bio
Christine Manfield is a highly regarded Australian chef, author, food writer, food manufacturer, presenter, teacher and gastronomic traveller whose culinary work draws on the exciting tastes and flavours of many cultures, whose passion and skills are world renowned.
One of Australia’s first internationally celebrated chefs, A perfectionist inspired by strong flavours, Christine is a creative spirit whose generosity and skills have inspired young chefs, and a writer whose books have spiced up the lives of keen cooks from Melbourne to Manhattan. In 1993 Christine and her partner Margie Harris founded the legendary Paramount, a restaurant that would garner stellar reviews and set a new benchmark for Australian food.
Not content with conquering her home country, Christine relocated to London in October 2003 to open East @ West in Covent Garden to instant critical acclaim. It was awarded Best New Restaurant by the 2004 London Tatler Restaurant Guide plus the Catey's Award for Best UK Menu 2004. In 2005 when the property was sold by the owners, Christine returned to Sydney and opened Universal Restaurant in August 2007 once again to instant critical acclaim.
(1) Most thumbed cookbook?
You have to be joking to think that any ONE book would suffice!! Fuschia Dunlop’s Revolutionary Food, David Thompson’s Thai Food, Oriol Balaguer’s Desserts for starters – there are hundreds more that I use as constant references.
(2) Last meal you cooked at home?
Last night I cooked harissa prawns with cucumber avocado salad
(3) Guilty pleasure?
Gelati
(4)Kitchen tools you can't live without?
Knife, stick blender, mortar and pestle, juice extractor
(5) Favourite ingredients?
Passionfruit, eggplant, chilli, oysters, goats cheese, chocolate, figs
For more information about Christine Manfield click here: www.christinemanfield.com
Read Christine Manfield's Bio
The day I visited Bistro Moncur there was a French ex-pat dining alone at the front table. He dines at the restaurant once a week to reminisce about Paris, and he tells me this is as good as it gets. Damien Pignolet’s food does that, it transports you to another place. Through his dedication to perfection Pignolet has earnt a reputation as one of Australia’s finest chefs.
Damien is a second generation Australian of French decent. His mother was a wonderful cook whose craft inspired him to make restaurants his career. In 1966 Damien began a four year comprehensive course in catering and hotel management at William Angliss College. His career began in catering and led to teaching and the administration of a Melbourne cooking school.
His dream was realised six years after graduating when he was appointed Executive Chef of Pavillion on the Park in 1978, then one of Sydney’s top restaurants. It was there he met Josephine Carroll, who became his wife and his inspiration, they worked alongside each other at Pavilion, The Old Bank and ultimately at their own restaurant, Claudes, from 1981.
In 1987 tragedy struck when Josephine was killed in a car accident. In her honour Pignolet set up the “Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year Award” an award designed to encourage young chefs to excel.
In 1992 Damien went into partnership with Ron White and purchased the Woollahra Hotel creating Bistro Moncur. The partnership also owns the Bellevue Hotel in nearby Paddington offering a high standard of pub food.
In 2005 Pignolet wrote and published his first cook book, French, a comprehensive guide to French cuisine. The book is dedicated to Josephine and his mum, whose cooking he fondly remembers. His tip to budding chefs and home cooks alike is to “…buy the freshest, best quality raw materials and take as much time as you can to do the job perfectly.”
Read Damien Pignolet's Bio
Chef, restaurateur, writer and now TV presenter, Karen Martini has only ever wanted to cook and she has been doing so for as long as she can remember.
For delicious tomato recipes from Karen, CLICK HERE.
Karen’s food is unmistakably that of the Mediterranean, but is also undeniably individual. She is firmly produce driven and has a passion for fresh herbs, heirloom tomatoes, fennel, garlic, virgin olive oil, sheep and goat’s milk curds and cheeses, olives, anchovies, coriander seeds, cumin, the freshest seafood and properly aged organic meat.
In the ‘90’s, Karen held head chefs positions at Haskin’s and the much lauded Kent Hotel, before cementing her reputation at The Melbourne Wine Room; in St Kilda’s iconic George Hotel. Karen was the founding chef at The Melbourne Wine Room and has garnered countless ‘Chef’s Hats’ from The Age Good Food Guide in her eight years as Executive Chef there. Karen became a partner in the business in 1997.
In 2002, Karen couldn’t resist the opportunity to take up a unique career challenge with friend and business partner, at The Melbourne Wine Room, Maurice Terzini (driving force behind such Melbourne restaurant icons as Caffé e Cucina, Il Bacaro, The Melbourne Wine Room and Sydney’s Otto), and accepted the mantle of Executive Chef at what was soon to become one of Australia’s most talked about restaurants. Positioned overlooking Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach, Icebergs Dining Room & Bar became her much loved second home for two years.
When Karen was appointed Executive Chef at Icebergs Dining Room & Bar, she retained executive control over the kitchen at The Melbourne Wine Room and still continues to closely supervise both the menu and the high standard of the food there. Testament to her ability to manage this dual role, Karen has been awarded two ‘Chef’s Hats’ for both restaurants from each city’s well-respected Good Food Guides. The Icebergs, was also awarded Best New Restaurant in The Sydney Morning Herald’s 2004 Good Food Guide.
In July, 2004 Karen opened Mr Wolf, a new ‘Martini-esque style’ pizzeria, restaurant and bar, with her long term partner (both in life and business) Michael Sapountsis in Melbourne’s St Kilda.
Over the years, Karen has cooked for many charity functions including; Chefs Unite – Feed for Seed, a fundraising dinner where total proceeds of the event went to a tsunami rebuilding project in Sri Lanka; The Mission Dinner for the Homeless; The Breast Cancer Foundation; and The Starlight Foundation Four Chefs Dinners. She was a featured chef, alongside Stephanie Alexander; at a major Slow Food Dinner in Turin, Italy in 1998, and has been a key presenter at The Melbourne Food & Wine Festival. Karen has also contributed several articles to The Weekend Australian.
Always up for a new challenge, in August 2004, Karen Martini became the food editor of Sunday Life, the Sun Herald and Sunday Age’s weekly magazine, published in both Sydney and Melbourne. In 2005 Karen was the resident chef on LifeStyle Cafe, a 13-part series on the LifeStyle Channel and she is currently in her fourth year presenting recipes to over 1 million viewers a week on Australia’s Longest running LifeStyle Show, Channel 7’s Better Homes & Gardens.
Read Karen Martini's Bio
Margaret Fulton was the first and greatest of the Australian celebrity cookery writers. As the world opened up again after World War Two and a wider range of foodstuffs began to arrive in the shops, it was Margaret Fulton, through her magazine columns and later her cookbooks, who showed the nation how to cook in new and exciting ways. It was largely through her inspiration and example that younger Australians realised the pleasurable and creative possibilities of fine dining. Our national cuisine was transformed.
For Margaret Fulton, the great pleasure of cookery writing was to bring good food into ordinary homes. She was never interested in writing for an elite. Instead she concentrated on 'bringing magic' into everyday living through better everyday eating.
A passionate traveller, she is credited with being one of the first people to bring international cuisine to the Australian table. Both in her career and personal life, Fulton has sought out the 'good life'.
In 1983 she was awarded an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia) in the Queen's Birthday Honours. In 2006 Margaret was identified as an Australian Living National Treasure by the National Trust of Australia and nominated amongst the Bulletin's 100 most influential Australians.
Read Margaret Fulton's Bio
Neil Perry is one of Australia’s leading and most influential chefs and is founder of the successful “Rockpool” Empire. Neil’s career in hospitality began at Sails restaurant at McMahons Point and in Rose Bay, starting at front house – Neil’s love of great food saw him quickly move backstage. By the time he was 24, he found himself gravitating towards the kitchen and realised his passion for cooking by working with, and learning from over the ensuing years, chefs such as Damien Pignolet, Gay Bilson, Stephanie Alexander, Steve Manfredi and David Thompson
In October 1986, he opened the Blue Water Grill at Bondi Beach and took the site from a 20 year failure to an overnight success.
Neil opened Rockpool in February 1989 with his partner Trish Richards, which has developed into a world class restaurant, winning many awards both here and overseas. In October 2006, Neil made his first foray interstate, opening Rockpool Bar and Grill in the Crown Complex in Melbourne.
In early 2009, Neil opened Spice Temple in Sydney, followed shortly after by Rockpool Bar & Grill Sydney. Neil’s passion and the importance he places on quality produce is evident in all his dishes and the business projects he undertakes. Rockpool is a past recipient of The Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food Guide Restaurant of the Year award, Australian Gourmet Traveller Restaurant of the Year and was voted in the top 50 restaurants in the world by ‘UK magazine ‘Restaurant’ seven years running. Additionally, Rockpool Bar & Grill Melbourne won The Age Good Food Guide’s Restaurant of the Year award in 2008.
Neil is also the host of five series of The LifeStyle Channel’s multi-award-winning food program, Food Source – Neil Perry (which the BBC acquired for broadcast on BBC2); the 14-part series Neil Perry Fresh & Fast where he makes sensational meals in minutes; and Neil Perry Rockpool Sessions, a seven-part series that goes behind the scenes to discover what it takes to run one of the world’s best restaurants.
In February 2009, Rockpool Restaurant celebrated its 20th anniversary in The Rocks, Sydney. Over the years, it has consistently been highly recommended by food critics throughout Australia and the world. Rockpool's reputation is due to Neil’s passion for perfection, which has enabled it to train the very best staff and source the very best suppliers, who also strive for the utmost of quality in the products they supply.
Neil Perry’s commitment to freshness and quality of Australian produce, has been at the forefront in creating a distinguished style recognised worldwide. He has prepared food for Whoopi Goldberg at the Oscar Awards in Los Angeles, for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan, for Collette Dinnigan at the Paris fashion awards and for the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Hampshire, to name but a few overseas highlights.
Neil has two daughters and lives with his wife Samantha in Sydney. He is passionate about food and wine, travel and recipe books, and continually strives for excellence of quality in everything he does.
For more information about Neil Perry click here: http://www.neilperryfresh.com
Read Neil Perry's Bio
Every night at Vue de monde a theatre of culinary delights unfolds in the kitchen. Diners sip their champagne and crane their necks to see into this gourmet gallery, because it’s here that Shannon Bennett performs his magic. His customers trust his skill completely – there’s no menu, only a degustation of between four and 14 courses, and the only guarantee is that each exquisite course will astonish and intrigue, and leave diners knowing that they’ve experienced Melbourne’s very best.
It’s no surprise that Bennett has trained under some of the world’s finest. The classical French sensibilities that underpin his cooking were gleaned from the likes of Albert Roux and Marco Pierre White during his time in Europe. His last five years have been spent in Australia making Vue de monde into something remarkable, an elegant space where he can take classic French cuisine and recreate it into something modern, witty and incredibly extravagant. Bennett’s philosophy is to create food that would be close to impossible to cook at home. Gourmet Traveller named him Best New Talent in 2004 – since then, it’s been awards and three chef’s hats every year. Bennett’s book My Vue reflects on the lessons he learned in Europe and guides the reader through the dishes that have made him one of Australia’s most acclaimed young chefs.
Vue de monde was awarded Restaurant of the Year, three hats and an unprecedented 19/20 in the Age Good Food Guide 2007. Vue de monde was awarded Restaurant of the Year by Australian Gourmet Traveller for 2006 and again in 2007. Recently, Vue de monde has maintained its position securing three hats in the Age Good Food Guide, three stars for the Australian Gourmet Traveller awards and Restaurant of the Year and Best Fine dining for Restaurant and Catering Victoria.
Having firmly established Vue de monde, Café Vue and Bistro Vue followed in 2006 offering additional dining options at the same city location. In 2008, whilst still firmly at the helm of his three venues in Melbourne, Shannon’s sights were drawn to international markets with an exciting project in Oman coming to fruition. Vue by Shannon Bennett opened at Al Bustan Palace Intercontinental Hotel in Muscat, Oman in November 2008. 2009 has seen the opening of a second Café Vue at 401 St Kilda Rd and the securing of the tender to operate the Café and Events at the iconic Heide Museum of Modern Art (due to open November 2009).
Read Shannon Bennett's Bio
Stephanie Alexander has worked as a chef and as a food writer for over 35 years.
She studied at the University of Melbourne and trained as a librarian at Melbourne State College. Before launching a career in food she worked for 10 years in a variety of educational environments including the BBC TV library, London, and several school libraries in Australia.
Stephanie ran the acclaimed Stephanie’s Restaurant for twenty-one years before closing on New Year’s Eve in 1997. The restaurant was the recipient of many national and international awards and accolades, and was regarded as an essential Melbourne experience (1976-1997).
She conceived the ground-breaking café, fine cheese and foodstore Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder and was a founding partner for eight years (1996-2004). During this time Stephanie also came up with the idea for the first Harvest Picnic (Werribee, Victoria, 1988) and was on the organising committee until 1991. The Harvest Picnic was the definitive annual food event and is now an integral part of the Melbourne International Food and Wine Festival.
Through her writing and her teaching, Stephanie continues to be an outspoken champion of the quality of Australian produce and the importance of good food in our lives. She was awarded an Order of Australia in 1994 for her services to the hospitality industry and to tourism, and for encouraging young apprentices.
She established the not-for-profit ‘Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation’ in 2004 to assist the expansion of the work commenced at Collingwood College in 2001. The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation (SAKGF) is dedicated to introducing a structured program of pleasurable food education into selected Australian primary schools. It has been assisted greatly by grants from the Victorian State Government, and by the Australian Government. (For further information see www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au/)
Read Stephanie Alexander's Bio
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