Michael Hughes

“I love eating cake, so I thought if I got a job making them, I would be able to eat them all the time.” If only we all had this kind of clarity in our careers. Pastry chef Michael Hughes had been in the business for 25 years, and worked at some very high-end hotels like the Sydney Hilton (where he learned a lot and ate very well), before opening his first solo venture 16 months ago. Sensing a lack of good cake shops in the area, he decided to move away from the French patisserie model and instead open a good old fashioned Aussie cake shop – minus the lamingtons, that is.

It is named for his two grandmothers, both excellent cooks with a weakness for sweets, and who encouraged him to turn his love for food into a career. It was inspired advice, although I doubt either Edith or Rose envisioned the 15 hour days involved in this labour of love. When Michael does manage to get out of the kitchen, he likes to eat at Red Lantern in Surry Hills, Oceanic Thai in Clovelly, or Di Stasio in Melbourne. For his last meal he would have Wagyu beef and Caesar salad (San Francisco Grill style) with a good red wine. Dessert (obviously the most important part of the meal) would be a perfect vigato praline tart.