Matt Moran

With the best possible produce as his starting point, Matt Moran creates food with extraordinary depth of flavour – for example, tuna sashimi with cucumber, enoki mushroom and daikon dressing. In addition to such signature dishes from Aria and his previous restaurants, adapted for the home cook, his much-anticipated first book will also include recipes for some of the more relaxed dishes he might prepare for himself, his family and friends, such as a generous platter of roast lamb and char-grilled vegetables.

Sourcing the best produce at the peak of its season is vitally important to Matthew as a chef, and he values his longstanding relationships with suppliers, having done business with some of them for more than 15 years. He also maintains a strong link with the land through his father’s sheep farm near Oberon, to the west of the Blue Mountains. Matt’s love of produce is evidenced by the ‘chef’s tours’ he conducts, in which he takes small groups around suppliers’ warehouses before returning to Aria for a tour of the vast two-storey kitchen, as well as a cooking demonstration and lunch. Run only a few times a year, the tours boast a very long waiting list.