Mark LaBrooy

Mark LaBrooy has been cooking since he was 18. After completing his apprenticeship at Sydney's Tetsuya's is, he spent the next seven years travelling, including two years as sous chef at Josef, a fine dining restaurant in Zurich. It was during what was supposed to be a brief visit back to Sydney that Mark and two of his mates started discussing the idea of a cafe. On a whim, they went to look at a rundown local chicken shop that had just come up for lease. Today, three blue ducks in beachside Bronte is a Sydney institution, evoking a sense of good, honest food and a strong community spirit. The cafe was awarded best breakfast in Sydney by the Sydney morning Herald good food guide within its first year of opening. In 2015 the ducks launched a second restaurant at the farm in Byron Bay. Here they are taking their best back-to-basics approach to new heights, sourcing seasonal produce and meat from The Farm and other local suppliers, and making their own sauerkraut, kombucha, bone broths, flavoured oils, relishes and sources.