My Journey

It was my mother’s passion for cooking that inspired me to be a chef. She was taught how to cook Italian food by Mrs Timeus, the mother of her best girlfriend Luisa, in the early 1960s. Mum also attended Margaret Fulton’s cooking classes in the city during the early 1970s, and I would often accompany her as a toddler.

My career as a chef started at age 15 when I did work experience at a restaurant called the Manor House in Balmain. The chef was Jeffrey Almore. He recognised my passion for cooking and, in 1984, when I was 16, offered me the opportunity to start my apprenticeship. I didn’t hesitate; I left school and worked for the first three years at the Manor House, starting on bread and salads and washing up. At that time the Manor House was Sydney’s big night out dining experience. It opened the door for me to the restaurant industry and it has a special place in my heart as it was where I met my future wife, Kath.