Chef Talk: Paul Rifkin leads our future leaders
Advice? There’s always something that’s going to happen – that’s not right, every day, but you have to make sure that you know why you’re in it, and you have to know where you’re going with it.
Chef Talk: We go Straight To The Source with Tawnya Bahr
“Collaboration underpins it all. Life is relationship based, the soul of any business”
Chef Talk: Nick Filsell, unapologetically himself.
“In this industry, 30% is really hard and 70% is fun, and the crazy thing is we spend more time kicking ourselves up the arse about the 30% than enjoying the 70%. Isn’t that nuts?”
Chef Talk: Sam Burke, meet the meat man. There’s so much more.
“Hospitality is very pressured, with hard long hours, and it’s important that you have some sort of hobby or interest outside of your work that burns that stress, gives you an outlet and releases the pressure so you live to cook another day.”
Chef Talk: Rhadia Hursey – culinary school and making a difference
“Probably by next year I’ll be phasing out of the private chef market and into the health and wellness in the corporate world. Funny how life pushes you into a direction, and then you suddenly go, “Oh yeah! Something from 8 years ago set me up on this path!”
Chef talk: Jeff Lewis, chef trainer
Mis en place? Means so much more to Jeff than the preparation in the kitchen. It starts inside the head, and oscillates out in every sphere of your life. Take note:
Chef talk: Bret Hanson, from fire to embers
In spite of big physical challenges now, Bret Hanson is still in there, swinging for a better deal for chefs, and a better training ground for apprentices. You have to love that.
Chef talk: Kirsten Bacon, female chefs and a series of firsts
Vocational education is a subject dear to her, and no doubt Kirsten has seen many students benefit from her long and extensive experience and passion for passing on the skills and wisdom.
Chef talk: Ross Hardman and blood in the kitchen tales
Even with the debilitating Crohn’s Disease and 40 hospital visits, Ross finds time to work, mentor, and play a big part in a new organisation called Technical Chef, aimed at raising the standards and standing of chefs around Australia. One word: wow!
Chef talk: Pierre Khodja, Michelin and spice. A good mix.
Pierre Khodja knows that being a mentor, and passing on his knowledge, is the most precious gift he can bestow on an industry that almost killed him. He bounced back. Resilience? His second name.