Advertise on podcast: Conversation with a chef

For Tori Bicknell, hospitality is about far more than what’s on the plate. It’s about how you make people feel, how you treat your staff and what you give back to the industry. Tori is the woman behind Glory Us, with cafes in Fitzroy North and Strathmore, and she is, quite simply, the epitome of hospitality. From the moment I walked in on a rainy Melbourne day and she offered me a cup of tea, I understood why. But Tori is also a woman on a mission. After more than 30 years in hospitality, she’s determined to lead by example, challenge the way the industry operates and show that it’s possible to run a successful business without compromising your principles.

Tucked away in a little shopping village in Beaumaris, Hinata Premium Sushi and Sashimi is a neighbourhood Japanese restaurant where chef and owner Thant Aung brings almost two decades of experience to a menu of beautifully fresh sushi and sashimi, hand rolls, comforting curries and generous Japanese meals. Thant's journey began washing dishes at a sushi train in Queensland, eventually taking him to Nobu Melbourne and, finally, a restaurant of his own. Joining us for the conversation was Aaron Kher, a recent MasterChef semi-finalist who has been spending a few days each week in Thant's kitchen, learning the finer points of Japanese cooking. I loved the warmth between these two, particularly the way their relationship has become a genuine exchange of knowledge and ideas. Thant has years of professional experience to share, while Aaron brings a different perspective and plenty of curiosity. I was also delighted to discover that Hinata participates in Too Good To Go, the food rescue app I wrote about for Broadsheet when it launched in Melbourne in 2024. Through the app, users can purchase a Surprise Bag of food that might otherwise go to waste. Thant would much rather see his beautiful food enjoyed than thrown away, and it's already brought new customers through his door. There was plenty of laughter around the table, and what stayed with me was the generosity of two cooks at very different stages of their careers who are genuinely excited about what they can learn from one another.

Williamstown was buzzing when I drove over to meet chef Deepak Mishra. The sun was out; the waterfront was busy and finding a car park took longer than the drive from Port Melbourne. A few blocks back from the bay, I found myself admiring the old cottages and streetscapes before heading to Bungalow 147 By The Bay, Deepak's soon-to-open restaurant on Nelson Place. The restaurant occupies a heritage building dating back to 1869, which he and his business partners stumbled upon while having a coffee nearby. After almost three decades working in luxury hotels across Australia, India, Dubai, Singapore and Europe, Deepak is finally opening a restaurant of his own. His career began with a fascination for chefs in their immaculate white jackets and included three unsuccessful applications to work with his mentor, Tom Milligan, before persistence finally paid off. We settled in for a chat surrounded by original fireplaces and the bustle of a restaurant taking shape. Deepak has some wonderful plans for the space, and I'm already looking forward to making another trip across the bridge when Bungalow 147 opens.

There was a queue out the door when I arrived at Dear Neighbour on Smith Street for the opening of Emily Soley's exhibition, A Love Letter to the Inner North. I remember looking around at the crowd and thinking, this is so Melbourne. Thirty-one beautiful watercolour illustrations of the pubs, restaurants, cafes and neighbourhood institutions that mean so much to so many of us. Emily is the artist behind Draw My Home, and what began as a love of drawing people's houses has grown into something rather special. Her illustrations capture the personality of a place, from the tiles and signage to the wine bottles in the window. But it's the stories attached to these buildings that make them so appealing. First dates, weddings, Friday night drinks, the regular table at your local. All those little rituals that become part of our lives. We had such a lovely conversation about our shared affection for Melbourne's north, the emotional connections we make with hospitality venues and the way Emily's work is becoming an archive of places that may not always be there. We talked about old favourites, changing neighbourhoods and the ghosts of venues past. I came home from the exhibition with a beautiful illustration of Jim's Greek Tavern, and I've already got my eye on Emily's next Food of the North calendar. If you haven't been to see A Love Letter to the Inner North, there's still time. It's at Dear Neighbour, 311 Smith Street, Fitzroy, until 1 November. Go and have a wander, find a place that holds a memory for you, and perhaps take a little piece of the north home.

There's something rather lovely about starting a Sunday morning talking about food, particularly when the conversation takes you all the way to Fiji. Arrnott Olssen was in Sydney, coffee in hand, still recovering from the previous day's Fiji Day celebrations and a very generous helping of lovo, the traditional Fijian feast cooked in an earth oven. It seemed a fitting place to begin. Arrnott has had a fascinating career, from Popstars to My Kitchen Rules, but it was his childhood memories of food that I found particularly captivating. Growing up in Suva with his brother and their single mother, he remembers her remarkable ability to make something out of very little. Since losing her, those flavours have become an important connection to his past. Through The Kana Club, Arrnott is now sharing the food of his childhood, reinterpreting traditional dishes and encouraging people to discover Fiji beyond its beaches. We talked about family, music, identity and his ambitions for Fijian cuisine. A thoroughly lovely way to spend a Sunday morning.

I first spoke to Rob Kabboord six years ago, just before COVID upended Melbourne hospitality and changed the shape of the industry. A lot has happened since then. Rob has cooked, travelled, collaborated, co-written a play and, somewhere along the way, made the move to regional Victoria. Now he is part of Rühe alongside sommelier Daniel Saligari in Kyneton, a neo-bistro with a little punk in its bones and a very clear sense of place. I took the train from Melbourne to see him, which turned out to be half the pleasure. Just over an hour out of Southern Cross, then a walk through town in the rain, and suddenly I was sitting in this warm, thoughtful dining room on Piper Street talking to someone I hadn’t properly caught up with in years. We talked about theatre, Burgundy, hospitality, the appeal of neo-bistro, why Rühe looks and feels the way it does, and what it means to build something new in a small town with a big food culture.

Once I’d switched off the recorder at Ladyboy, owners, chefs and partners in life Sumalee Sae-tang and Manpreet Singh very kindly brought out some dishes from their Beyond Bangkok menu for me to try. As we talked over the food, Sumalee began to tell me more about how much she loves what she does. I also had the chance to meet Gun, their chef, who is from southern Thailand and is enjoying sharing the food of his own region through the series’ first menu. Sumalee and Manpreet met while studying cookery in Melbourne in 2005 and took over the Richmond restaurant more than a decade later. Sumalee is from Bangkok, and their regular menu draws on the food she cooks at home. Beyond Bangkok gives the team room to explore other regions of Thailand while keeping the dishes their regulars would be very unhappy to lose. The yellow curry, I learned, has survived an attempted retirement. They love working with local suppliers, choosing produce, wines and beers for the restaurant. Sumalee still goes out every Tuesday and Friday to buy the vegetables and herbs herself. She wants to be sure she’s getting the best and freshest, and particularly loves picking out the herbs and chillies. We had talked during the recording about how much a customer’s thank you means to her. Afterwards, hearing her enthusiasm for even the shopping, I was glad we’d had time to keep talking.

There’s something very grounded about the way Jeremy Sutphin talks about food. He grew up in the American South around big gardens, smoked meats, family cooking and that wonderful idea of Southern hospitality, where feeding people is simply part of life. Now, 20 years into living in Melbourne, he’s overseeing a growing group of pubs and venues by The Ganley Group, including St Kilda’s Fifth Province, Angus and Bon, Freddie Wimpole’s, The Bay Hotel in Mornington, The Windsor Castle and The Carlton Club. His job these days involves plenty of suppliers, spreadsheets and menu planning, but what really lights him up is still the simple stuff: tomatoes straight from the vine, tending a fire, watching the smoke from his old offset smoker, and the satisfaction of making something delicious from good ingredients.

Stepping off Nicholson Street into Al Dente Enoteca, I was immediately taken with the exposed brick, the wall of wine and the rare quiet of a restaurant between services. Andrea calls this stretch Melbourne’s “Italian Golden Mile”, with neighbours Scopri and Bar Olo helping make it a very good street to be hungry on. He is funny, candid and full of stories. Al Dente began with pasta sold through Instagram during lockdown, when staying in Australia meant finding a way to support himself and others in the same position. Six years on, he still gets his greatest pleasure from cooking for people, although there is plenty competing for his time. Our conversation took us from his grandfather’s pub to the cacio e pepe tucked inside his tortelloni, with a rather frantic search for kangaroo in Rome along the way. This was such a great chat. I can't wait for you to listen.

I had never been up to Langlands, 25 floors above Melbourne in the Hyatt Centric. Ryan Dunn knows it can be a little too well hidden. With the dining room now opened up to the skyline, we sat looking over the wave of Southern Cross Station’s roof and talked about what he and chef Richard most like to cook: food with smoke, chilli, acidity and plenty of flavour. Ryan’s career began almost by accident, with work experience at Bistro Moncur when he was 16. It has since taken him through Norway, Russia, Bangkok and Hong Kong. He still lights up most when he talks about food. A scallop with green mango and sambal. A crisp piece of baguette with tomato, stracciatella and a good anchovy. Nothing on the plate simply to look clever. As Ryan put it, he wants to cook things he’d actually want to eat. I like it up here and I can’t wait to go back.

When I spoke to Pieter Buissje in 2022, he was appearing on under-30 chef lists and attracting plenty of attention. He’s still only 32, but now he’s a co-owner of a new Chapel Street restaurant, with the keys in his hand and an opening date to work towards. Rah Dining takes its cue from the Silk Road and the way ingredients and ideas travelled between cultures. Pieter’s eight-course menu will move from China through India and Central Asia towards Turkey. He’s clear that he isn’t setting out to reproduce traditional dishes from each place; he wants to learn from their flavours and techniques and cook through his own fine dining experience. You’ll also be able to stop in for a snack or two and a glass of wine. For now, he’s testing dishes in a hired kitchen nearby and working out, among many other things, who’s going to supply the drinks trays.

It’s been seven years since I last sat down with Josh Rudd, and it was genuinely lovely to catch up with him again. Since then, he’s opened venues, moved into large-scale events and catering, built teams and systems, and now finds himself at Flores at the Angel in Malvern, part of the Refinery Group. What struck me this time was how much his role has broadened. He still talks about food with the same enthusiasm, but now there’s just as much interest in how a kitchen runs, how a team develops and how you create a venue that feels good to be in, both for the people working there and the people coming through the door. Josh is thoughtful about all of it, but still very much a chef who likes a challenge and likes being in the thick of things. Seven years on, that part clearly hasn’t changed.

I first met Jasmin Lefers almost ten years ago, when she was heading up the kitchen at Wine 1160 and I went along to write about it. Since then, our paths have kept crossing through mutual friends, Melbourne’s food world and Jasmin’s wonderfully inventive events. Jasmin doesn’t call herself a chef. She’s a cook, a food designer and a creator of immersive experiences that ask us to do much more than simply eat. Her ideas can begin with mushrooms, seaweed or even an antique brooch, then grow into something involving handmade ceramics, edible plates, sound, texture and months of meticulous experimentation. The remarkable thing is that, beneath all that imagination, the food is genuinely delicious. Talking to Jasmin is a little like stepping inside one of her events: surprising, thoughtful and enormous fun.

It was such a pleasure to meet a fellow Francophile in Sally Hillman. Her new book, Celebrating Champagne, is about Champagne, of course, but it’s also about the things that sit around it: cooking, family, France and the pleasure of having people at your table. We talked about where her love of Champagne began, the growers she seeks out, and why she thinks we should stop saving the good bottle for “someday”.

When Mikey Dalton first walked into San Telmo in Melbourne with a CV in his hand, fresh off the plane from Ireland, he could hardly have imagined where that small decision would lead. Fourteen years later, he is now chef and co-owner of San Telmo Brisbane, a restaurant three years in the making and already finding its own rhythm in a new city. It was very easy to chat with Mikey. Even over the phone. He speaks about cooking over fire with genuine fascination, especially the chefs who have spent their lives learning how to master it, and his curiosity about food remains as strong as ever. Our conversation wandered from Brisbane’s changing dining habits to ten-metre wedding grills in Argentina, with a pair of antique doors somewhere at sea, slowly making their way towards the restaurant. It was glorious.