PODCAST · society
Conversation with a chef
by Jo Rittey
Ever wondered what goes on in the kitchens of Melbourne’s restaurants? Conversation with a chef gives the back story of our city’s favourite eating spots. This is not a slick podcast, in fact it's pretty rustic. I'm Jo Rittey. I'm a French teacher and food writer and not that great on the technology. What you'll hear is the conversation how it happened, with no bells and whistles. I'll work on that!
Episodes
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#388 Emily Soley | Love Letter to the Inner North
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,...
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#387 Arrnott Olssen | The Kana Club
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…
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#386 Rob Kabboord | Rühe
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...
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#385 Sumalee Sae-tang, Manpreet Singh & Chef Sahakorn Sanitmacharo | Ladyboy
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.…
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#384 Jeremy Sutphin Executive Chef | The Ganley Group
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…
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#383 Andrea Vignali | Al Dente Enoteca
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...
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#382 Ryan Dunn | Langlands at Hyatt Centric Melbourne
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…
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#381 Pieter Buijsse | Rah Dining
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...
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#380 Josh Rudd | Flores at The Angel of Malvern
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...
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#379 Jasmin Lefers | Artist & Food Designer
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…
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# 378 Sally Hillman | Celebrating Champagne
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...
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#377 Mikey Dalton | San Telmo Brisbane
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…
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#376 Raj Shreshtha | Denmark House
Denmark House feels like a small pocket of Copenhagen tucked above Little Collins Street. Light pours through the large, black-framed windows, Danish drifts across the room, and Raj Shrestha looks completely at home. After spending almost 15 years in Denmark, he has found a place in Melbourne…
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#375 Sunil Tyagi | Indian Star
Over a fragrant samosa, kofta and garlic naan, with a cup of chai in hand, I sat down with Sunil Tyagi at Indian Star and listened as he traced an extraordinary life in food spanning more than five decades. He began his training in India in the 1970s, learning from great chefs and grinding spices...
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#374 Reki Reinantha | Sachi, Atsu, & Common Cuts
There is something very easy and generous about the way Reki Reinantha tells his story. He came to Australia from Indonesia as a high school student, began studying architecture, then slowly found himself pulled towards the kitchen and the pleasure of making people happy through food. Since then,...
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#373 Amar Singh | Bibi Ji
Amarjeet Singh is not someone who naturally enjoys being on a microphone or in front of a camera. He was shy when we began talking at Bibi Ji, which is about to celebrate its second birthday, but the more we spoke, the more his deep attachment to hospitality came through. Once the recording...
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#372 Aaron Schembri | Kadota
As I drove out of Melbourne and left the fog behind, the day opened up into that bright, golden Daylesford light and the whole town seemed to be out walking, eating, browsing and making the most of it. I’d arrived a little early, wandered up one side of Vincent Street, back down the other, bought…
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#371 Mark Tagnipez | Marmont
I sat down with Mark Tagnipez at Marmont to talk truffles, but the conversation very quickly became about much more than that. Mark is warm, funny and wonderfully unguarded, and his story moves from Los Angeles to Hawaii to Melbourne, from Filipino food at home to Chicano neighbourhood cooking,...
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#370 Shannon Martinez | Smith & Deli
I first spoke to Shannon Martinez almost a decade ago, when Smith & Daughters was already changing the way Melbourne thought about vegan food. A lot has happened since. Smith & Deli has grown, Degraves Street has opened, Made by Smith is beginning to supply chefs with high-quality plant-based...
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#369 Jeremy Spradbery | Supercheese
I knew when I went to the launch of High Cheese at The Westin that Jeremy Spradbery from Supercheese would be a great person to talk to, and visiting his Richmond shop proved it. We stood together beside his impressive hero fridge: a glorious lineup of cheeses that each show off their style…
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#368 Raph Rashid | The Greatest of The Mall
Raph Rashid and I last spoke in 2020 when he was making Mean Cuisine and finding clever ways to keep people entertained at home. This time, he’s in the middle of something just as playful, but much more public: The Greatest of the Mall, a winter school holiday project with Melbourne Food & Wine...
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#367 Mike Jacques | Tarra & Onda
When I arrived at Tarra, Mike Jacques was in the thick of service. Mike is executive chef for Searoad Hospitality, overseeing Tarra in Queenscliff, Onda in Sorrento, the ferry offerings and now Wilsons Prom too. We spoke about Tarra as a “postcard for the Bellarine Peninsula”, and Onda as its...
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#366 Josh Smith, Tammy & Rob Charter | The Queenscliff Hotel
I’ve always had a soft spot for Queenscliff. Every year, we make our pilgrimage down for the Queenscliff Music Festival, pitch our tent on the footy oval, and live very happily for a few days on music, festival food and that particular seaside feeling the town does so well. So to arrive this time...
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#365 Kevin Peiris | Killik Hand-Crafted Rum
Tucked into the trees along Monbulk Road in Belgrave, Killik Handcrafted Rum Distillery is more than just a place to drink; it’s a destination where small-batch spirits, ambitious food, and a warm, intimate atmosphere come together. When we visited, we were seated in a gorgeous private room with…
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#364 Laura Boulton | Heide Kitchen
#364 Laura Boulton | Heide Kitchen by Jo Rittey
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#363 Shane Reeves | The Gilroy
I sat down with Shane Reeves at The Gilroy on Bay Street in Port Melbourne, a place I could easily walk to, given I live just down the road, but one that’s absolutely worth the drive or the ride on the 109 tram. Tucked into a quieter stretch of the street, The Gilroy is a narrow, atmospheric…
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#362 Jithin Pattiyal | Babaji's Kerala Kitchen
Seated outside at Babaji’s Kerala Kitchen, beside the warmth of the fire pit and surrounded by the hills of Warburton, I first spoke with owner Billy Crombie. As the conversation continued, chef Jithin Pattiyal joined me, sharing his journey from Kerala to Australia and offering insight into the...
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#361 Billy Crombie | Babajis Kerala Kitchen
Billy Crombie and husband Max (Mohammed) Kamil Hassan don’t run a typical regional restaurant. At Babaji’s Kerala Kitchen, set in a restored 1936 cabaret hall on the edge of Warburton in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, they have built something closer to a cultural bridge, and, for many Southern…
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#360 Mauro Callegari The Independent Gembrook
There’s a particular kind of welcome you only find in places built slowly and with intent, and that’s exactly what I walked into at The Independent in Gembrook. Mauro Callegari has shaped this former mechanics’ garage into something unmistakably his; part restaurant, part gathering place, part...
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#359 Franck Sammut | Upper Middle
I sat down with Franck Sammut, the quietly charismatic force behind Upper Middle in South Melbourne, a new baguette and pizza spot that already feels like a neighbourhood favourite. Franck has spent his whole life in hospitality, from working in his dad’s restaurant as a teenager to decades on…
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#358 Justin North | The Angel of Malvern
There’s a lovely kind of magic when an old neighbourhood pub finds its heartbeat again, and that’s exactly what’s happened at the Angel of Malvern. After three quiet years, the doors are open, the locals are back, and the buzz is real. Downstairs it’s all about elevated pub classics done…
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#357 Liam Lee | Ronin Omakase
On a wet, gloomy Melbourne day, Ronin Omakase was unexpectedly warm. Despite its concrete walls, brutalist lines and high ceilings, the room is inviting with shelves lined with house made ferments; persimmon for desserts, wombok and white kimchi, citrus cheong and fruit vinegars quietly…
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#356 Viveik Vinohoran | Dutch Rules Distilling Co.
This week I got the train to Mitcham to visit Dutch Rules Distilling Co., a retro styled bar, working distillery and sat down with rising star chef Viveik Vinohoran, this year’s Young Chef of the Year. Surrounded by vinyl records, warm timber, and the quiet hum of a still out back, Viveik talked...
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#355 Michael Conlon | O'Connell's Hotel
When I sat down with Michael Conlon at O’Connell’s in South Melbourne, the paint was still fresh. There’s been a substantial refresh. New carpet, new upholstery, commissioned artworks, and a dining room that feels intentionally set apart. More like a restaurant you arrive at, even though you’ve...
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#354 Matt Forbes Cobb Lane
I visited Matt Forbes at Cobb Lane’s Yarraville headquarters, where he reflected on the long path from his early years in some of the UK’s most exacting kitchens to building a Melbourne bakery that’s grown from a single 25 kilo bag of flour to seven or eight tonnes a week. He talked about…
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#353 Apoorva Kunte | The Westin Melbourne
I always enjoy catching up with chefs to hear how they’re going, what they’re learning, and how their craft is evolving. And every couple of years, that brings me back to the Westin Melbourne to sit down with Executive Chef Apoorva Kunte. In the five years he’s been leading the hotel’s kitchens,...
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#352 Matt McConnell | Bar Lourinha
When you talk to Matt McConnell about food, hospitality and Bar Lourinhã, there is a quiet certainty and warmth that comes through immediately. Twenty years is a long time to do anything well, and Bar Lourinhã has done it with quiet confidence. Matt approaches this milestone with equal parts…
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#351 James Gallagher | Enbarr
I sat down with James Gallagher at Enbarr on a lovely autumn afternoon. We talked about mythology, Irish foodways, and the arc of his life in this building; a pub he worked in for years and has now come full circle to own. Once we’d finished talking, I was lucky enough to eat the food we’d been...
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#350 Ian Ho | Yum Sing House
Reaching 350 episodes feels a little surreal, and I couldn’t think of a better guest to mark the moment than someone I’ve spoken to before and genuinely admire. Sitting down again with Ian Ho at Yum Sing House reminded me why I love these conversations so much. Ian is one of those chefs who gives...
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#349 Mike Flemming | Spaghetti Club
I visited Spaghetti Club just as everything was arriving. There were boxes everywhere, glasses and pots still wrapped, that slightly frantic but very exciting feeling of something about to begin. It already felt warm and full of personality, even mid unpacking. I sat down with head chef Michael...
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#348 Raffaele Pelligra
When I first came across Raffaele Pelligra on Instagram, what struck me was his honesty. He was travelling, cooking, thinking deeply, asking questions, and sharing what he was learning and I really wanted to hear more. Now, I love a pull quote, those gems where people reveal their passion in such…
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#347 Alex Meimetis | Koi Toy
From growing up in Port Melbourne, cooking alongside his Greek mother, to working across kitchens in Athens, France and Australia, Alex Meimetis’s story has been shaped by movement, patience and an unwavering love of food. It’s a story about learning by watching, earning trust over time, and...
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#346 Zoe Birch | Greasy Zöes
People often ask me what my favourite conversation with a chef has been, and I usually say that I don’t have one. I love them all. Everyone has a story to tell, and I feel genuinely privileged to be able to hear and share those stories, which makes it hard to single one out. But sometimes a...
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#345 David Lakhi | Little Black Pig and Sons
I went in for lunch at Little Black Pig and Sons before talking with David Lakhi, head chef and co-owner. After lunch we sat down in the inky and acoustically excellent dining room out the back, its walls hung with my favourite Klimt paintings. David has been cooking in Heidelberg for nine years...
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#344 Morris Danzen Catanghal | Buono | CMD Supper Club
I finally caught up with Chef Morris Danzen Catanghal at a Boodle Brunch during the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, after circling this conversation for months. A boodle brunch is based on a traditional Filipino way of eating: food laid out generously on banana leaves, eaten together, by hand.…
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#343 Abi Marquez | Lumpia Queen
#343 Abi Marquez | Lumpia Queen by Jo Rittey
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#342 Jonathan Brincat | Noni
After a few years working across Australia, Asia and London, Maltese chef Jonathan Brincat went back home to Malta to cook his own food, his own way. He opened Noni in Valletta, a restaurant built on the flavours he grew up with and refined through years in other kitchens. Six years on, it holds…
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#341 Elias Salomonsson | Circl Wine House and Derek Kim | Garaku
Elias Salomonsson is firmly at the helm of Circl, continuing to shape a kitchen that leans Nordic in philosophy but grounded in Australian produce. I’ve spoken to Elias before here and this time, he’s joined by Derek Kim, former head chef of Tetsuya’s and now leading the kitchen at Garaku, part…
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#340 Sam Field | Molly Rose Brewing
Sam Field is head chef at Molly Rose Brewing in Collingwood, but his way into kitchens started much earlier as a 13-year-old kitchen porter in England, working after school and learning by watching. Since then he has cooked in pubs, fine dining venues, cafés and now one of Melbourne’s more...
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#339 George Calombaris | Auto Greek
George Calombaris is back in Melbourne with Auto Greek, a pop-up at Bar Yarra in the Ovolo Hotel in South Yarra. A week in, the room is full of familiar faces and new ones too. For George, the project feels a little like bringing the band back together. In this conversation he reflects on nearly...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Ever wondered what goes on in the kitchens of Melbourne’s restaurants? Conversation with a chef gives the back story of our city’s favourite eating spots. This is not a slick podcast, in fact it's pretty rustic. I'm Jo Rittey. I'm a French teacher and food writer and not that great on the technology. What you'll hear is the conversation how it happened, with no bells and whistles. I'll work on that!
HOSTED BY
Jo Rittey
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How many episodes does Conversation with a chef have?
Conversation with a chef currently has 380 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Conversation with a chef about?
Ever wondered what goes on in the kitchens of Melbourne’s restaurants? Conversation with a chef gives the back story of our city’s favourite eating spots. This is not a slick podcast, in fact it's pretty rustic. I'm Jo Rittey. I'm a French teacher and food writer and not that great on the...
How often does Conversation with a chef release new episodes?
Conversation with a chef publishes regularly with 380 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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You can listen to Conversation with a chef on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Conversation with a chef?
Conversation with a chef is created and hosted by Jo Rittey.
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