I remember we would often get glued to the television when it's MKR time and most especially when Manu joined the Australia's Dancing with the Stars. And ooh boy, the French chef could really dance! In fact he won that contest. So there, he's not only a good chef but also a good dancer.
From what I've read from different articles on mags and net and saw from his interviews, I've learned that he originally wanted to be a circus performer and in fact he even had trainings on being a circus clown performer with the goal of joining a travelling carnival. His call for cooking hit him though and made him pick up an apron and cook.
He came from a family who loves to cook good food. Both his father and grandfather are chefs and his mother is a great cook. No wonder he has the same passion for cooking. Anyway, he became apprentice at his father's bistro and later finished his training in fine dining.
His itchy feet started to nag him though that he decided to go to London. I can't imagine how this French guy fared in an English speaking country when he spoke no English. I guess his food talked and broke all the communication barrier. He worked at The Cafe Royal then later on rose in ranks in Les Associes, Café des Amis du Vin and Livebait.
It was at Livebait he progressed from Chef de Partie to Sous-Chef and finally Head Chef, earning the seafood establishment a nomination for best seafood restaurant in the UK in 1998.
In 1999, he moved to Melbourne and started working at Toofey's. Later on he worked with Pete Evans, another young and famous chef at Hugos at Sydney. He also worked at Restaurant VII and Bilson's.
In 2009, he open his own restaurant named L'etoile in Sydney.
He is by the way, a single father to his son, Jonti.
credits: MKR Australia, Who Magazine, Australian Good Food Magazine
A comment or two will be appreciated...
Australian Dollar Converter
0 comments:
Post a Comment
It would be nice to hear from you!