What were your favorite foods growing up?
Alphonso mangoes.

When did you decide you wanted to be a chef?
I took a part time kitchen job in a wonderful deli in Sydney while I was waiting to go to law school. It was there that I really became excited about food for the first time. I fell in love with cooking and my life changed course. I then went to Paris for two years, where I worked and studied before coming to work in London.

If you didn't become a chef, what would you be?
I was studying at law school before, so perhaps a lawyer!

Who/what has shaped your cooking the most over the years?
I have always admired the work of Alice Waters— I have all her cookbooks— and I met her at Petersham Nurseries but have never managed to pay a visit to her restaurant myself. Alice Waters was the first to encourage local farmers to work and have a commitment to produce. She has worked tirelessly in schools and prisons helping them to create vegetable gardens believing that healthy eating starts with a connection to the land.

How would you describe your cuisine?
The style of cooking at Petersham is quite hard to describe. It is eclectic— I never consider it British, nor in any pigeon hole. Our emphasis is on ingredients and the seasons and from there we cook what feels right on any given day.

What influences your cooking style and particularly the menu at your restaurant?
Working seasonally and often from the vegetable gardens that surround Petersham gives me an immense connection with the soil and the earth underneath my feet. Beautiful produce treated with respect makes beautiful food. At Petersham, we concentrate on produce driven food that is low on technique but celebrating the produce with which we cook. We work only seasonally and believe that food eaten in season and grown close to home tastes better and is better for you. Nature provides all that is good and right for us close to home. This is food that sings with its beauty, tastes of its very essence and needs little more done to it than turning up the volume on its all too perfect flavour.

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
Sharp knives, a pestle and mortar.

What is your favorite secret ingredient?
The ingredient I think I value most in my kitchen is olive oil— it is the lifeblood of our kitchen. Good quality salt is also invaluable.

What is the one rule or value you try to instill in all of your staff?
Instill that cooking is a craft and repetition is important in order to really understand the nature of any dish. The practicing of seasoning is vital, for it can make or destroy any dish. As chefs, we cannot improve on what nature has provided, so respect, produce and treat it accordingly.

What is your least favorite food?
I have so many favourite dishes that it's almost impossible to say. The only thing I really don't like very much is okra.

What is your beverage of choice?
A really good cup of coffee.

When you are not eating at your own restaurant, where are you eating?
I love Moro, the River Cafe, Dinings and a new restaurant owned by a friend of mine The Dock Kitchen.

Which foreign country inspires your style most?
I went to San Francisco 30 years ago when I was much younger but I would love to go again as there are lots of restaurants I'd really like to visit— predominately Judy Rogers' Zuni Cafe and Alice Waters' Chez Panisse. Both are led by female chefs with an emphasis on local and beautiful produce, the roots of their cooking lie in tradition and commitment to craftsmanship. The restaurants are convivial rather than formal; they have a casual busy feel but an overall warm and friendly atmosphere.

What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
In terms of advice, it is important to enjoy yourself when you are cooking. It is a craft that needs to be learned, so be patient, and if something doesn't work, try it again another time. Always use the best produce you can afford for then you are halfway there.