Our Chefs — Brunswick Kitchen

Tracey Lister

Tracey is a classically trained chef who after many years of working at senior level in the vibrant Melbourne restaurant scene moved to Hanoi to immerse herself in Vietnamese and Asian cuisine. She helped establish KOTO, a grass-roots charity that helps street kids to free themselves from the cycle of poverty through hospitality training. In April 2008 she opened the Hanoi Cooking Centre, voted one of the best cooking schools in the world by Leisure & Travel magazine. Now back in her old stamping ground of Brunswick, Tracey looks forward to sharing her love of good food through her cooking classes for keen home cooks, professional, corporates, kids and teens. And if you don’t have time to cook call in at Brunswick Kitchen for a chat and a take home meal.

Daniel Wilson

Beginning his career in the kitchen of chef Andrew Blake’s eponymous restaurant in Southgate, Melbourne, one of his early career highlights includes a stint in the kitchen with renowned New York chef Daniel Boulud at Daniel in New York, alongside 25 kitchen staff and several kilos of truffles, porcini and foie gras in the Frenchman’s fast-paced kitchen.
Returning to Blake's as Sous Chef, Daniel soon moved to co-head chef’s position with Emma Mackay at Blake's Cafeteria where the partnership earned both chefs The Age 2003 Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year award. Later that year, Daniel worked with chef Jacques Reymond at Arintji, leaving in 2007 to run the Giannakis brothers' Graham Restaurant in Port Melbourne.
In August 2010, Daniel and his two partners Jeff Wong and Dante Ruaine opened Huxtable, a humble restaurant with a menu of small items and share plates influenced by European and Southeast Asia cuisine. Huxtable was awarded a coveted chef’s hat in The Age Good Food Guide 2014.
In 2011, Daniel, Jeff and Dante opened their first Huxtaburger and to keep up with demand, the trio then opened another Huxtaburger bar in in Melbourne CBD in March, 2013. To date, the team have opened five stores and established a rapidly growing franchise operation.
Daniel has written two cookbooks, Huxtable and The Huxtaburger Book (both published by Hardie Grant) and has contributed to several other books including Australian best seller, The Great Australian Cookbook and The Great Australian Baking Book.

Almay Jordaan

South African chef Almay Jordaan has called Melbourne her home for the last 13 years. Originally studying cookery in the Cape Winelands, she has been cooking in restaurants in Cape Town, London & Melbourne for the last 20 years.

Originally trained in the French culinary repertoire, her South African roots and subsequent travels now influence her creation of new dishes, and the style of the menus at the two restaurants she co-owns with her husband Simon Denman.

Professionally, her food is aimed at matching and complementing the extensive wine lists Simon creates at the restaurants. Strict adherence to the seasonal use of Victorian ingredients is a given.

At Neighbourhood Wine, the food has more of a bistro approach and reflects her classical training in a modern Australian environment, whilst at the more recent Old Palm Liquor, the cooking is done over fire, on a custom-built braai, South-African style barbecue, just like the one Almay grew up with in her home country.

At home, cooking is more focused towards her small family, although no week goes without a braai!

PIA-Gava-412x257@2x.jpg — Pia Gava

The experience of being a MasterChef Australia 2017 contestant had confirmed Pia Gava’s food passion. Pia’s food memories are strongly kept alive today, with recipes like homemade pasta, special occasion sweet treats and of course comfort food. She also wants to share her passion so everyone can have the same experience. Pia’s favourite memory as a little girl was sitting on the kitchen step watching and learning from her mother create pasta and witnessing how easy and effortlessly she would produce many creations.
Following the MasterChef experience Pia had work experience at Om Nom dessert bar in Melbourne and knew this food path had to continue. Pia had completed collating and writing family recipes and successfully self-published her first cookbook ‘Pia’s Table’ in August 2018 which celebrates history, tradition, food and family. Pia shares many family stories, her MasterChef signature gnocchi dish, pasta tips as well as many other family dishes that can be achieved by all. There really is something for everyone and all are welcome on her culinary journey. The cookbook was written with an old style feel like a family recipe journal and her cookbook sales have been extremely successful. Pia has already commenced researching and collating for her second cookbook which will have a more modern and different theme. Pia is also an ambassador for charity ‘OnePlate’ which included leading a team of eight other MasterChef alumni to create a fundraising dinner feast and she also catered their Party Like A Parisian fundraising event. Pia teaches cooking classes which are regularly fully booked, hosted and created menu’s for dinner events, food workshops, demo’s, night market food stalls, festivals (various in Melbourne and one in Queensland), product collaborations and recipe creation-testing. During 2019, together with another MasterChef alumni, ‘foodie catch-ups’ were organised to highlight different cafes or restaurants but mainly to bring foodies together to meet and network in a casual environment.
In the coming year 2020 some exciting events have already been scheduled. Cooking classes will continue throughout the year, in March Pia will be hosting a group for a culinary food and wine cruise to New Zealand onboard Royal Caribbean ‘Radiance of the Seas’ cruise liner, discussions for additional dinner events are underway and in October she is already booked to be part of a three-day Oysterfest seafood festival in Ceduna South Australia. Also, in early 2020 Pia will be commencing YouTube videos to share recipes and maybe even some food travel. Pia is also aiming to lead or be part of food tours whether in her home city or overseas travel, this goal came about following her travels to Italy in April 2019 whilst on her own family food tour and her own personal food tours in Sydney and Perth. Everyone can follow Pia’s daily food journey via her website and social media accounts.

June Yi

June has the restaurant business running in her veins. She spent her childhood in her Grandmother’s Chinese restaurant and her parent’s seafood restaurant in the Korean river province of Gangwon. And on days off, the family would come together and share the cooking of elaborate family feasts.
After four years of running a successful bistro in Seoul, June emigrated to Australia and pursued further culinary studies at Le Cordon Bleu.
While working at a Melbourne international hotel, she met her husband, who brought his own rich Indian culinary traditions to the relationship and she has since studied Indian cuisine under his and his parents’ guidance. June has one daughter who loves eating her Indian curry with a side of Kim Chi.

photo(28).JPG — Emma Mackay

Emma Mackay started her career at the tender age of 16 in Melbourne , during the height of the Nouvelle Cuisine rampage of the 80s, working for Iain Hewitson in his 3 Chef Hat Restaurant Fleurie. On qualifying, Emma headed up the team at Last Aussie Fishcaf in Sydney with Huey for 18 months before heading off overseas for several years working and travelling in Europe, North and South America, and the Caribbean , where she first caught the sailing bug.
On her return to Australia, Emma became heavily involved in the pastry kitchen, thus began the process of refining her craft in a selection of Melbourne's finest kitchens including Rockman's Regency, The Stoke House, Pomme, and Langtons. This led Emma to fulfill a career dream of working a stage with world famous Pastry Chef and author Michel Roux at his Restaurant The Waterside Inn, Bray, U.K, in early 2001. In late 2001 Emma took on the Co-Head chef position at Blake's Cafeteria with Daniel Wilson and owner Andrew Blake. This happy union culminated in Emma and Daniel being jointly awarded The Age Good Food Guide's, Young Chef of the Year in 2002.
Somewhere in the midst of all the blood, sweat and tears, Emma met and fell for English Chef, Danny Chapman. Another happy union which has lead to several successful pub businesses, a sailing trip around Australia including a 12-month appointment at Hamilton Island's fine dining restaurant The Beach House, and three beautiful children.
Now home again in Melbourne, and a certified Industry Trainer, Emma is training professionals in Patisserie, Emma is developing pastry courses and running cooking classes. In her spare time (?) Emma also makes special occasion cakes for clients.
“Other than my family, my two great loves are Patisserie and Training. I am very passionate about them both! I want to combine these passions to develop a semi- professional approach to pastry cooking which is fun, informative and hands-on. Lets share the magic and pleasure of the science of cooking!”