I grew up in both Sydney and a country town called Tamworth in New South Wales, Australia, where I spent time around big cattle properties and farmland. I originally wanted to play professional rugby, complete a degree in economics and work in finance. Then, one day I woke up and decided to work in hospitality, which was a huge surprise to those closest to me, but I’ve never looked back!

A Sunday roast at my grandmother’s home; she was a very good cook. The whole day was about food from start to finish. My grandma had grown up during the Great Depression so she didn’t waste anything. For example, the potatoes were always cooked in the fat from the previous weekend’s roast. She had her little cookbook that had been her mother’s and her grandmother’s before that with incredible pudding recipes, so we always ended our meal with something sweet after a delicious roast. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, not many people were cooking like this in Sydney. 

I started cooking in Sydney in the mid 1990s. I had no experience, nor culinary training, just a passion for cooking. I wrote letters to the top five restaurants in Sydney at the time and offered to work for a week for free in each one. They all offered me a job after, so I was fortunate enough to be able to choose which one I liked the most: Catalina in Rose Bay on Sydney Harbour. It’s one of Sydney’s most iconic restaurants and has been for more than 30 years. It was and always will be a restaurant very close to my heart.

My first steps into the industry began at Catalina, then Est (also in Sydney) before moving to London in 2003 to work for the three Michelin star Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. I also had the opportunity to work at The French Laundry in California and Gramercy Tavern in New York.

I’d admired from a distance the initial openings and expansion surrounding The Ivy Brasseries, which really impressed me. One day, I received a call from a former colleague who I’d worked closely with in the Ramsay Group who told me he had an exciting opportunity within a new concept at The Ivy. Once I [discovered it was] The Ivy Asia, I jumped at the opportunity! It’s truly a wonderful brand to be working for.

It’s a very important role not to be taken lightly. It’s also not about any one person; we have an incredibly talented team on every level, from restaurant staff to support office teams, which enable us to do our jobs successfully. Ultimately, in any role, you become a custodian of a business for the period in which you work there. The hope that you future proof and develop a business for its long term success after you leave is the real testament to how successful you were during your time there.

The goal was to create a menu that would keep guests coming back, but it’s also about the whole dining experience and not just a menu. I work closely with my team, and we bounce ideas back and forth until we find something that we know our guests would love. We then go through a fairly vigorous tasting programme until we’re all happy with the end result. It’s a long process, but so rewarding when we see our guests enjoying the food.

One of my favourites would be a dessert we call ‘Red Dragon’ which is ultimately a selection of our most-loved desserts, including soft serve ice cream, cinnamon-sugared doughnuts, peanut brittle, honeycomb, and fresh fruit with a chocolate dipping sauce. I wanted to create a version of soft serve ice cream and toppings that would be suitable for this concept. It took a long time to get right, however, I now believe we have something that is both visually amazing and delicious to eat.

With any business we will always keep developing the brands to ensure they stay relevant whilst continuing to grow the concept and style of restaurants. We are always looking to find new opportunities, and this is fundamentally key to the ongoing success of the brands.

It would have to be Chez Bruce. My wife and I spent many fine evenings at this spot when we lived in Wandsworth and then we had our wedding there. It’s one of those places that simply cooks beautiful food in a beautiful dining room with a wonderful guest experience.

Rather than simply the chefs, I am very impressed with people who develop concepts. These normally start on a very small scale and then expand, and often the [people at the helm] don’t have formal culinary training but a dream and a vision. For example, David Carter from Smokestak and Manteca; Tomos Parry from Brat and Mountain; and Anna Higham from Quince Bakery.

I spend most of my time away from work with my kids for weekends full of sport, family barbecues in the summer and escaping to the coast for weekends away. I’m also a huge Harlequins rugby fan so enjoy going to see matches with both family and friends when I can.