Wrapping up 2019: a look back at my highlights of the year
4.5 min read
As we finish up 2019, not only do we close out another year, but we round out another decade.
I’ve been as busy as ever this year, splitting my time between running nine eateries in Sydney and on board P&O Cruises, working with Virgin Australia on their in-flight culinary offering, judging the Appetite for Excellence awards, connecting hospitality leaders to the next generation of restaurant professionals through The Inspired Series, and collaborating on lots of other projects in between. I’ve loved every minute of it, but some things definitely stand out as milestones. These are three of my highlights from 2019.
Receiving a Medal of the Order of Australia
On Australia Day, I was honoured to be awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for my services to the hospitality and tourism industries, as well as my involvement with a number of charities. A few months later, I travelled down to Canberra to take part in the Governor General’s Investiture Ceremony where I was presented with the medal and got to meet with Sir Peter Cosgrove.
I was incredibly proud to prepare the formal dinner that followed the ceremony. Eighty guests attended the dinner and since we were honouring individual Aussies who have worked to make their communities a better place, I put together a three-course menu that celebrated Australian ingredients such as Tasmanian ocean trout, macadamias, lemon aspen and Davidson’s plum.
A record breaking partnership with P&O Cruises
This year marked the 10th anniversary of my partnership with P&O Cruises, which is the longest collaboration between a celebrity chef and a cruise line in Australia. We’ve come a long way since my chance meeting with Sture Myrmell, President of P&O Cruises, back in 2008. Since the first restaurant launched on board the Pacific Jewel in 2009, we’ve served more than one million meals across three different dining concepts: my signature Salt Grill restaurant, the seven-course degustation experience at A Taste of Salt, and the casual eatery Luke’s.
There are lots of exciting things coming up as we look towards 2020, starting with two new restaurants on board the newest and biggest addition to the P&O fleet, the Pacific Adventure, which will be setting sail for the first time next October. I’ve also signed on to continue our partnership for another five years, putting the collaboration on track for a 15-year relationship.
Outstanding talent in the Appetite for Excellence awards
The Appetite for Excellence awards continued its mission to recognise and mentor the best young hospitality talent around the nation for the 14th year running. Each year the judges and I are always tremendously impressed by the calibre of talent exhibited by the finalists, and this year was no exception. However, the 2019 cohort presented a number of exciting trends in the program.
Exceptional regional hospitality was a particular highlight of the 2019 awards with the three winners of the Young Chef, Young Waiter and Young Restaurateur awards all hailing from restaurant’s outside of the major Australian cities. We also observed a growing proportion of female talent. This year we received the largest total of female applicants, had the highest number of female national finalists and awarded the first female winner of the Young Chef category in the history of the awards.
It’s been a big year for me and my team, and with all these significant milestones, my passion for the hospitality industry is stronger than ever. Here's to all the exciting things to come in 2020!