COOKING THE BOOKS - From Inside the Food Industry

This week Robbie spoke to Aaron Starlin, head chef of Bistro Guillaume here in Melbourne. Aaron has just won back the Chef's Hat for Bistro Guillaume in the 2020 Good Food Guide with his modern approach to the French bistro classics as well as a little hint of his English roots. Aaron talks about his long career with Guillaume, how his role in the kitchen has changed over the years as well as opening up about his anxiety.

This week Robbie spoke to an old friend, Nick Grieves from The Patricia Restaurant in Newcastle, England. Robbie met Nick about 20 years ago when Nick was working part-time a restaurant. Nick then went on to study for the building industry, but after the GFC hit and that industry struggled, Nick turned back to the hospitality industry. He fell in love with it but felt he didn't have enough experience and so headed off to London where he worked for Simon Rogan for a short time, and also at The River Cafe. Now he is back home in the North East of England, running his own bistro where he is cooking the food he loves and offering the wine he enjoys drinking. @thepatriciancl www.the-patricia.com

This week Robbie spoke to an old friend, Billy White. Billy has been cooking all around Europe for 15 odd years, cooking in some fantastic restaurants like the world famous St Johns and Matbaren by Mathias Dahlgren. About 8 years ago, Billy started running and he got hooked; now he is running up to 10 times a week and competing several times a year, sometimes up to 100km in one run. Being the ambitious chef that he is, he started writing for a running blog that led on to a book deal where 'Eat, Run, Enjoy' was created. Billy has mixed his two passions - running and cooking - and it is exactly that.... a cookbook for chefs and people who are interested in good wellbeing. If you're interested in a book, get in touch directly with Billy and he will personalise it for you or follow this link https://gawellforlag.com/product/eatrunenjoy @billywhite43  @rosendalstradgard   https://billywhite-chef.com/

This week Robbie spoke to James from Woodcutters Kitchen. James has had a very mixed career; he started off as a musician, then his parents advised him to start an accountancy course before heading off to the police to work in the drug squad, then leaving that to working the corporate banking world. After 20 years and with an interest in fermenting bubbling, he decided to start a bakery. After a short time he released that wasn't going to work out, James pivoted and turned the space into a restaurant, the heart of which is the two beautiful wood-burning ovens. www.woodcutterskitchen.com.au https://www.instagram.com/woodcutterskitchen/

This week Robbie sat down with Peter Gunn from Ides Restaurant. Robbie and Pete met about 8 years ago when they both ran pop-up restaurants here in Melbourne. Since then, Pete impressively managed to turn his pop-up into a fixed location and his idea for Ides has gone from strength to strength. Pete has a very modern approach to running his restaurant with a underline of classic cooking running though it. In this podcast you will hear Pete's story and thoughts about many aspects of the industry. www.idesmelbourne.com.au @idesmelbourne @petergunn501

For the first episode of season 4 Robbie spoke with Matt Donnelly who has made the journey from chef to restaurant owner, to professional mushroom forager, organic tomato grower and producer of black garlic. Matt travels 1000s of kms every season across Victoria and NSW, collecting some of the best mushrooms available to supply Melbourne’s restaurants. Instagram: @mushroomsanon

This week Robbie sat down with one of this generation's great chef minds; Ben Shewry. With 3 Hats in the Good Food Guide and named 20th Best Restaurant in the world by San Pellegrino, there is no doubt that Attica is one of, if not the best restaurants in Australia right now. But just as impressive as the accolades is his view on current social issues and his unwavering dedication to sustainability throughout his restaurant. From fish to chocolate, staff to suppliers, he is playing the long game. A true crusader. Ben was featured on the first season of Chef's Table on Netflix - if you haven't seen it, it's a must-watch. www.attica.com.au Instagram: @benshewry, @atticamelbourne

This week Robbie spoke to another friend of his, Rob Chasteauneuf, the Executive Chef of Great Fosters; a beautiful hotel and this year’s winner of AA Hotel of the Year. Great Fosters is a boutique-style hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant as well as a 2 AA Rosette Grill and a Conference and Banqueting Department for weddings and big groups. Rob shares his views on the difference between the city-style restaurant and the more country-style retreat as well as discussing systems and strategies for managing a big operation. Instagram: @robc8619 @greatfosters

This week Robbie spoke to his good friend Chris and his personal trainer Ted. Chris has managed to lose over 35kg to date with hard work, focus and dedication. He got some bad news about a friend's mother, and Chris said to himself that it was time to make a change. From that time, he's been working to shift the weight. The results have been fantastic; not just in his appearance but in the mental aspect as well. Chris is feeling a lot clearer in his mind and a lot more positive in his outlook of the future. Instagram: @chris_eagle1 @tedwinterpt  

This week's a little different - this is some of the audio taken from a 'Charcuterie Master Class and Small Business' talk that Robbie was asked to do earlier this year. We hope that there are some people out there that will get some benefit from it and maybe it will help someone improve their business.  www.instagram.com/robbiebell8/ www.city-larder.com

This week Robbie spoke to a good friend and mentor, Terry Laybourne. Terry has been in the hospitality industry for 40 years, owning many restaurants, a pub, hotel and now two restaurants with a retail offering. Terry's restaurant 21 Queen Street was the first restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star in Newcastle, which he held for many years before handing it back to turn the space into a modern-style bistro under the name Cafe 21. Terry has also been awarded MBE for his contribution to the industry. This is hopefully the first of a couple of podcasts Robbie intends to do with Terry.

This week Robbie spoke to James, the owner of Flinders + Co.  They talked all things meat, food industry and green energy. James was in his early 20s when he took over the family business. He talks about the wins, the losses and the lessons on the way. Flinders + Co's focus is to cultivate a better food world; they're not sure how they're going to achieve it, but they're having a good crack at doing it.

This week Robbie spoke to Tom Milligan, President of the Australian Bocuse D'Or Team and Technical Director of Le Cordon Bleu school in melbourne. Tom has been cooking all raound the world from restaurants to hotels, then on to function centres cooking for 1000s.  Robbie spoke to Tom a few days after Tom had just got back from competing in France at the Bocuse D'Or.

This week Robbie spoke to Alice Zaslavsky about her new program 'Phenomenom'; a program for teachers to introduce vegetables to kids in the classroom through a series of short videos using fun kids and pro-athletes. Being a former school teacher, Alice believes that introducing kids to vegetables at an early age hopefully will help them consumed more. They also discuss her book, Alice's Food A-Z, her segment on ABC News Breakfast and her appearance as a contestant on Masterchef Australia. You can find Alice on across social media @aliceinframes  https://aliceinframes.com http://phenomenom.com.au

Tom is really starting to get some momentum, being recognised as "One to Watch" in 2019. Tom has worked all round the world in places like London, New York and Sydney for chefs such as Gordon Ramsay, Thomas Keller and Neil Perry. Tom and Robbie have been best mates for nearly 20 years and this podcast is two mates having some crack reminiscing about old times and going through Tom's career.