Chef Jessica Gavin
Personal Chef In Melbourne
I am a qualified chef of 7 years where I studied my bachelors degree in Dublin Institute of Technology for 4 years. During this time I worked in 2 sister restaurants over the course of 3 years. These restaurants were owned by Irish Masterchef presenter 'Dylan Mcgrath'. This is where I received most of my learning from and I am very grateful for the opportunities I was given as a young comis chef. I interned at Noma for 3 months where I found a love for Scandinavian cuisine. I then went on to do my dissertation in the Scandinavian way of processing preserved foods historically and contemporary.
After my degree I became head chef of a well known café in Dublin, specialising in middle eastern cuisine. I then went on to travel South East Asia where I learned about the vast variety of cuisines from country to country. I volunteered in Indonesia where I taught English to young children. I also learned a lot from the mother I was staying with at that time. She would teach me how to cook Indonesian food everyday. I went on to live in Australia where I volunteered at a Yoga retreat for 3 months where I then became kitchen manager, making new recipes, setting out health and safety guidelines and cooking for up to 30 people in one big community sitting.
After leaving the yoga retreat in Sydney I then move to Melbourne where I currently live. I started working in a vegan café in St.Kilda that is very well known in the vegan community. I was hired as sous chef and then promoted to Head chef 2.5 months later. I was creating new menus, delegating jobs to employees, invoicing and doing other admin work. On top of that I was conversing with other suppliers (up to 12 different suppliers a week).
Now, I'm currently looking into doing personal/private chef work as I feel it would be more beneficial to me and the person I am cooking for. It is also something that I feel will better my personal development as a chef which in turn I think will show in the food I cook for my guests/customers/party event functions etc..
More about me
For me, cooking is...
My life. Everyday I think about food. It's my world.
I learned to cook at...
I was fortunate to attend a culinary school in Dublin but I've been cooking from a very young age because of my family
A cooking secret...
I know it's a cliché but the only way to make your food tasty is to put your heart and soul into it. Otherwise it wont be nice
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