The Architect
is no wallflower when it comes to bold design aesthetic. You may not know her by name, but if you love food, chances are you’ve dined in an establishment she designed, from Victoria’s Cutler & Co., Penfold's Magill Estate and Stokehouse to Sydney’s Bentley Restaurant & Bar.
Pascale Gomes-McNabb is one of many noteworthy women in the field. Source: Pascale Gomes-McNabb
The Grower
From her market garden in Neika, Tasmania, grows vegetables and herbs from the sublime to the sublimely obscure for some of Australia’s top restaurants and lucky Hobart locals.
The Chefs
After 10 years of feeding Sydney her heartfelt Syrian cuisine from the Darlinghurst restaurant, , she runs with her sister Carol, there’s no denying ’s culinary game.
Pastry chef is responsible for the feats of dessert alchemy at and is regarded by her peers as a pastry ninja.
The Makers
is a fan of jazz hands (incidentally an ex-ballerina), workman’s overalls and teaching Australia how to make cheese.
is Victorian winery ’s head winemaker and one of the Australian wine industry’s most exciting homegrown talents.
The Restaurateur
has come a long way from cutting her teeth working the front of house for chefs Andrew McConnell’s seminal restaurant 312 and Ben Shrewry’s Attica. In 2017, she realised her dream of opening her own venue , in Brunswick, Melbourne.
How did you come to do what you do?
Kristen: A close female friend of mine told me one day (when she saw how unhappy I was in a job that didn’t suit me), that I should do something with cheese because my eyes lit up whenever I mentioned the word. Over the next few years, I studied, travelled, stayed with some farmhouse cheesemakers and started making cheese at home. My business started from making cheese at night at [Sydney café] Cornersmith’s kitchen, then renting bench space at their Picklery to taking on a business partner and starting my own kitchen ‘cheesery’ in Alexandria, Sydney.
Paulette: On a lunch break from my hairdressing job, my head pounding from nostrils full of bleach and perm solution, I walked to the local TAFE and signed up for an environmental horticulture course and began raising local native plants, fencing animals out of waterways and battling giant weeds, all the while growing and collecting herbs and vegetables in my garden at home. When we decided to start a family and I had a small human growing inside me, food and nutrition became an all-consuming obsession.
Is this what you’ve always wanted to do?
Melanie: No and yes! I thought I was going to be a lawyer, as it seemed that was what book-smart kids did after high school. But I have always loved flavours, creating things, chemistry, growing stuff and working outdoors, which is essentially what my job is now! Suits me a lot better than law - I get to wear elastic-sided boots rather than heels!
Jaci: My parents encouraged me to finish Year 12 [even though I didn’t love school]. I’ve always learnt better being hands on, so I thought a trade would be [the way to go]. For a fleeting moment I wanted to be a flight attendant but back of house is more my scene!
Jaci Koludrovic is the "pastry ninja" at Icebergs Dining Room and Bar. Source: Icebergs Dining Room and Bar
What is your favourite part of the job?
Hannah: Hands down, and quite simply for me, it has to be the people.
Pascale: Creating unique interiors for my wonderful clients! I love the problem solving of making an interior flow through spatial planning and then bringing all the elements needed to create a restaurant landscape. I often design everything for each new project, from furniture and lighting to uniforms and graphics.
What is your biggest career highlight to date?
Sharon: Being an author! Having my recipes and those of my family published in my first cookbook was a huge honour.
Kristen: Speaking at the All About Women Festival at the Sydney Opera House last weekend. I am the first person to make cheese there!
Who or what inspires you?
Jaci: My husband, Monty. He is just such a positive person and always manages to see the best in everything I do. He is a problem solver …. and slow-poached quince, I looooooove quince.
Hannah: I was fortunate to spend a week with Christian Puglisi after he had just opened his restaurant Relae in Denmark. The insight he gave me about how he opened his restaurant was pretty profound and really started my steps forward to opening my own thing.
Hannah Green (centre) runs Etta in Melbourne. Source: Broadsheet
Where is your favourite place to eat right now in Australia?
Paulette: In my garden. It's tomatillo season, so we are lighting little fires and grilling tomatillos, garlic and chilli to make salsa, barbecuing meat and scorching spelt tortillas to eat by the coals as the sun sets.
Melanie: It’s a bit Victorian-focused but: Igni (Geelong), Anchovy (Richmond), and Tipo 00 (Melb). Regionally in Victoria, Midnight Starling in Kyneton is SO good, but it’s my little secret.
Name a peer you think is doing amazing things right now:
Melanie Chester is Sutton Grange’s head winemaker. Source: Sutton Grange
Jaci: Jo Barrett. She just seems to ooze this effortless approach with produce when it comes to desserts. I always think ‘damn, why didn't I think of that'.
Hannah: Vanessa Crichton, General Manager of the Rockpool Dining Group Melbourne and Perth. I think that is the biggest job I’ve come across in this industry. To do what she does, at the level she does is amazing.
Advice I would give someone starting out wanting to do what I’m doing:
Sharon: You do not have to be loved by everyone all the time. Respect both ways at all times. Treat people that way you would want to be treated. Mistakes are also a blessing and everything that happens along the way is a lesson.
Pascale: Love what you do! Or else there is no point.
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