Christie’s auctioneer Michael Broadbent once said, “Drinking with good food in good company is one of life’s most civilised pleasures.”
Many of our wine and food speakers are well-versed both in the kitchen and on camera. They have been participants in the hottest cooking contests in the nation and have welcomed us into their lives as they document the magic behind the transcendent meals they make.
Many of the best dishes in the world could be produced in under one hour. The finest wines?
Similarly, our wine speakers will take you on a journey through the planet’s finest wineries, walking with you as they venture amid the vines and the beauty that comes when we uncork a bottle of our favourite red or white.
Begin your shortlist below or for more information on our Speakers Bureau, call us on 1300 884 485 today.
As you hear their narratives, you will realise our chef’s desires to pass on their legacies of supremacy to the next generation. But it is not merely a matter of idealism – contests, cooking shows and books are inspiring our culinary passion.
And our nutritionist speakers will help you discover your most cherished food and drink while maintaining your health and how to relish your dishes that are prized.
Begin your journey by selecting your favourite presenters below, or call us on 1300 884 485 to discover more about Australia’s favourite Speakers Bureau.
New chefs have risen through the ranks of the nation’s best restaurants and favourite television shows in Australia.
Wine has followed exactly the same course. Though wineries have yet to reach the same rock star status of our favourite restaurants, their hand crafted artistry is fast becoming an essential element of social gatherings, meals and events the world over.
The top kitchens in Australia do not run on chance – they run on a healthy dose of panicked routine, determination and perspiration.
Nutritionists have also emerged amid the foodie movement to help us understand how and what we eat and drink affects the way our minds and bodies work.
Matt Preston is an award-winning food journalist, best-selling cookbook author and International TV personality. Matt writes a weekly column for Stellar Magazine, read by 4 million Australians every week. He is also a senior editor for delicious. and taste magazines, and contributes to one of Australia’s best-read website, www.taste.com.au, which has a monthly reach of 2 million food lovers. Areas of speciality include Food & Wine Speakers. Best known as a judge and co-host on MasterChef Australia, Preston has appeared in 11 series of the ratings juggernaut. In 2020 Matt will host a brand new cooking series for Channel 7, ‘Plate of Origin’.
Karen Martini is an award-winning chef, restaurateur, author and television presenter. Her food message is drawn from her professional cooking career, her Tunisian-Italian heritage and from the challenges of feeding nutritious and stimulating food to her young family. Areas of speciality include Food & Wine Speakers. Karen was the founding chef at the critically acclaimed Melbourne Wine Room and Sydney’s Icebergs Dining Room and Bar. As executive chef of both restaurants, she held two chef’s hats in Sydney and Melbourne, and won, with Icebergs, the 2004 Best New Restaurant Award from The Sydney Morning Herald. After 15 years at The Melbourne Wine Room, Karen and her partner Michael still opened St Kilda’s much-loved pizzeria mr. wolf .
Karen’s contribution to print media has included roles as food editor for Fairfax’s Sunday Life Magazine and Epicure/Good Living lift-out for several years. In 2019 she returned to the paper as a food Columnist for the Good Weekend magazine supplement.
Guy Grossi is a devoted chef and restaurateur. He is the owner of Grossi Restaurants including Grossi Florentino, Merchant Osteria Veneta, Ombra Salumi Bar, Arlechin Food and Wine Bar, Pezzo and Garum Perth. Areas of speciality include Food & Wine Speakers. Recognised as one of the country’s leading authorities on Italian food, he has been a sought after to train and mentor within the industry and evoke thinking around the future of food and hospitality. Guy is a recent Fellow of the International Specialised Skills Institute and Co – Founder of The Melbourne Tomato Festival.
Justine Schofield is the poster girl for today’s busy, motivated career woman. Areas of speciality include Food & Wine Speakers. Between filming her daily food show, ‘Everyday Gourmet’ on Network Ten and cooking and travel series; Justine’s Flavours of Fiji, Outback Gourmet, New Caledonia and Macau, she doesn’t have much free time. Yet somehow, Justine manages to appear at food events all over Australia and work with various charities. A fan favourite of ‘MasterChef’ series one, years on Justine has well and truly established herself as a familiar and well-respected face of the Australian food and media industry.
Bilingual Justine inherited a passion for French cuisine from her mother and a ‘roll up your sleeves and get stuck in attitude’ from her Aussie father. An accomplished cook in her own right, Justine’s mother taught her about the pleasures of food and ‘joie de vivre’ from a young age. After completing a diploma in hotel management and deciding it wasn’t for her, Justine set out to explore her two passions: travel and food.
As Executive Chef of three award-winning restaurants – Ms.G’s, El Loco and Mr Wong – Dan Hong has cemented himself as one of Sydney’s most creative and fastest rising chefs. Areas of speciality include Food & Wine Speakers. Dan’s career began in his family’s Sydney-based Vietnamese restaurant chain, Thanh Binh. Honing his craft at Longrain, Pello and Marque, three of Sydney’s most celebrated establishments, Dan subsequently took the position of Chef de Partie at the legendary Tetsuya’s in 2005.
Ian Curley is a British-born and Australian-based chef, with an enduring 25-year tenure in Melbourne that has seen him at the helm of some of the city’s most iconic restaurants, including nine years at The Point Albert Park and more than a decade with the European Group. Areas of speciality include Food & Wine Speakers. Currently, Ian is co-owner and chef at French Saloon and Kirk’s Wine Bar, and Director of restaurant consultancy group, Exec Chef.
Ian’s food is much-loved for its accessible approach and simple philosophy – he cooks the food he loves to eat, across all cuisines. His signature style, however, is European fare of the highest quality, with classic French underpinnings – a legacy from the rigorous training he received early in his career in the kitchens of London.
Julie Goodwin is one of the nation’s favourite home cooks. In 2009, a record-breaking 4 million Australians tuned in to watch her become the first-ever winner of ‘MasterChef’. Areas of speciality include Food & Wine Speakers. Viewers loved her honesty, sense of humour and humble cooking style, and when her first cookbook, Our Family Table, was published, she became one of Australia’s best-selling authors; her book held the number one slot in the book charts for over 10 weeks. Julie’s family-focused style of cooking and ‘mum next door’ persona made has turned her passion into a hugely successful career.
A native Sydneysider, Julie’s first career was as a youth worker. She spent many years presenting workshops in schools across Australia before working at a juvenile detention centre on Sydney’s Central Coast. After having three boys in quick succession, Julie and her husband Michael started their own IT Company, which they built into a success through hard work and determination.
Gregory Llewellyn is known in Australia for being American. He’s also known for cooking from his gut, loving late nights, doing the school run with his baseball cap on backwards and hanging and chatting with people who make him laugh. Areas of speciality include Food & Wine Speakers. Gregory and his Australian wife Naomi, moved to Australia from the US and in 2012 they opened the perennially popular neighbourhood restaurant Hartsyard in Enmore, Sydney.
Luke Mangan is one of Australia's leading chefs and restaurateurs and is highly regarded internationally as a shining example of Australia's culinary culture. Luke currently owns and operates glass brasserie, Hilton Sydney; Salt grill, Hilton Surfers Paradise; Salt grill and Salt tapas & bar, Singapore; Salt and the adjoining World Wine Bar, Tokyo; and Salt grill onboard three P&O cruise liners. He is also the consulting chef for Virgin Australia. Areas of speciality include Food & Wine Speakers. He has written four bestselling cookbooks BLD – Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner, Luke Mangan Food, Luke Mangan Classics, and At Home and in the Mood and most recently, his autobiography The Making of a Chef.
Giovana Falanga better known as ‘Gigi’ is one of the most exciting emerging talents in the dynamic world of Australian desserts and cakes. Areas of speciality include Food & Wine Speakers. Having worked in some of Sydney’s finest restaurants and under some of Australia’s best pastry masterminds, Gigi brings her unique combination of elegance, finesse, skill and creativity to everything that she does in and out of the kitchen.
