One of Australia’s most well-known chefs, Peter Gilmore, is the creative genius and executive chef behind two of Australia’s most successful restaurants. His leadership of Bennelong at the Sydney Opera House and Quay restaurant has resulted in him receiving many accolades.
Peter Gilmore had always known that he wanted to be a chef. He started his apprenticeship at the age of 16 before going on to hone his skills in kitchens in regional New South Wales and overseas in England and France. His first critical recognition came in 2000 when he was the head chef at De Beers Restaurant at Whale Beach. The following year he took over the helm as executive chef of Quay.
Throughout his years as a chef, Gilmore has developed a distinctive style heavily inspired by nature. He is a passionate gardener with a well-tended garden at his home in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. This fervour for fresh food and quality products means that he often sources his produce from artisanal farmers. As he continues to experiment with and evolve his cooking style, he uses more rare ingredients.
Striving only to use the best ingredients, he often studies them by growing them in the garden. His studies including experimenting with the different tastes and textures that vegetables have during the stages of their life; using the results, he decides what works best for the upcoming season’s menu. Then, he communicates these specificities to the farmers to achieve the optimal produces for his restaurants.
Gilmore is one of Australia’s most awarded chefs. Quay has been awarded Three Chefs Hats for 18 consecutive years; it has been awarded Restaurant of the Year six times by the Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food Guide. Furthermore, it has been award three stars in the Australian Gourmet Traveler Restaurant Guide for 18 years. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants named Quay in their list for five years and was the Best Restaurant in Australasia for three of those years. Opened in 2015, Bennelong was awarded Best New Restaurant by all three major Australian Restaurant Awards.
Since 2012, Gilmore has released three cookbooks “Quay: Food Inspired by Nature”, “Organum: nature, texture, intensity, purity”, and “From the Earth: the World’s Great, Rare and Almost Forgotten Vegetables”. Also, he is an ambassador for Tourism Australia and a regular guest chef and judge on MasterChef Australia. MasterChef uses some of Gilmore’s most recognizable dishes as challenges; this includes the iconic Snow Egg, Eight-Texture Chocolate Cake and Cherry Jam Lamington.
Peter Gilmore’s continued drive to innovate and present the best possible restaurant experience means that he will continue to be a leader in the Australian food industry. Due to Gilmore’s palate and skill, Bennelong at Sydney Opera House and Quay are must-visit restaurants in Australia. They are deserving to be the only reason you take a holiday to Sydney.