Chef Mohammed Shaikh

I’ve cooked for everything from a table of two to events serving more than a thousand people, and somehow I still get the most excited when I’m creating a menu for a smaller group and can actually see people enjoying the food in front of me.

I trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Melbourne and have spent the last six years working across restaurants, events and private dining. Every kitchen has taught me something different, but one thing I’ve learnt along the way is that good cooking isn’t about trying to make everything complicated. It’s about understanding ingredients, getting the flavours right and knowing when something on the plate is already enough.

There’s a quote from Marco Pierre White that I’ve always connected with: “A chef’s palate is born out of his childhood.” I think food is deeply connected to memories. The flavours we grow up with stay with us, and then as we travel, meet people, work in different kitchens and experience new food, our palate keeps growing with us.

I don’t really believe in putting myself into one style of cooking. I enjoy working with different flavours, ingredients and techniques, and I like having the freedom to create something that suits the occasion and the people I’m cooking for. Sometimes that means keeping things simple and familiar, and other times it means being a little more creative. For me, it just has to make sense on the plate and taste good.

That’s also what I enjoy most about private dining. I get to know what you actually like eating, what you don’t, what you’re celebrating and the kind of experience you want to have. From there, I can create something around you rather than simply giving you a fixed menu.

By the end of it, I don’t want the menu to feel like mine. I want it to feel like yours.