Luke Stepsys - Magill Estate, Adelaide

Inspiration

Like all young chefs my inspiration comes from the constant evolution of European restaurants such as Noma, El Bulli and the Fat Duck. I closely follow WD-50, The French Laundry and Alinea in America, Saint Pierre in Singapore, Cy-an in Bangkok and obviously our own Rockpool, Vue De Monde, Royal Mail Hotel and Attica.

All of these restaurants have unique food styles, some produce driven, and others technique driven but ultimately the creativity of the chef, and the uniqueness of the restaurant is inspirational. To have the futuristic vision of Ferran Adria, the inquisitive nature of Heston Blumenthal, the understanding of local produce that Thomas Kellar has, the respect of national heritage that Rene Redzepi has adopted and implemented at Noma, and the self taught ‘invention' of Australian chefs such as Ben Shrewy, Dan Hunter and Shannon Bennett's continuous evolution drive me to work harder and to do better food and my hope is to keep to keep up!

Chef you most admire

I first dined at Vue De Monde in 2002 when Shannon Bennett was still based in Carlton, Victoria and was mesmerised by the food he served that evening. The meal was part of a surprise for my girlfriend; a romantic weekend getaway in Melbourne, dinner at Vue De Monde was the pinnacle of our indulgent weekend. For the previous 6 months all we had heard about was the amazing food that Shannon Bennett was serving at his restaurant. We booked well in advance. When we arrived at Vue De Monde we were shattered to find that no booking existed under my surname and unfortunately they were booked out. Reaslising our distress their maitre'd was gracious enough to set us up a ‘romantic' table for 2 - albeit outside the door to the toilets! Our initial disappointment soon turned into sheer happiness as we ate our way through a 12 course extravaganza of the most artfully presented, flavoursome food that I had ever eaten before! From that day on I became Shannon Bennett's biggest fan. The food that evening and the subsequent chat with Shannon Bennett after service was inspirational. I admire Shannon Bennett for what he has achieved since Vue De Monde and especially admire that he is continuously evolving, doing new food, exploring new ideas and options. His continuous evolvement and commitment to his unique style of food has influenced my own ideas and menu.

Your favourite books

My favourite book would have to be the El Bulli book ‘Natura'. It simply blows my mind and gives me an insight into ‘food art' and plate presentation and the importance of eating with your mind! The endless creativity of the El Bulli team inspires us all.
The Thomas Keller cook book ‘sous vide' gives me an insight into the perfectionist that Thomas is and the book helps explain the benefit of the sometimes misunderstood method of sous vide cookery and the value that it can add to your kitchen.

Luke Stepysy - Penfolds Magill Estate Restaurant