Paul Baker, Head Chef at Botanic Gardens Restaurant
INTREPID chef Paul Baker has been raking in the accolades of late, not least the coveted title of Chef of the Year in The Advertiser Food Awards. He’s lauded for bringing the edible and prolific riches from the Botanic Garden surrounding his workplace, into the kitchen and on to the plates.
Paul Baker
Head Chef
Botanic Gardens Restaurant
My favourite SA restaurant (not my own) is ... Salopian Inn. I love Karena’s seasonal, fresh and local cooking.
The best meal I have ever experienced was ... at Mojito’s, a tiny out-of-the-way restaurant/bar on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean in Lerici, Italy. One chef cooking and serving he meal. It was the best 5 hours of regional Italian food and wine I have ever had.
The worst meal ever was ... When I was 18 my parents served baked spuds as Christmas Day lunch because everyone was flying out that afternoon on holidays. Still scarred.
The most embarrassing item in my fridge/pantry is ... Sriracha sauce because it goes on everything.
An ingredient I can’t live without is ... good quality sea salt.
A kitchen tool I can’t live without is ... my Shun knives
My bucket-list restaurant/food experience would be ... White truffle hunting in Piemonte, Italy. It’s on the cards for next year.
My guilty pleasure is ... ice cream. I’m not a sweet tooth but everyone has a weakness.
The cookbook I most love is ... I’m an addict and you never forget your first. Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry
My choice of a last supper would be ... cured meat, then whole lamb cooked over fire, ice cream, all washed down with the killer wines my mate Jimmy Day is making (under his Gentleman Vintners label) in the Adelaide Hills.
To me, food is … Everything.
Source: Adelaide Now, Dianne Mattsson, 11th November 2015
Originally published as: Paul Baker, Head Chef at Botanic Gardens Restaurant
