Pablo De Pasquale

Born:  Buenos Aires, Argentina

 

History:  Brought up by a traditional Argentinian and Italian family, I learnt the values of fresh seasonal produce that my Mother and Nonna taught me. Several weekly trips to the local veg & fruit market would decide our weekly menu. My father, the best butcher in town, played a big roll in my cooking career.  As a kid I would help him in the early hours of the morning to break down carcasses. Since then my passion for quality beef and game meat started growing.

 

After high school I started a career in cookery, which led me straight to the country side of Argentina where I led a fishing lodge in the mountains. Having to maintain and harvest a 7 hectare garden and two greenhouses full of vegetables and fruits, taught me a great lesson on how to use produce at the right time and many different ways. I became a big fan of jams, pickles and brines.  I was also introduced to a smoke house for the first time, which gave me a new amazing challenge of preserving: hot and cold smoking. The lodge was situated right in front of a lake full of trout and salmon and this created a starting point on the importance of fresh fish in my menu’s.

 

After two seasons I was poached to work in London. I learnt an important lesson being away from home, my family and friends. This tightened my bond with values. Using London as a base, I started travelling to several countries including Spain, Italy and France. As soon as I touched down I would go straight to their fresh markets and get a hold of as many unknown products as I could, gather some information and do a big cook up for friends.

 

After two years of travelling I knew I was ready to settle down, and circumstances took me to Australia. Here I was privileged enough to work under Brad and Angelica Jolly at Alchemy in Brisbane, where I learnt an impressive amount of techniques and discovered new technologies, as well as the importance of running a business rationally.

 

The vibe of Melbourne’s food and wine industry landed me here as I felt it was time for bigger and better challenges.  A stint at Sarti gave me the taste I needed to understand what this industry is all about. Under the mentoring of  Ricardo Momesso I learnt the importance and love for fresh food, wine and good people.

Fresh herbs.

 

Mum, Dad and Nonna.